Theory and research in aphasiology have typically concentrated on a limited population--right-handed adult monolinguals whose language uses an alphabetic code. Bilingual individuals, ideographical code users, and children (among others) have been separated out. This book examines the available data from these "atypical" aphasics, asking whether what makes them different has a significant effect on language representation and processing in the brain. Each chapter reviews literature pertinent to a given population and explores whether (and potentially how) these populations differ from the "typical" aphasic population. The ultimate goal is to better understand whether the model of language used in aphasiology can be extended to these "atypical" populations, or conversely, whether significant differences merit the development of a new model.

This is the first single-authored book to attempt to bridge the gap between aphasia research and the rehabilitation of patients with this language disorder. Studies of the deficits underlying aphasia and the practice of aphasia rehabilitation have often diverged, and the relationship between theory and practice in aphasiology is loose. The goal of this book is to help close this gap by making explicit the relationship between what is to be rehabilitated and how to rehabilitate it. Early chapters cover the history of aphasia and its therapy from Broca's discoveries to the 1970's, and provide a description of the classic aphasia syndromes. The middle section describes the contribution of cognition neuropsychology and the treatment models it has inspired. It includes discussion of the relationship between the treatment approach and the functional model upon which it is based. The final chapters deal with aphasia therapy. After providing a sketch of a working theory of aphasia, Basso describes intervention procedures for disorders resulting from damage at the lexical and sentence levels as well as a more general conversation-based intervention for severe aphasics. Anna Basso has run an aphasia rehabilitation unit for more than thirty years. In this book she draws on her considerable experience to provide researchers, clinicians, and their students and trainees with comprehensive coverage of the evolution and state of the art of aphasia research and therapy.

Theory and research in aphasiology have typically concentrated on a limited population--right-handed adult monolinguals whose language uses an alphabetic code. Bilingual individuals, ideographical code users, and children (among others) have been separated out. This book examines the available data from these "atypical" aphasics, asking whether what makes them different has a significant effect on language representation and processing in the brain. Each chapter reviews literature pertinent to a given population and explores whether (and potentially how) these populations differ from the "typical" aphasic population. The ultimate goal is to better understand whether the model of language used in aphasiology can be extended to these "atypical" populations, or conversely, whether significant differences merit the development of a new model.

Even if, in recent years, the study of language disorders in brain-damaged patients has been strongly influenced by models and experimental paradigms of cognitive neuropsychology, much less relevant has been the impact of this new approach to language rehabilitation. Contrasting opinions exist on this subject among clinicians and researchers. Some authors maintain that cognitive neuropsychology has not changed and will not change the treatment of aphasia. Other authors adopt a less pessimistic attitude, either reporting empirical data that support this viewpoint, or trying to define more precisely theoretical models, patient's characteristics and treatment paradigms that should improve the efficacy of cognitively oriented treatments.
The main scope of the present volume, which is mainly based upon contributions presented at a workshop on the relationships between cognitive neuropsychology and aphasia rehabilitation, is to make the point on this controversial issue. The volume includes several theoretical papers discussing the role of the cognitive approach in the development of language rehabilitation (Shallice; Basso & Marangolo; Best & Nickels), as well as specific examples of the application of cognitive models to the treatment of disorders of written language (Luzzatti, Colombo, Frustaci & Vitolo) and of sentence-level impairments (Springer & Huber; Mitchum, Berndt & Greenwald). Two review papers, dealing with the pragmatic approach to aphasia rehabilitation (Carlomagno, Santoro, Labruna & Blasi) and with neuroimaging studies of recovery (Cappa) complete the issue.
The papers incorporate elements of the lively discussion, which took place among the restricted number of participants at the workshop, on a number of controversial issues. Leading among them were the fundamental questions: has cognitive neuropsychology given up to now a significant contribution to aphasia rehabilitation, and what can be expected in the future. We hope that the moderately optimistic view that emerged from the workshop will be shared by readers of this special issue.