Introduction: Deficits in language comprehension and production have been repeatedly observed in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders (SSD). However, the characterization of the language profile of this population is far from complete, and the relationship between language deficits, impaired thinking and cognitive functions is widely debated. Objective: The aims of the present study were to assess production and comprehension of verbs with different argument structures, as well as production and comprehension of sentences with canonical and non-canonical word order in people with SSD. In addition, the study investigated the relationship between language deficits and cognitive functions. Methods: Thirty-four participants with a diagnosis of SSD and a group of healthy control participants (HC) were recruited and evaluated using the Italian version of the Northwestern Assessment of Verbs and Sentences (NAVS, Cho-Reyes & Thompson, 2012; Barbieri et al., 2019). Results: Results showed that participants with SSD were impaired – compared to HC – on both verb and sentence production, as well as on comprehension of syntactically complex (but not simple) sentences. While verb production was equally affected by verb-argument structure complexity in both SSD and HC, sentence comprehension was disproportionately more affected by syntactic complexity in SSD than in HC. In addition, in the SSD group, verb production deficits were predicted by performance on a measure of visual attention, while sentence production and comprehension deficits were explained by performance on measures of executive functions and working memory, respectively. Discussion: Our findings support the hypothesis that language deficits in SSD may be one aspect of a more generalized, multi-domain, cognitive impairment, and are consistent with previous findings pointing to reduced inter- and intra-hemispheric connectivity as a possible substrate for such deficits. The study provides a systematic characterization of lexical and syntactic deficits in SSD and demonstrates that psycholinguistically-based assessment tools may be able to capture language deficits in this population.

Barattieri di San Pietro, C., Barbieri, E., Marelli, M., de Girolamo, G., Luzzatti, C. (2022). Processing Argument Structure and Syntactic Complexity in People with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders. JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION DISORDERS, 96(March–April 2022), 1-17 [10.1016/j.jcomdis.2022.106182].

Processing Argument Structure and Syntactic Complexity in People with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders

Barattieri di San Pietro, Chiara
Co-primo
;
Barbieri, Elena
Co-primo
;
Marelli, Marco;Luzzatti, Claudio
Ultimo
2022

Abstract

Introduction: Deficits in language comprehension and production have been repeatedly observed in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders (SSD). However, the characterization of the language profile of this population is far from complete, and the relationship between language deficits, impaired thinking and cognitive functions is widely debated. Objective: The aims of the present study were to assess production and comprehension of verbs with different argument structures, as well as production and comprehension of sentences with canonical and non-canonical word order in people with SSD. In addition, the study investigated the relationship between language deficits and cognitive functions. Methods: Thirty-four participants with a diagnosis of SSD and a group of healthy control participants (HC) were recruited and evaluated using the Italian version of the Northwestern Assessment of Verbs and Sentences (NAVS, Cho-Reyes & Thompson, 2012; Barbieri et al., 2019). Results: Results showed that participants with SSD were impaired – compared to HC – on both verb and sentence production, as well as on comprehension of syntactically complex (but not simple) sentences. While verb production was equally affected by verb-argument structure complexity in both SSD and HC, sentence comprehension was disproportionately more affected by syntactic complexity in SSD than in HC. In addition, in the SSD group, verb production deficits were predicted by performance on a measure of visual attention, while sentence production and comprehension deficits were explained by performance on measures of executive functions and working memory, respectively. Discussion: Our findings support the hypothesis that language deficits in SSD may be one aspect of a more generalized, multi-domain, cognitive impairment, and are consistent with previous findings pointing to reduced inter- and intra-hemispheric connectivity as a possible substrate for such deficits. The study provides a systematic characterization of lexical and syntactic deficits in SSD and demonstrates that psycholinguistically-based assessment tools may be able to capture language deficits in this population.
Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico
Lexical and Syntactic Processing; Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders; Verb Argument Structure;
English
11-gen-2022
2022
96
March–April 2022
1
17
106182
none
Barattieri di San Pietro, C., Barbieri, E., Marelli, M., de Girolamo, G., Luzzatti, C. (2022). Processing Argument Structure and Syntactic Complexity in People with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders. JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION DISORDERS, 96(March–April 2022), 1-17 [10.1016/j.jcomdis.2022.106182].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/346021
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