Association Between Language Skills and Statistical Learning in Aphasia

Abstract

Aphasia is a language disorder that causes problems in various speech, language and communication skills. It is thought that aphasia has an effect not only on language skills, but also on cognitive skills. The current study investigated the effect of statistical learning on language skills and its possible relationship with aphasia. In addition, the secondary aim of the research is to examine whether statistical learning skills in different perceptual domains (auditory and visual domains) affect language skills differently. For this purpose, cognitive (visual and auditory statistical learning, non-verbal intelligence) and language (Aphasia Language Assessment Test) assessments were obtained from individuals with aphasia (n = 16) and age- and education level-matched healthy adults (n = 29). The data were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis tests and multiple regression models. When the association between ADD scores and statistical learning scores was examined, a positive predictive effect of visual statistical learning was observed on the reading, speaking fluency and grammar subtests. In particular, it was concluded that visual statistical learning is related to language skills in aphasia. The findings have the potential to influence aphasia assessment and intervention.

Keywords

• aphasia
• auditory statistical learning
• visual statistical learning
• language skills