|
|
|
Language interacts with other mental abilities, including perception, movement, memory, thought, emotion, and attention, as traditionally acknowledged. In the Attention and Language Performance laboratory, we seek to understand the neurocognitive mechanisms of language and its relation to these other abilities, particularly attention. We examine basic forms of language performance, such as word production (central to our work), comprehension, repetition, and reading. Attention is important when language processes are not fully automatized in language development, when automaticity has been obtained only partially in a second language, or when automaticity is lost due to brain damage in aphasia. Attention abilities include alerting (brief or sustained), orienting (with or without gaze shifting), and executive control (updating, inhibiting, and shifting), each of which is examined by us. Attention is also needed for self-monitoring, through which speakers assess whether planning and performance are consistent with intent, in first and second languages. We study language and attention in healthy (bilingual) adults as well as in typically developing children and children with language impairment, and in (bilingual) adults with aphasia due to stroke or neurodegenerative disease.
A central topic of our work is word finding (in first and second languages), also called word retrieval, lexical access, or word planning. Word-finding difficulties occasionally happen in all speakers and commonly in all types of aphasia and developmental language disorder. Word finding and its difficulties may be assessed by measuring the speed and accuracy of picture naming, and deficits may be remediated by training. We work on a neurocognitive model called WEAVER++/ARC that addresses basic mechanisms and treatment effects, and explains how attention contributes to successful (bilingual) word retrieval in health and disease.
One important line of research in recent years concerned primary progressive aphasia, which is an impairment of language due to neurodegenerative disease. In addition, we have examined language deficits in Alzheimer's dementia, mild cognitive impairment, and Parkinson's disease. In collaboration with several hospitals in the Netherlands, we have done patient studies (including the development of a screening test for the clinic, the SYDBAT-NL). This empirical work has been complemented by computational modeling using WEAVER++/ARC to gain deeper theoretical insight.
Our goal is not only to contribute to a better theoretical understanding of the neurocognitive mechanisms of language and its relation to other cognitive abilities, but also to help improve the diagnosis and treatment of language deficits (e.g., our screening test SYDBAT-NL and therapy app SimpTell for aphasia). Locally, we collaborate with the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, the Radboudumc Alzheimer Centre, and the Radboudumc Parkinson Centre.
In our research, we have adopted a multiple-method and multiple-perspective approach, following a consistency principle. That is, assuming a unity of knowledge, evidence from multiple methods (e.g., measurements of speed, accuracy, eye movements, event-related brain potentials) and multiple perspectives (e.g., anatomical-physiological, psychological, normal, impaired) should be consistent. Our methods include the measurement of the speed and accuracy of responding, eye tracking, electrophysiological (EEG, MEG) and hemodynamic (fMRI) neuroimaging, brain stimulation (TMS, DBS), tractography, imaging genetics, and computational modeling. Our perspectives include anatomical-physiological and psychological, and health and disease, views.
A hallmark of our approach is that behavioral performance is assessed in terms of mean response times and accuracy as well as characteristics of the shape of response time distributions, including measures related to variability and skewness. Another hallmark is the central role of computational modeling. As much as possible, our research is driven by, and aims to further develop, the WEAVER++ computational model of attention and language performance and its neurocognitive extension WEAVER++/ARC that synthesizes behavioral psycholinguistic, functional neuroimaging, tractography, and aphasiological evidence. We study language and attention in several populations, including healthy (bilingual) adult individuals as well as in typically developing and language-impaired children, and in (bilingual) adults with aphasia due to stroke or neurodegenerative disease.
The rationale behind using multiple methods is to obtain converging evidence, the idea being that if evidence from multiple methods is in agreement, the conclusion can be strong even if each method has its weaknesses. With our computational modeling, we seek to synthesize the insights obtained with the multiple methods, thereby providing a proof of concept of our theoretical ideas. Language use engages many components of language and cognition, and effective communication depends on interactions among several components. Thus, successful theories and models must treat all of these components in an integrated manner. In our work, we use several open-source software toolboxes, including R (for linear mixed-effects and other statistical analyses), JASP (for Bayesian statistical analyses), FieldTrip (for EEG/MEG analyses), and SPM and FSL (for fMRI analyses and tractography).
Issues in naming, attentional inhibition, alpha oscillations in the brain, and intelligence have been examined through the Wundt 2.0 computational model. For more information about this model, click on the icon above. In our research, we often referred to, and took inspiration from, the work of Wundt, a pioneer of experimental and theoretical psychology as well as modern psycholinguistics, who emphasized the importance of the attentional control functions of the frontal lobes.
