Alfredo Ardila

• Ph.D.
• Professor at Sechenov University

Al leer el presente libro de Homenaje Póstumo usted encontrara el relato de quienes fueron sus compañeros de travesía, sus amigos, sus más cercanos colaboradores, sus estudiantes y jóvenes psicólogos de Latinoamérica que lo leyeron, estudiaron, algunos lo conocieron y otros se inspiraros en sus páginas sin tener el tiempo de llegar a él pese a los...

Background: Several subtypes of primary progressive aphasia (PPA) have been proposed. Most reports use small samples, and few have included Spanish-speaking participants. Aim: To analyze the language profile and nonlinguistic deficits in a large sample of PPA Spanish monolingual participants. Method: 177 individuals were diagnosed with PPA in a...

Background Bilingualism may affect the profile of cognitive disturbances associated with stroke. Its impact on aphasia severity, however, is in need of substantiation. Aims To determine the relationship between bilingualism and vascular aphasia severity. Methods This is an observational cross-sectional study conducted on people with post-stroke a...

Introduction: The knowledge of aphasia incidence and profile in different languages is important towards understanding the cross-linguistic diversity in brain representation of language. Here we attempt to elaborate various aspects of aphasia in speakers of Bengali language from eastern India. In addition to usual aphasia incidence, symptomatology,...

Background: The pattern of post-stroke aphasia in Spanish speakers has not previously been reported. Furthermore, the association between aphasia type and demographic variables is not clearly understood. Aims: To investigate the incidence and type of aphasia in first-ever acute stroke during the early chronic and later chronic periods in native Spa...

La Evaluación Neuropsicológica Infantil – Preescolar (ENI-P) es un instrumento diseñado bajo los estándares de evaluación neuropsicológica, que incluye un espectro amplio de las habilidades cognitivas y conductuales que se consideran reflejan la integridad del Sistema Nervioso Central. El objetivo de la Evaluación Neuropsicológica Infantil-Preesco...

Background: Patients with aphasia can present a type of acalculia referred to as aphasic acalculia. Aims: To investigate the correlation and to test regression models for one- and two-digit calculation skills using verbal and nonverbal predictors. Methods and procedures: We selected an aphasia sample of 119 men and 81 women with a mean age of...

Influence of bilingualism on post stroke aphasia severity

This paper addresses the topic of ideologies underlying organized crime based on interviews with individuals living in Mafia-affected territories. High school and university students produced narratives that reflected their ideologies about organized crime, which were duly compared with the ideologies endorsed by Mafia members in televised intervie...

It is proposed that cross-cultural neuropsychology analyzes the influence of cultural variables on cognition from a neurological perspective. It includes three major questions: (1) How are current neuropsychological tests affected by the cultural conditions? (2) Are there differences in the brain organization of cognition depending upon the culture...

Palinopsia refers to the abnormal persistence, or recurrence , of visual images after a visual stimulus has subsided. We describe here a case of palinopsia accompanied by a visual motion perception disorder as manifested by moving after-images. A 71-year-old man presented to us after having experienced acute-onset, vivid, visual hallucinations for...

The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate neuroendocrine disruptions post traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Abstract Background Understanding the pattern of non-linguistic abilities in aphasia has been a controversial question. We hypothesized that only some aphasia patients, particularly patients with fluent forms of aphasia and global aphasia, would present deficits in non-linguistic abilities. Methods & procedures We studied 200 vascular aphasia pati...

Abstract Background: Every language has certain specific idiosyncrasies in its writing system. Cross-linguistic analyses of alexias and agraphias are fundamental to understand commonalities and differences in the brain organization of written language. Few reports of alexias and agraphias in the Spanish language are currently available. Aims: To an...

Implications of conducting neuropsychological assessments during COVID-19.

Objective The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate the impact of traumatic brain injury (TBI) on individuals' ability to regulate emotions. Data Sources A literature review was conducted using the following databases: Google Scholar, ProQuest Central, PsychINFO, and Science Direct. Study Selection Articles published in English within t...

