Aphasia severity and salivary cortisol over time

Abstract

The current study explored the complicated interplay between aphasia and the stress biomarker, cortisol, in left-hemisphere (LH) and right-hemisphere (RH) stroke patients. Nineteen LH patients and 12 RH patients began the study between one to six months post stroke and were followed for three months. During this time, language skills were assessed monthly while afternoon salivary cortisol samples were collected biweekly. The LH and RH groups showed improvements in language test scores over the course of three months; however, only naming skills in the RH group appeared to be associated with afternoon salivary cortisol levels. Furthermore, contradicting previous reports regarding laterality and cortisol regulation in humans, the current study found that both LH patients and RH patients exhibited similar afternoon salivary cortisol levels across all time points.

Keywords:

• Cortisol
• Stroke
• Aphasia
• Language
• Stress

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by NIH R03 DC006177 awarded to the author. The author would like to thank the following speech-language pathologists: Winn Hill, Scott Russell, Julie Bonner, Michelle Cooper, Amy Dryver, Amy Samuelson, Cheryl Stewart, and Tracey Wallace. Additional gratitude is extended to the participants. I am appreciative of Robin Morris, Christine Heim, Bryan Williams, and Tony Buchanan for their helpful editorial comments and Lauren Clepper and Michaela DuBay for their assistance with data preparation.