The lexical interface in the brain: Linking spoken language comprehension and production (PhD project) The mediating role of executive functioning in recovering from bilingual aphasia (PhD project)
Genetics and training of attentional control in typical and developmentally impaired speakers (PhD project) Relating brain potentials and oscillations to the time it takes to produce spoken words (PhD project) Basal ganglia thalamocortical mechanisms of cognitive control in speaking (PhD project) The neural basis of error monitoring in language control (PhD project)
Cognitive processes underlying simultaneous interpreting (PhD project) Contributions of dorsal and ventral neural pathways to speaking in health and disease (PhD project) Top-down control in language production (PhD project) The role of subcortical structures in language (PhD project)
Web-based application SimpTell (Semi-independent Interactive Multimodal Production Training of ELLipses) for people with agrammatism in chronic Broca’s aphasia (in Dutch) More information about SimpTell can be found at AfasieNet and here at the site of Radboud University, or by clicking on the icon below. Original team: Marina Ruiter (Sint Maartenskliniek rehabilitation centre, Centre for Language Studies), Vitória Piai (DCC / DCN-Radboudumc), Arvind Datadien, Esther Steenbeek-Planting, Robert van Engelen, Isabelle Hendriks, Ardi Roelofs.
SimpTell is an aphasia therapy application for the training of elliptical style in patients with agrammatism in chronic Broca’s aphasia. The language is Dutch. The application was developed within the Dutch Research Consortium Language in Interaction (NWO Gravitation programme), in collaboration with the Sint Maartenskliniek revalidation centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Patients are intensively trained to produce elliptical utterances (e.g., "Praten lastig. Alleen korte zinnen maken" ["Speaking difficult. Producing short sentences only"]) and to override their automatic attempt to formulate sentences (which they no longer can do accurately). The language therapy implemented in SimpTell is based on the theoretical and empirical work of Herman Kolk, with historical roots in the work of Arnold Pick and Max Isserlin in the early twentieth century. The telegraphic speech of agrammatic speakers is seen as an adaptation to the language production impairment that serves to improve communication, with ellipses requiring less production capacity than full-fledged sentences. The aim of SimpTell is to intensively train elliptical style so that functional communication is improved. For a poster (in Dutch) on SimpTell, click here: Poster (PDF 1847K). Ruiter, M., Roelofs, A., Piai, V., Datadien, A., Steenbeek-Planting, E., Van Engelen, R., & Hendriks, I. (2017). SimpTell: Webgebaseerde telegramstijltherapie [SimpTell: Webbased therapy for telegram style]. Afasiecongres "State of the Art 2017", Zeist, the Netherlands. For an article (in Dutch) on SimpTell:Ruiter, M., Roelofs, A., Piai, V., Datadien, A., Steenbeek-Planting, E., Van Engelen, R., & Hendriks, I. (2019). Stoppen met praten op de automatische piloot [To stop speaking on autopilot]. DIXIT: Tijdschrift over Taal- en Spraaktechnologie, 16, 34-35. Article (PDF 188K) As of October 2020, we collaborate withLogoclicksto continue making the app widely available for people with aphasia. Click here for more information (in Dutch). In October 2024, SimpTell received further funding through an application by Dr. M. Ruiter in collaboration with J. Pons, A. Roelofs, and Dr. V. Piai. Funding by StitPro with co-financing from the Radboud Fund and crowdfunding.
Screening test for primary progressive aphasia SYDBAT-NL (for Dutch) Developed in collaboration with Radboud University Medical Center (Nijmegen) and other hospitals in the Netherlands, including Erasmus University Medical Center (Rotterdam), Jeroen Bosch Hospital (Den Bosch), and Maastricht University Medical Centre (Maastricht).
Team: Nikki Janssen, Roy Kessels (DCC, DCN, Radboudumc Alzheimer Centre), Vitória Piai (DCC, DCN, Dept. of Medical Psychology, Radboudumc), Esther van den Berg, Willem Eikelboom (Dept. of Neurology, Erasmus MC), Meike Holleman (Dept. of Medical Psychology, Jeroen Bosch Hospital), Dymphie in de Braek (Dept. of Medical Psychology, Maastricht UMC), Ardi Roelofs. For access to the SYDBAT-NL and more information on the test (in Dutch, on the website of Roy Kessels), click here or on the icon above. The SYDBAT-NL for the Dutch language is based on the Australian SYDBAT test for the English language (Sydney, Neuroscience Research Australia) and has been developed within the PhD project "Contributions of dorsal and ventral neural pathways to speaking in health and disease" of theDutch Research Consortium Language in Interaction (NWO Gravitation programme). For an early article (in Dutch) on the SYDBAT-NL: Eikelboom, W.S., Janssen, N., Van den Berg, E., Roelofs, A., & Kessels, R.P.C. (2017). Differentiatie van Primair-Progressieve Afasie varianten: de Nederlandse bewerking van de Sydney Language Battery (SYDBAT-NL). Tijdschrift voor Neuropsychologie, 12, 189-202. Article (PDF 165K) For an article in English on the SYDBAT-NL:Janssen, N., Roelofs, A., Van den Berg, E., Holleman, M. A., In de Braek, D. M. J. M., Piguet, O., Piai, V., & Kessels, R. P. C. (2022). The diagnostic value of language screening in primary progressive aphasia: Validation and application of the Sydney Language Battery. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research,65, 200-2014. Article (PDF 590K) Greater understanding of the language impairments in primary progressive aphasia, Alzheimer's dementia, and mild cognitive impairment has been obtained through computer simulations with WEAVER++/ARC of performance on the SYDBAT (for English) and the SYDBAT-NL (for Dutch), at both group and individual patient levels. Also, the model has been applied to language impairment in behavioral variant frontotemporal degeneration (what used to be called "Pick's disease"). The model implements a seminal proposal by Pick (1892, 1908) and modern empirical insights. Click here or on the icon below for more information on the model.