Effect of bilingualism on aphasia recovery

Objective The purpose of this systematic review was to examine how emodiversity affects mental and physical health. Emodiversity has been described as an integral component of the human emotional ecosystem that can serve as a predictor for mental and physical health. Data Selection This review was conducted using the following databases: Taylor & F...

Background The severity of post-stroke aphasia has also been reported to be less in bilingual patients compared to their monolingual counterparts Aim To analyze the effect of bilingualism on aphasia recovery during the early post-stroke phase. Methods Bengali version of Western Aphasia Battery (WAB)was used for language assessment. It was adminis...

Objective The purpose of this systematic review was to examine how emodiversity affects mental and physical health. Emodiversity has been described as an integral component of the human emotional ecosystem that can serve as a predictor for mental and physical health. Data Selection This review was conducted using the following databases: Taylor &...

Purpose of review: Gerstmann (left angular gyrus) syndrome includes the tetrad of finger agnosia (inability to distinguish, name, and recognize the fingers), agraphia (acquired disturbance in the ability to write), acalculia (loss of the ability to perform arithmetical operations and use numerical concepts), and right-left disorientation (right-le...

Background Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) is a discipline focused on the interaction between the nervous, immune, and endocrine systems. Research shows that depression is a leading cause of morbidity in all developed countries. The objective of this systematic review is to provide information regarding the interaction between pro-inflammatory cytokine...

Introduction: Contemporary neuro-imaging techniques have significantly advanced our understanding of the brain organization of language and the involvement of subcortical areas in aphasia. However, articles on sub-cortical aphasia, particularly in non-western languages, remain to be few and far between. We set out to explore aphasia typology in su...

COVID-19 pandemic has posed an unprecedented challenge in front of the world contributed mostly by social distancing and lockdown. Among several other effects this pandemic has wreaked havoc on the psychology and cognition of people across the globe. In this paper we attempted to find out the impact of lockdown and social isolation on the cognition...

This systematic review aimed to examine the effectiveness of teletherapy as a treatment modality for suicidal individuals.

One hundred and sixty-three aphasia patients underwent initial language examination during the first week following stroke and 90-100 days post-stroke. Demographic factors (age, gender, and number of years of formal education), lesion-related factors (type of stroke, lesion volume, cortical versus sub-cortical location, and site of lesion), as well...

Background Supplementary motor area (SMA) plays a complex role in language. Language disturbances associated with SMA pathology have some times been named as “aphasia of the SMA” or simply “SMA aphasia”. However, this type of aphasia is extremely unusual, that it is not even included in classical aphasia classifications. Aims To review the involve...

Even though severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been observed to principally affect the respiratory system, neurological involvements have already been reported in some published work. We have reviewed original articles, case reports, and existing open-source data-sets to delineate the spectrum of neurological disorders...

Background: Little is known about the influence of bilingualism in aphasia. Aims: To analyze the effect of bilingualism in a group of patients with aphasia. Methods: Data from 155 monolingual and 53 bilingual aphasia patients were analyzed. Results: It was found that aphasia was significantly less severe in bilinguals when compared to monolinguals...

Lesion site-aphasia type discordance has garnered increasing interest in cognitive neuroscience over the last century. Diaschisis, the network concept of cognitive functions, and interindividual variability are among the plausible explanations cited in the literature for such unusual clinical cases. We describe here the case of a nonfluent type of...

A.R. Luria is one of the most prestigious scientists in neuroscience, neuropsychology in particular. His contribution to aphasiology and neurolinguistics is well known. However, today some researchers believe that A.R. Luria's main ideas have lost their relevance and have little influence on contemporary discussions. The paper presents the views of...

In this article, three different aspects of the Spanish-speaking community are analyzed: (1) The idiosyncratic characteristics of the Spanish language, (2) the social dimension of the Spanish speakers, and finally, (3) their cultural manifestations. Two major Hispanic subcultures are distinguished: Iberian Spanish culture and Hispano American cultu...

