Iconic Sound-Shape Correspondences in Aphasia

PurposeTo examine speech iconicity for shape in aphasia, we compared iconicity ratings from people with aphasia to those from neurologically intact individuals and evaluated how iconicity relates to phonological and semantic processing profiles in aphasia. MethodEleven people with aphasia and 11 age- and gender-matched neurologically intact participants rated how rounded or pointed 50 auditory pseudowords sounded using a 5-point scale. Ratings from participants with aphasia were compared to predicted iconicity ratings derived from reference ratings from prior work and to ratings from neurologically intact participants. For each participant with aphasia, correlations between individual ratings and predicted ratings were related to measures of phonological and semantic processing. ResultsRatings from people with aphasia were significantly correlated with both the predicted ratings and the ratings from neurologically intact participants. The strength of the correlation between individual ratings and predicted ratings did not differ significantly between groups, although there was a trend toward weaker correlations in the aphasia group. There were indications that greater language impairment was associated with greater disruption of iconicity ratings; in particular, deficits in phonological segmentation and semantic processing were associated with reduced sensitivity to shape iconicity. ConclusionThese findings suggest that sensitivity to shape iconicity is preserved in individuals with aphasia to varying degrees. The specific nature of language impairment appears to play an important role in determining iconicity processing in aphasia.