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Background: Delirium, an acute and fluctuating decline in cognitive functioning, increases mortality and length of hospital stays (LOS) and adversely affects functional outcomes. Previous studies suggested that the incidence of delirium may be increased in right‐hemisphere strokes. Similarly, spatial neglect, a disabling deficit in unilateral spatial processing, is more common and more severe following a right‐sided stroke. Spatial neglect has been established as a risk factor for delirium. Objective: It was hypothesized that functionally relevant spatial neglect and delirium are associated in patients with right‐hemisphere stroke during acute inpatient rehabilitation. Data were examined from consecutive unilateral stroke patients evaluated with the 3‐minute diagnostic interview for confusion assessment method (3D‐CAM) and the Catherine Bergego Scale (CBS) via the Kessler Foundation Neglect Assessment Process (KF‐NAP). Design: A retrospective, cohort study. Setting: Data collected in an acute inpatient rehabilitation facility. Participants: Six hundred twenty six patients with stroke were included. Main Outcome Measures: The measures were the relative risk of patients with right‐hemisphere stroke having delirium when also positive for spatial neglect compared to patients with right‐hemisphere stroke without spatial neglect, the incidence of 3D‐CAM positive results by stroke hemisphere, and the effect of spatial neglect and delirium on functional outcomes for patients with right‐brain stroke patients. Results: There was a significantly higher risk of delirium in patients with right‐hemisphere stroke with spatial neglect compared to patients with right‐hemisphere stroke without spatial neglect. The rates of 3D‐CAM positive results were not statistically different for left‐ compared to right‐hemisphere strokes. Both delirium and spatial neglect had significant adverse effects on right‐hemisphere stroke patients' functional independence. Conclusions: The results demonstrate an association between spatial neglect and delirium in patients with right hemisphere stroke in the acute inpatient rehabilitation setting. Because of the negative effect of these impairments on functional outcomes after stroke, prevention, early detection, and targeted treatments should be prioritized for these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the effect of co-presenting training items during supervised classification learning of novel relational categories. Strong evidence exists that comparison induces a structural alignment process that renders common relational structure more salient. We hypothesized that comparisons between exemplars would facilitate learning and transfer of categories that cohere around a common relational property. The effect of comparison was investigated using learning trials that elicited a separate classification response for each item in presentation pairs that could be drawn from the same or different categories. This methodology ensures consideration of both items and invites comparison through an implicit same-different judgment inherent in making the two responses. In a test phase measuring learning and transfer, the comparison group significantly outperformed a control group receiving an equivalent training session of single-item classification learning. Comparison-based learners also outperformed the control group on a test of far transfer, that is, the ability to accurately classify items from a novel domain that was relationally alike, but surface-dissimilar, to the training materials. Theoretical and applied implications of this comparison advantage are discussed.

The influence of phonological similarity on bilingual language processing was examined within and across languages in three experiments. Phonological similarity was manipulated within a language by varying neighborhood density, and across languages by varying extent of cross-linguistic overlap between native and non-native languages. In Experiment 1, speed and accuracy of bilinguals' picture naming were susceptible to phonological neighborhood density in both the first and the second language. In Experiment 2, eye-movement patterns indicated that the time-course of language activation varied across phonological neighborhood densities and across native/non-native language status. In Experiment 3, speed and accuracy of bilingual performance in an auditory lexical decision task were influenced by degree of cross-linguistic phonological overlap. Together, the three experiments confirm that bilinguals are sensitive to phonological similarity within and across languages and suggest that this sensitivity is asymmetrical across native and non-native languages and varies along the timecourse of word processing.

Purpose: Acquired reading deficits, or alexia, affect a significant proportion of individuals with aphasia. We sought to improve treatment for alexia by targeting specific cognitive information-processing components critical to reading (i.e., phonology or semantics)., Method: To target either phonological or semantic processing, we administered two anomia treatments, phonomotor treatment (PMT) and semantic feature analysis, modified to include a focus on reading throughout the therapy. Chronic left-hemisphere stroke survivors ( N = 5) completed one or two 60-hr treatment rounds. Based on predictions from a computational reading model, three participants received the treatment recommended for their specific reading challenges (e.g., PMT for phonological deficits), while two participants had the nonrecommended treatment first, followed by the recommended model-matched treatment. Changes in reading aloud accuracy and response times (RTs) from before to after treatment were examined as a function of matching treatment to the deficit profile, type of treatment, therapy round, and word characteristics., Results: Participants' reading aloud accuracy improved after treatment relative to baseline with higher accuracy for high-frequency words and shorter words. After the first treatment round, participants' accuracy and RT improved, irrespective of whether treatment was matched to the deficit profile. Furthermore, participants who completed the second treatment round continued achieving accuracy gains. Following treatment, participants demonstrated enhanced reading efficiency and generalized improvements on the selected sections of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test., Conclusions: While larger studies are needed to test for the effects of matching treatment type to the deficit profile, we conclude that treatments targeting specific information-processing components can effectively improve reading. Doubling the treatment dose offers small but significant gains., Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.26517319.