Background: Recent studies have emphasized the importance of initial aphasia severity as a determinant of aphasia recovery. However, data on predictors of initial post-stroke aphasia severity itself are far from adequate in the available literature. Aims: The objective of the present study was to enumerate the predictors of initial aphasia severity...

Language development is associated with specific changes in the brain. Initially, the development of speech motor control is examined, emphasizing the two different brain circuits that are involved in human vocal learning: cortico-striatal and the cerebro-cerebellar motor loops. Language development is divided into two stages: early (pre-school per...

Objective The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate neuroendocrine disruptions post traumatic brain injury (TBI). Data Sources A literature review was conducted using the following databases: Google Scholar, ProQuest Central, PsychINFO, and Science Direct. Study Selection Articles published in English within the years of 2013 and 2018....

Abstract Background Heidenhain variant of Cruetzfeldt Jacob Disease is a rare phenotype of the disease. Early and isolated visual symptoms characterize this particular variant of CJD. Other typical symptoms pertaining to muti-axial neurological involvement usually appear in following weeks to months. Commonly reported visual difficulties in Heidenh...

Background. Contemporary neuroimaging techniques, particularly fMRI and PET, have demonstrated that cognitive abilities do not strictly depend on specific brain areas, but rather on complex brain circuits or systems. Methods. Using PubMed and Google Scholar databases, a search for functional studies (fMRI and PET) during the performance of several...

Background: Cross-linguistic information about performance in neuropsychological verbal tests is extremely scarce. It has been suggested that verbal fluency test using animal fluency test is one of the few tests fulfilling the fundamental criteria desirable in a robust neuropsychological test. Objective: To compare and establish cross-linguistic...

Background: Crossed aphasia (CA) refers to aphasia following a right-hemispheric lesion in right-handed individuals. It has been suggested that the prevalence of CA differs with language, although its worldwide incidence, as reported by most studies, is less than 3%. Objective: To find the incidence of CA in the Bengali language. Methods: From...

The growing number of migrants makes it relevant to study the problem of acculturation to a new culture and to develop adequate methodological tools for assessing acculturation. Acculturation scales are a common tool for studying the adaptation of international citizens; in Russia, however, there is a shortage of them. The purpose of this study was...

Background: Crossed aphasia (CA) refers to aphasia following a right-hemispheric lesion in right- handed individuals. It has been suggested that the prevalence of CA differs with language, although its worldwide incidence, as reported by most studies, is <3%. Objective: To find the incidence and symptomatology of CA in the Bengali language. Metho...

Abstract Background: Crossed aphasia (CA) refers to aphasia following a right-hemispheric lesion in right- handed individuals. It has been suggested that the prevalence of CA differs with language, although its worldwide incidence, as reported by most studies, is <3%. Objective: To find the incidence and symptomatology of CA in the Bengali langua...

Comprender el papel específico del área motora suplementaria (AMS) en el lenguaje no ha sido fácil. El AMS se encuentra fuera del área clásica del lenguaje y, de hecho, bastante lejos. No obstante, su participación en el lenguaje ha sido ampliamente apoyada no solo desde la perspectiva clínica, sino también desde la perspectiva funcional. El AMS ti...

Inicialmente se analiza el origen del concepto de función ejecutiva; se revisan las diferentes interpretaciones. Se enfatiza que diferentes autores se han referido a dos funciones ejecutivas básicas, aunque utilizando diferentes nombres: metacognitivas o intelectuales, y emocionales/motivacionales. Se introduce el concepto de sistema o circuito cer...

Introduction and Background: The recovery of aphasia following vascular event is a complicated subject because of multi-factorial interplay. Divergent evidences are available in literature regarding the predictors of aphasia recovery particularly in early post-stroke phase. The aim of the present study was to explore the determinants of aphasi...

