Fossard, Marion

2020, Auclair-Ouellet, Noémie, Fossard, Marion, Macoir, Joël, Laforce, Robert

Purpose
Better performance for actions compared to objects has been reported in the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (svPPA). This study investigated the influence of the assessment task (naming, semantic picture matching) over the dissociation between objects and actions.
Method
Ten individuals with svPPA and 17 matched controls completed object and action naming tests, and object and action semantic picture matching tests. Performance was compared between the svPPA and control groups, within the svPPA group, and for each participant with svPPA versus the control group individually.
Results
Compared to controls, participants with svPPA were impaired on object and action naming, and object and action semantic picture matching. As a group, participants with svPPA had an advantage for actions over objects and for semantic picture matching tests over naming tests. Eight participants had a better performance for actions compared to objects in naming, with three showing a significant difference. Nine participants had a better performance for actions compared to objects in semantic picture matching, with six showing a significant difference. For objects, semantic picture matching was better than naming in nine participants, with five showing a significant difference. For actions, semantic picture matching was better than naming in all 10 participants, with nine showing a significant difference.
Conclusion
The nonverbal processing of actions, as assessed with a semantic picture matching test, is an area of relative strength in svPPA. Clinical implications for assessment planning and interpretation and theoretical implications for current models of semantic cognition are discussed.

2016, Auclair-Ouellet, Noémie, Fossard, Marion, Houde, M., Laforce, R., Macoir, Joël

Although there is growing interest in inflectional morphology in semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA), derivational morphology has rarely been studied in this population. This study reports the performance of N.G., a 72-year-old-woman with svPPA in a verb production task designed to entail morphological processing (composition, decomposition) and self-appraisal of her productions. N.G. demonstrated an over-reliance on morphological processing and failures in her appraisal of root/affix combinations that resulted in the production of morphological paraphasias and neologisms. Her performance in lexical decision of verbs and pseudo-verbs points to the involvement of semantic impairment in these difficulties.

2013, Macoir, Joël, Fossard, Marion, Mérette, Chantal, Langlois, Mélanie, Chantal, Sophie, Auclair-Ouellet, Noémie

According to the dominant view in the literature, basal ganglia do not play a direct role in language but are involved in cognitive control required by linguistic and non-linguistic processing. In Parkinson's disease, basal ganglia impairment leads to motor symptoms and language deficits; those affecting the production of verbs have been frequently explored. According to a controversial theory, basal ganglia play a specific role in the conjugation of regular verbs as compared to irregular verbs. We report the results of 15 patients with Parkinson's disease in experimental conjugation tasks. They performed below healthy controls but their performance did not differ for regular and irregular verbs. These results confirm that basal ganglia are involved in language processing but do not play a specific role in verb production.

2012, Macoir, Joël, Fossard, Marion, Auclair-Ouellet, Noémie

La maladie de Parkinson est une maladie neurodégénérative caractérisée par des troubles moteurs mais également par des troubles cognitifs affectant la mémoire de travail, la mémoire déclarative et les capacités attentionnelles. Sur le plan du langage, on relève aussi dans cette maladie la présence de troubles de la morphologie flexionnelle. Dans cet article, nous présentons et discutons des appuis respectifs aux propositions procédurales et exécutives relatives à l’origine fonctionnelle des troubles morphologiques flexionnels dans la maladie de Parkinson. Nous rapporterons également les résultats d’une étude que nous avons menée récemment auprès de 15 sujets souffrant de la MP et qui suggère une contribution, non spécifique au langage, des ganglions de la base aux processus exécutifs impliqués en morphologie flexionnelle., Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative neurological condition characterized by motor deficits but also by cognitive deficits affecting working memory, declarative memory and attentional capacities. With respect to language, the disease is also marked by the impairment of inflectional morphological processes. In this article, we present and discuss the respective supports to the procedural and executive functional origin of inflectional morphology impairment in Parkinson’s disease. We also report the results from a recent study, conducted with 15 individuals with PD, suggesting a contribution, non-exclusive to language, of basal ganglia to executive processes involved in inflectional morphology.

2017, Macoir, Joël, Fossard, Marion, Lefebvre, Laurent, Monetta, Laura, Renard, Antoine, Tran, Thi Mai, Wilson, Maximiliano A.

To date, there is no quick screening test that could be used during routine office visits to accurately assess language disorders in neurodegenerative diseases. To fill this important gap, we developed the Detection Test for Language impairments in Adults and the Aged (DTLA), a quick, sensitive, standardized screening test designed to assess language disorders in adults and the elderly individuals. In Study 1, we describe the development of the DTLA. In Study 2, we report data on the DTLA’s validity and reliability. Finally, in Study 3, we establish normative data for the test. The DTLA has good convergent and discriminant validity as well as good internal consistency and test–retest reliability. Norms for the DTLA obtained from a sample of 545 healthy, community-dwelling, French-speaking adults from 4 French-speaking countries (Belgium, Canada (Quebec), France, and Switzerland) are provided. The development, validation, and standardization of the DTLA constitute a significant effort to meet the need for a language screening test adapted to neurodegenerative diseases.

