Neural underpinnings for model-oriented therapy of aphasic word production

Regarding naming performance, the present study corroborates previous findings on training and generalisation effects and reveals differential therapy effects for P-patients. Moreover, brain imaging results confirm a predominance of (1) general effects in the left brain hemisphere. (2) Brain regions related to visual strategy, monitoring/feedback, and articulatory patterns were characteristic for the familiar trained items. (3) Distinct regions associated with strategies, monitoring capacities, and linguistic information indicate the specific therapeutic influence on word retrieval. (4) While P-patients relied more on preserved phonological functions in the left hemisphere, S-patients revealed right-sided compensation of semantic processing as well as increased strategic efforts in both hemispheres.