The historical development of “executive function” is initially presented, underlining that this is a relatively new concept in cognitive neurosciences. It is emphasized that the definition of an executive function includes a diversity of cognitive and behavioral abilities, such as reasoning, problem-solving, inhibitory control, and temporality of...

Executive functions depend on an extensive brain circuit including not only cortical areas, but also some subcortical areas, including the basal ganglia and the thalamus. It is not surprising to find that subcortical pathologies can be associated with executive functions disturbances. Functional, as well as anatomical, connectivity between frontal...

Luria is one of the most influential authors in cognitive neuroscience, and in particular neuropsychology. New scientific achievements and clinical observations have significantly supported many of his suggestions and hypotheses. The article describes the basic concepts of neuropsychological evaluation and rehabilitation, associated with the method...

T h e Apha sia Se r vice s in Dive r se Ne ur ore ha bilita tion Ca seloa ds (ASDNC) gr oup is a mult idisc iplina ry group of c linic ia ns, resea rch ers, st uden t s, an d a ca dem ics in t erest ed in the st udy a nd clinica l ma na gement of a phasia in spea kers of la ngua ges t h at ha ve received m in im a l a tten t ion in th e a pha sia l...

Luria has long been one of the most influential authors in cognitive neurosciences, in particular in neuropsychology. New scientific advances and clinical observations have confirmed many of his proposals and hypotheses. In this paper one of his major ideas is analyzed: the influence of cultural factors on human cognition. The systemic-dynamic Luri...

Background: The pattern of post-stroke aphasia in speakers of Bengali language has not previously been reported in the literature. Furthermore, the inter-relationship between age, gender, and level of education and aphasia typology has remained unsettled thus far. Aims: To investigate the incidence and type of aphasia in first-ever acute stroke pat...

Towards the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, and based on clinical observations, it was proposed that there is a 'language area' in the brain that corresponds, in general, to the perisylvian region of the left hemisphere. Such an idea has continued to exist since then. Starting from the contemporary studies...

It has been suggested that criminogenic thinking is likely to be a correlate of gambling. The primary aim of the current study was to assess whether gamblers and non-gamblers differ on measures of cognitive control and criminogenic cognitions. The secondary aim was to assess the association between cognitive control and criminogenic cognitions amon...

Contemporary man (Homo sapiens) has lived on the earth since approximately 200 thousand years ago. During this time the brain’ s structure has barely changed. Consequently, recent human evolution represents a cultural evolution, which is not based on neuroanatomical changes, but rather on the development of certain cultural products. It can be assu...

Cognition is an area of cross-cultural research that has a history of strong controversies. Differences between cultural groups on cognitive tests have been interpreted in quite different ways. There are authors who see such differences as a more or less direct reflection of variation in inborn competencies. However, it is a more common viewpoint t...

The current study aimed to assess: i) whether executive functioning (EF) mediates the association of age with different decision-making (DM) styles in adults, and ii) whether these mediational associations change with age in adulthood. Our sample included 195 adults (110 young adults and 85 middle-aged adults; 95 males) selected from different gove...

During recent history, intelligence has been one of the most polemic concepts in psychology. Major controversies in intelligence include the specific contribution of biological and cultural factors to intelligence, the unity or diversity of intelligence, the measure of intelligence, the potential intellectual differences among human groups, the int...

Writing represents an extension of oral language. It is a relatively recent invention in human history and only was created around 3500 BCE. Writing was not a single invention but rather a development that took a long time, advancing through different steps of complexity. Although writing began several millennia ago, it has not yet extended to all...

Hydrocephalus is defined as the abnormal buildup of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles of the brain. Cerebrospinal fluid is a colorless saline solution that acts as a “cushion” or buffer for the cortex providing a mechanical protection to the brain. It is produced in the choroid plexus of the ventricles at a rate of 500 ml/day and has a continuo...