2016, Auclair-Ouellet, Noémie, Fossard, Marion, Laforce Jr., Robert, Bier, Nathalie, Macoir, Joël

Background: Only a few studies have focused on derivational morphology in semantic dementia (SD). The productive and componential nature of derivational morphology as well as recent findings in psycholinguistics suggest that semantic cognition would be involved in the production and comprehension of derivational morphemes and derived words. Therefore, participants with SD might present impairment in derivational morphology.
Aims: This study aims to specify semantic cognition’s involvement in the production and comprehension of derivational morphemes and morphologically complex words in SD participants. This involvement was considered in relation to the production of morphologically complex words, the comprehension of the meaning conveyed by morphemes, and the capacity to distinguish between words with a real vs. an apparent morphological structure.
Methods and Procedures: Ten French-speaking SD participants completed three tasks of derivational morphology. Their performances were compared to those of a group of 20 age-, gender- and education-matched adults without cognitive impairment.
Outcomes and Results: Compared with participants of the control group, SD participants had more difficulty producing nouns derived from verbs that follow less-frequent patterns of root allomorphy, while their performance was less affected when they could rely on basic morphological decomposition/composition abilities. Participants with SD also had more difficulties to match derived words and pseudo-words to a definition and to distinguish between pairs of real morphological antonyms and pseudo-morphological non-antonyms.
Conclusions: These results support the involvement of semantic cognition in the validation of morpheme combinations and in derivational morpheme representation. Difficulties in the production and comprehension of derived words and derivational morphemes are another of the many consequences of central semantic impairment that characterises SD. More studies are needed to develop tests and further characterise the involvement of semantic cognition in derivational morphology.

2013, Auclair-Ouellet, Noémie, Fossard, Marion, St-Pierre Catherine, Macoir, Joël

Phonological dyslexia is a written language disorder characterized by poor reading of nonwords when compared with relatively preserved ability in reading real words. In this study, we report the case of FG, a 74-year-old man with phonological dyslexia. The nature and origin of his reading impairment were assessed using tasks involving activation and explicit manipulation of phonological representations as well as reading of words and nonwords in which the nature and complexity of grapheme-to-phoneme conversion rules (GPC rules) were manipulated. FG also underwent an extensive neuropsychological assessment battery in which he showed impaired performance in tests exploring verbal working memory and executive functions. FG showed no phonological impairment, and his performance was also largely unimpaired for reading words, with no effect of concreteness, grammatical class, morphological complexity, length or nature and complexity of the GPC rules. However, he showed substantial difficulties when asked to read nonwords with contextual GPC rules. The contribution of FG’s executive deficits to his performance in reading is discussed.

2016, Auclair-Ouellet, Noémie, Macoir, Joël, Laforce Jr., Robert, Bier, Nathalie, Fossard, Marion

Studies on inflectional morphology in semantic dementia (SD) have focused on the contrast between the regular and the irregular English past-tense. These studies aimed to contrast the claims of single- and dual-mechanism theories. However, both theories can account for impaired production of irregular verbs observed in SD. According to the dual-mechanism theory, this impairment is related to word-retrieval difficulties, while according to single-mechanism theory it is the consequence of semantic impairment. However, authors suggest that it is time to envision a broader role for semantic memory in the production of semantically encoded aspects of inflectional morphology. This study reports the performance of 10 French-speaking patients with SD in three tasks of inflectional morphology. Their performances were compared to those of a group of 20 age-, gender- and education-matched adults without cognitive impairment. Results show that SD patients had difficulties producing tense and person inflection in verbs and pseudo-verbs, whether regular or pseudo-regular. In a second task in which participants were directly exposed to regularity manipulations, SD patients tended to choose a more typical or predictable alternative over a correctly inflected verb. Results of the third task show that their difficulties in producing semantically encoded aspects of inflection, such as tense, are related to difficulties to understand the semantic content conveyed by inflectional morphemes. Overall, these results support the claim that semantic impairment can cause morphological deficits that do not only affect irregular verbs, but that also have impacts on the production and comprehension of semantic information conveyed by inflectional morphemes.

2015, Auclair-Ouellet, Noémie, Fossard, Marion, Macoir, Joël

Des recommandations consensuelles donnant une description des critères permettant de poser le diagnostic des trois variantes d’aphasie primaire progressive (APP) ont été publiées en 2011. Depuis leur publication, ces recommandations ont fait l’objet de critiques qui ont récemment mené à la proposition de leur révision. Cet article propose une description des ensembles de critères qui ont précédé les recommandations consensuelles utilisées actuellement, ainsi qu’un état de la question quant aux différentes limites et controverses entourant la description du profil langagier des trois variantes d’APP. Ces controverses seront examinées sous l’angle de la description des manifestations centrales de chaque variante, de leur diagnostic différentiel, des liens entre les différentes entités cliniques et leur pathologie sous-jacente, ainsi que de l’évolution des profils langagiers. Enfin, cet article propose des perspectives quant à l’évaluation du langage dans les APP qui ont plusieurs implications pour la pratique clinique et la recherche.

2012, Macoir, Joël, Fossard, Marion, Saint-Pierre, Marie-Catherine, Auclair-Ouellet, Noémie

Phonological dyslexia is a written language disorder characterized by poor reading of nonwords when compared with relatively preserved ability in reading real words. There are two main theoretical proposals to explain this deficit: disruption of phonological processing or disruption to the nonlexical reading route affecting the grapheme-to-phoneme conversion rules (GPC). In this study, we report a single-case study of a mild aphasic patient with acquired phonological dyslexia. His ability was unimpaired for reading words, as well as in a wide range of tasks requiring the activation and explicit manipulation of phonological representations. He could also read every nonword with consistent GPC rules, whilst he was impaired for those with context-sensitive conversion rules, a pattern of performance never reported before. The implications of these results for theoretical explanations of phonological dyslexia are discussed, as well as the contribution of the patient’s concomitant executive deficits to his performance in reading.