Sequential learning in individuals with agrammatic aphasia: evidence from artificial grammar learning

ABSTRACT

We examined sequential learning in individuals with agrammatic aphasia (n = 12) and healthy age-matched participants (n = 12) using an artificial grammar. Artificial grammar acquisition, 24-hour retention, and the potential benefits of additional training were examined by administering an artificial grammar judgment test (1) immediately following auditory exposure-based training, (2) one day after training, and (3) after a second training session on the second day. An untrained control group (n = 12 healthy age-matched participants) completed the tests on the same time schedule. The trained healthy and aphasic groups showed greater sensitivity to the detection of grammatical items than the control group. No significant correlations between sequential learning and language abilities were observed among the aphasic participants. The results suggest that individuals with agrammatic aphasia show sequential learning, but the underlying processes involved in this learning may be different than for healthy adults.

KEYWORDS:

• Agrammatic aphasia
• sequential learning
• artificial grammar
• retention

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Vitor Zimmerer and an anonymous reviewer for comments provided during the review of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute On Deafness and Other Communication Disorders of the National Institutes of Health under Award Numbers F31DC013204 (Schuchard), R01DC001948 (Thompson), and P50DC012283 (Thompson) and by the Graduate Research Grant from Northwestern University (Schuchard). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.