Memory is a cognitive ability particularly sensitive to any type of brain pathology. Focal brain damage can significantly impair memory, especially if mesial structures of the temporal lobes are involved, as well as extended global processes, such as traumatic head injury, dementia, and similar conditions. Memory defects are known as amnesias. Ther...

Language is a communication system. Human language is a particular example that is characterized by the use of a limited set of articulate sounds (phonemes) that can be combined in different ways to create meaningfulunits (morphemes and words). In turn, these meaningful units are combined into larger units (sentences). The relationship between diff...

Acalculia is an acquired disorder in calculation abilities, usually associated with left posterior parietal damage. Two types of acalculic disorders are usually distinguished: (1) primary acalculia or anarithmetia, where the patient presents a loss of numerical concepts (difficulties are observed both in oral and written calculations), and (2) seco...

Inicialmente se analiza el origen del concepto de función ejecutiva; se revisan las diferentes interpretaciones. Se enfatiza que diferentes autores se han referido a dos funciones ejecutivas básicas, aunque utilizando diferentes nombres: metacognitivas o intelectuales, y emocionales/motivacionales. Se introduce el concepto de sistema o circuito cer...

Inicialmente se presenta una historia de la neuropsicología transcultural enfatizando que sus orígenes se pueden situar en los trabajos de Vygotsky y Luria durante los años 30 del siglo XX. Se enfatiza la importancia de la cultura en la interpretación fundamental y clínica de las habilidades cognoscitivas. A continuación se analizan algunas variabl...

The concept of executive functioning has become central in understanding normal and abnormal cognitive processes. This timely volume analyzes the diverse conditions that can result in executive function disturbances, providing research about underlying causes, exploring the differences between developmental and acquired executive "dysfunctions," an...

Objective: To establish the relationship between receptive and expressive language abilities with pre-reading skills in preschoolers. Methods: An observational and cross-sectional study was carried out by evaluating oral language abilities and phonological skills in a total sample of 106 children. Results: Multivariate regression models pointed out...

Transient global amnesia represents an episode of acute onset of transient global anterograde amnesia, with a variable degree of impairment of retrograde memory, which is not associated with any other major neurologic signs or symptoms. Resolution is gradual, with subjective recovery occurring in two thirds of patients within 2 to 12 hours and, in...

Acquired brain pathology can be associated with diverse psychiatric manifestations. Three major types of psychiatric disorders potentially found in cases of acquired brain pathology are examined: (1) psychosis, (2) mood disorders, and (3) personality disorders with special emphasis in so-called “acquired psychopathy.” Two types of psychotic manifes...

Since the beginning of aphasia history, it has been known that the insula has a crucial role in language. The interest in the insula somehow decreased during the twentieth century, because it has not directly included in the perisylvian language area proposed by Dejerine. During the late twentieth century, it was proposed that the insula plays a cr...

En esta presentación se consideran tres aspectos diferentes: (1) Las características de la lengua española: se examina el origen, la fonología, el léxico, la gramática y el sistema de escritura. Se explica que el español pertenece al grupo de las lenguas “cronometradas por sílabas” en contraposición a las lenguas “cronometradas por unidades acentu...

El término “función ejecutiva” o funciones ejecutivas” es un término relativamente reciente en neurociencias. La observación que los lóbulos frontales participaban en conductas regulatorias, tales como razonamiento, solución de problemas, inhibición de respuestas, desarrollo e implementación de estrategias, y memoria de trabajo, llevó a la propuest...

Background: Since the mid 19th century, cognitive and behavioral neurosciences have attempted to find the neurological bases of intellectual abilities. During the early 20th century the psychometric concept of "intelligence" was coined; and toward the end of the 20th century the neuropsychological concept of "executive functions" was introduced. C...

Although cross-cultural psychology began since the very beginning of psychology, the origins of cross-cultural neuropsychology can be related with Luria’s book Cognitive development: Its cultural and social foundations written in 1932. Two handbooks of cross-cultural neuropsychology have been published up to date. Culture can be understood as the w...

