Cognitive-Communication Disorders

What are cognitive-communication disorders?

Sequelae of diagnoses that could also cause aphasia, apraxia, dysarthria: CVA (especially right hemisphere), TBI, dementia, cancer, surgical sequelae

Cognitive deficits often treated by SLPs

Attention deficits, orientation deficits, memory, judgment, difficulty with math, executive function

Attentional deficits

Deficits in the ability to pay attention to tasks; listening and processing language depends on attention to some extent

Sustained attention

Ability to stay alert and hold attention to a stimulus over time

Selective attention

Ability to focus on a stimulus while ignoring presence of competing stimuli

Alternating attention

Ability to move or alternate one’s attention back and forth

Divided attention

Simultaneously attending to several stimuli (multitasking)

Orientation refers to…

Knowledge of self, place, time, and situation (“who, where, when, why?”)

Therapy for orientation deficits

Repetition of orientation, creating environmental cues, use of electronic orientation devices (smartphone, clocks, etc.), journaling

2 categories of permanent memory

Explicit (declarative memories or conscious memory) and implicit (nondeclarative or unconscious memory)

Explicit memory types

Episodic memory, semantic memory, prospective memory

Episodic memory

Memory of events

Semantic memory

Memory of facts

Prospective memory

Memory of delayed intentions (“I was going to do this”)

Types of implicit memory

Skills/procedural memory, priming/classical conditioning, conditioning, emotional memory, physical reactions to stimuli

Stages of creating a memory:

Encoding, consolidation, storage, retrieval

Encoding

Perception, attention, processing, and transformed to be stored

Consolidation

Recently encoded information is transferred to permanent storage

Storage

Memory is held for future use

Retrieval

Information is pulled from storage

Short-term memory

Considered to be temporary and of limited capacity, recalling very recent info

Working memory

Being able to manipulate the information in short-term memory

Hippocampus

Involved for short-term information which is being encoded

Cerebral cortex begins to establish…

Long-term memory with connectivity among multiple cortical regions

Diamond’s core executive function categories

Inhibitory control, working memory, cognitive flexibility

Inhibitory control

Being able to control one’s own thoughts and emotions. Includes different types of attention, being goal-oriented, self-control, staying on task, avoiding impulsivity, time management

2 main kinds of working memory

Verbal working memory, nonverbal/visual-spatial working memory

Cognitive flexibility

The ability to look at something from another point of view; could include usually using visuo-spatial skills to see an object from a different perspective or seeing something from another person’s viewpoint (interpersonal)

Discreet tasks involving executive function

Organization, awareness, sequencing, metacognition, creative problem solving, etc.