Article

A tight link between linguistic functions and
activation of motor areas has been consistently reported, indicating that the 2 systems share functional neural resources. Few efforts have been made to explore
whether this knowledge could aid the rehabilitation of aphasia.
The authors assessed whether preactivation of the leg motor cortex during standing,
compared with sitting, can facilitate language production in patients with
chronic aphasia. In a cross-over within-subject design, the authors assessed
performance on a picture naming task and controlled for effects on processing
speed and simple verbal reaction time. RESULTS: They found that standing compared
with sitting had a beneficial effect on the number of semantic self-corrections
that resulted in correct naming. In the absence of effects on motor or general
processing speed, this points to a specific effect on lexical retrieval and
selection. This was further corroborated by an error pattern analysis. Successful
semantic self-corrections during standing were only found when there was already
partial activation of the target semantic network-that is, when self-corrections
were preceded by an incorrect but semantically associated naming response.
DISCUSSION: These findings show that preactivation of the motor system, which
extends beyond the intrinsic link between manual gestures and language, can
facilitate lexical access in chronic aphasia and may open new directions in aphasia rehabilitation.

Langue : ANGLAIS