This study was aimed at studying the Verbal IQ in two groups of Spanish/English bilinguals: simultaneous and early sequential bilinguals. 48 Spanish/English bilinguals born in the U.S. or Latin American countries but moving to United States before the age of 10 were selected. The verbal subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (English and...

Background: Gender differences in language abilities have been frequently reported. These differences may be explained in terms of distinct network architecture involving canonical language areas.

An increased interest in comparing neuropsychological syndromes across cultures (cross-cultural neuropsychology) has been observed during recent years; however, little interest is observed in comparing these syndromes over time (“cross-temporal” neuropsychology). Neuropsychology as a scientific area began during the mid and late nineteenth century,...

This chapter reviews and discusses the historical origins of language, departing from the fundamental distinction between lexical evolution and grammatical evolution. Initially, some contemporary neurological research, including neuroimaging studies, is reviewed to support the proposal that there are two basic dimesions in language – lexicon and gr...

Writing has only 5–6 thousand years in human history. Initially, writing (or prewriting) was a visuoconstructive ability, later it included an ideomotor praxis skill, and finally it became a linguistic ability (i.e., associating a pictogram with a word, and further analyzing the word in its constituting sounds). Three major disorders in writing can...

The behavioral and cognitive consequences of frontal lobe damage were initially described during the nineteenth century. During the twentieth century, the term “frontal” or “prefrontal” syndrome was initially used; the name “executive function” is only found since the late twentieth century. A long discussion has existed about the unitarity or dive...

The ability to calculate represents a complex cognitive process including verbal, spatial, somatic, memory, and executive functions. The origin of mathematical concepts can be traced to subhuman species. The immediate recognition of certain small quantities without counting – subitizing – is found not only in animals but also in small children. Dur...

It is proposed that Homo sapiens’ biological adaptation was accomplished to survive under the environmental conditions that existed during the Paleolithic time. Recent man’s evolution, to a significant extent, corresponds to a cultural type of evolution, not necessarily requiring further overt biological changes. Strategies used for spatial orienta...

Regardless that pioneer researches about the influence of culture on cognitive testing were carried out during the early twentieth century, only during recent decades was there significant interest in understanding the cultural variables impacting cognitive testing. In this chapter, it is examined why culture affects cognition. It is emphasized tha...

This book addresses a central question: how did cognition emerge in human history? It approaches the question from a cultural-historical, neuropsychological perspective and analyses evidence on the historical origins of cognitive activity; integrates information regarding cross-cultural differences in neuropsychological performance; and discusses h...

This chapter reviews the research on the personality characteristics associated with speaking two languages. It has been found that bilinguals frequently report feeling like a different person when speaking the first language (L1) compared to the second language (L2). Previous studies have found differences in the Big Five Inventory (BFI) dimension...

This chapter presents a summary of the investigation on the emotional association of words in the first (L1) and the second (L2) language of bilingual speakers. It has been observed that the emotional associations of these words can differ for the L1 and the L2. To measure the emotional value of these words in bilinguals, researchers have used diff...

The idea that there is an inner speech has a long history, but was systematized by Vygotsky during the twentieth century. He referred to three different types of speech: “external speech,” “private,” and “inner speech.” It has been observed that the left inferior frontal gyrus represents the brain area sustaining inner speech use. In bilinguals it...

Bilinguals can present language disorders not completely equivalent in their first (L1) and second (L2) languages. In this chapter five neuropsychological conditions that can potentially be linguistically dissociated in bilinguals will be examined: aphasia, alexia, dysphasia, dyslexia, and dementia. In bilingual individuals, aphasia is usually obse...

Violent behavior can be analyzed from different perspectives: social, legal, psychological, neurological, genetic, etc. Neuropsychology can significantly contribute to the understanding of violence. Four different questions are analyzed: (1). Moral from the neuropsychological perspective. Executive functions includes the concept of morality and eth...