Pragmatics, theory of mind and executive functions after a right-hemisphere lesion: Different patterns of deficits

Pragmatic and executive dysfunction in schizophrenia

“…This finding, in particular for indirect request, is congruent with other researches that found a relationship between ToM and pragmatics in schizophrenia (Langdon et al, 2002) and in other clinical populations such as individuals with right-hemisphere lesions, autism and traumatic brain injury (Champagne-Lavau & Joanette, 2009;Happé , 1993;Winner, Brownell, Happe, Blum, & Pincus, 1998). These results confirm the hypothesis that pragmatic interpretation is a mind-reading exercise involving inferences concerning the speaker's mental state (Grice, 1969).…”

Effects of regiolects on the perception of developmental foreign accent syndrome

“…This also confirms the known heterogeneity found after a right-hemisphere lesion (Champagne-Lavau & Joanette, 2009). Finally, they provide interesting insights into the processes underlying the deficits in understanding irony, especially the contextual processing.…”

“…However, no study has shown whether the difficulty manifested by RHD individuals in understanding irony comes from a lack of sensitivity to the context (difficulty in capturing or detecting relevant contextual information) or from an inability to integrate contextual information (correctly detected). It should also be noted that not all RHD individuals present such disorders and that different patterns of deficits exist among RHD individuals (Champagne-Lavau & Joanette, 2009;Coté et al, 2007). Thus, the aim of this study was threefold: (1) to determine whether the degree of contextual incongruity influences the extent to which individuals with right-frontal-hemisphere damage understand irony; (2) to identify the disrupted process (detection versus integration of contextual information) leading to impaired irony comprehension; and (3) to identify potential different pragmatic profiles within the RHD group.…”

Communicative Clusters after a Right-Hemisphere Stroke: Are There Universal Clinical Profiles?

“…In addition, profiles could be correlated with other cognitive disorders, including dysexecutive syndrome (mental flexibility, inhibition, shared attention mechanisms) [48] or theory of mind deficits [49], for example. In the present study, the analysis could not investigate the possible connection between communication performance and related cognitive abilities, such as working memory and planning, or other executive function components.…”