Mechanisms of Recovery in Acquired Alexia
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Abstract
Reading impairment, known as alexia, frequently co-occurs with damage to the language areas of the brain in aphasia. Text-based reading treatments have been shown to improve reading fluency, but the mechanisms behind such improvement remain unclear. This study investigates the efficacy of Multiple Oral Rereading and Oral Reading for Language in Aphasia as a combined treatment for an individual with surface alexia, and examines whether eye-movements change as a result of treatment. Following treatment, reading rate and accuracy significantly improved on practiced passages, and improved reading rate generalized to novel passages. Generalization was also observed on a measure of spoken/written language. Eye-movements (number of fixations, regressions, and fixation durations) differed from pre-treatment to post-treatment and follow-up, although in the opposite direction of what was expected. Initial fixation position shifted towards that of more proficient readers after the completion of treatment, suggesting treatment resulted in a change in reading strategy.