Roelofs, A. (2022). A neurocognitive computational account of word production, comprehension, and repetition in primary progressive aphasia. Brain and Language, 227, 105094. Article (PDF 2403K) Roelofs, A. (2023). Accounting for word production, comprehension, and repetition in semantic dementia, Alzheimer’s dementia, and mild cognitive impairment. Brain and Language, 238, 105243. Article (PDF 2903K) Roelofs, A. (2023). Word production and comprehension in frontotemporal degeneration: A neurocognitive computational Pickian account. Cortex, 163, 42-56. Article (PDF 1581K) For an account of the history of research and discoveries on aphasia caused by neurodegeneration: Roelofs, A. (2023). Cerebral atrophy as a cause of aphasia: From Pick to the modern era. Cortex, 165, 101-118. Article (PDF 5044K)
Principal investigator Ardi Roelofs (I am slowly phasing out my research activities because of incurable cancer)
Postdocs None currently PhD students
MA students None currently
BA students None currently
Research assistants None currently
Collaborators Marcel Bastiaansen (Tilburg University and NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences) Dorothee Chwilla Ton Dijkstra Daan Hermans (Royal Dutch Kentalis) Harry Knoors (Royal Dutch Kentalis, BSI) Kristin Lemhöfer James McQueen Antje Meyer (MPI) Richard Ridderinkhof (U. Amsterdam) Marina Ruiter (Sint Maartenskliniek, Centre for Language Studies, RU) Jan-Mathijs Schoffelen Annette Scheper (Royal Dutch Kentalis) Rob Schoonen (CLS) Herbert Schriefers Atsuko Takashima Rinus Verdonschot (previously Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan; now, MPI)
Alumni Dirk Janssen (PhD) Marjolein Korvorst (PhD) Rebecca Özdemir (PhD) Lonneke Bücken (BA) Esther Aarts (PhD) Kim Verhoef (PhD) Elise Haverkamp (BA) Joyce Williams (BA) Ceciele Luijnenburg (BA) Sanne de Baaij (BA) Joep van der Graaf (visiting student; MA, U. Utrecht) Gabriela Garrido Rodriguez (MSc) Martijn Lamers (PhD) Sharon van der Pol (BA) Marcel Braun (BA) Svetlana Lito Gerakakis (MSc) Inge van Oosteren (BA) Isa Rjosk (BA) Marlot Burmanje (BA) Teun Smulders (BA) Evelien Mulder (visiting student; BA, Orthopedagogics, RU Nijmegen) Hoi-Yee Chan (BA) Merel Burgering (visiting student; U. Amsterdam, Biomedical Sciences) Henriette Raudszus (KNAW Academy Assistantship) Katharina Sonntag (BA) Angela de Bruin (MSc) Zeshu Shao (PhD) Vitória Piai (PhD) Henriette Raudszus (MSc) Samuel Hansen (visiting PhD student, U. Queensland, Australia) Caitlin Coughler (MSc) Thera Baayen (MA, Speech and Language Pathology, RU) Kasia Sikora (PhD) Natalia Shitova (PhD) Isabelle Hendriks (RA, SimpTell project) Carla Kaminsky (BA) Marpessa Rietbergen (PhD student) Margo Mangnus (MSc) Xiaochen Zheng (PhD) Mathieu Declerck (postdoc Marie Curie fellowship) Dario De Falco (MA) Tim Bouman (RA, SimpTell project) Nikki Janssen (PhD) Jeroen van Paridon (PhD) Aitor San José (PhD student) João Ferreira (PhD) Saskia Mooijman (PhD)
|
oal
pproach
rojects
ecent past projects
embers
|
|
|
|
