The White Matter Link Between Semantic Language Ability And Language Production Ability Across The Lifespan

Download or read book The White Matter Link Between Semantic Language Ability and Language Production Ability Across the Lifespan written by Sara B. Troutman and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Investigating the causes of age-related language deficits has been a major thrust of the cognitive aging literature. This is because understanding the etiology of language deficits can both help older adults and advance our overall understanding of language. Largely, the literature has suggested that the semantic system--the system used to process meaning, is stable across the lifespan. However, prior investigations of the semantic system have primarily investigated just one part of the semantic system--semantic stores (i.e., knowledge). Recent studies point to another module of the semantic system which is responsible for executive semantics. Executive semantics are the abilities used to sort through and apply knowledge. How executive semantic abilities relate to language production across the lifespan has not been fully established. Therefore, this dissertation tested the cognitive and neural structures that support executive semantic abilities across the lifespan. It also investigated if the executive semantic system contributes to age-related language production deficits. To preview the general findings, the present work shows that one executive semantic skill, semantic selection, contributes to language production ability across the lifespan. Furthermore, older age predicts greater difficulty with semantic selection in some contexts, and lesser difficulty in others. This work also found that some individual differences, such as differences in inhibition and vocabulary are related to semantic selection but this relationship may differ across the lifespan. Lastly, this dissertation found that while the white matter correlates of semantic selection are widespread, age-related white matter deficits did not explain age-related deficits in executive semantic function.