In a previous study examining the contribution of hippocampal declarative memory to discourse cohesion and coherence, we circumvented these challenges by taking advantage of a rare patient group with a well-characterized neuropsychological and neuroanatomical profile of severe and selective declarative memory impairments secondary to bilateral hippocampal lesions ( Kurczek & Duff, 2011). However, linking these deficits to specific cognitive domains or neural substrates is challenging because of insufficient lesion information in previous reports and the diffuse neural pathology and cognitive disruption in some populations studied to date (e.g., TBI, AD, schizophrenia). There have been calls to elucidate the relationship between the site of frontal lobe lesion and abnormal discourse cohesion (e.g., Levin, Goldstein, Williams, & Eisenberg, 1991). Researchers have linked these deficits to the frontal lobes by drawing attention to the presence of frontal lobe damage or dysfunction in clinical populations where discourse cohesion and coherence deficits are reported (e.g., AD, TBI, schizophrenia) and through attribution of these deficits to underlying cognitive impairments putatively associated with the frontal lobes (e.g., executive function theory of mind working memory) (e.g., Coelho, 2002 Dijkstra et al., 2004 Glosser & Deser, 1991 Hartley & Jensen, 1991 Youse & Coelho, 2005). Analyses of spoken discourse typically divide coherence further into local (the interrelatedness, or topic maintenance, across adjacent utterances) and global (the interrelatedness, or topic maintenance, across larger stretches of discourse such as an entire conversation or narrative) coherence ( Glosser & Deser, 1991).ĭeficits in discourse cohesion and coherence have been reported across a number of clinical populations including Alzheimer’s disease (AD) (e.g., Almor, Kemplier, MacDonald, Andersen, & Tyler, 1999 Dijkstra, Bourgeois, Allen, & Burgio, 2004 Ripich, Carpenter & Ziol, 2000), aphasia (e.g., Coelho & Flewellyn, 2003 Rogalski & Edmonds, 2008), traumatic brain injury (TBI) (e.g., Coelho, Grela, Corso, Gamble, & Feinn, 2005 Davis & Coelho, 2004 Hartley & Jensen, 1991 Youse & Coelho, 2005), right hemisphere syndrome ( Davis, O’Neil-Pirozzi, & Coon, 1997) and schizophrenia (e.g., Docherty, DeRosa, & Andreasen, 1996 Rochester & Martin, 1979). Whereas cohesion refers to the continuity within and between sentences, coherence refers to continuity in the overall meaning. But he had to walk fast to beat the rain.)(e.g., Liles & Coelho, 1998). She has been leading the way.) and conjunctions (e.g., John was walking to work. Cohesive ties can take multiple linguistic forms including anaphora (e.g., John and Mary are walking to school. Cohesive ties are defined as surface level (word and sentence) indicators of the relations within and between sentences that allow interlocutors to make connections within and across utterances, speakers, topics, and time ( Halliday & Hasan, 1976). Discourse cohesion and coherence are also among the most widely studied macrolingusitic measures of discourse production. This study provides insights into contribution of the major anatomical subdivisions of the frontal lobes to language use and furthers our understanding of the neural and cognitive underpinnings of discourse cohesion and coherence.ĭiscourse cohesion and coherence give communication its continuity providing the grammatical and lexical links that hold an utterance or text together and give it meaning. We found that bilateral vmPFC damage does not impair cohesion and coherence in spoken discourse. We examined the distinct contribution of a region of the frontal lobes, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), to discourse cohesion and coherence across a range of discourse tasks. Researchers often link cohesion and coherence deficits to the frontal lobes by drawing attention frontal lobe dysfunction in populations where discourse cohesion and coherence deficits are reported and through attribution of these deficits to underlying cognitive impairments putatively associated with the frontal lobes. Discourse cohesion and coherence give communication its continuity providing the grammatical and lexical links that hold an utterance or text together and give it meaning.
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