Evolution of language assessment in patients with acquired neurological disorders in Brazil

• Published in: Dementia & neuropsychologia Vol. 8; no. 3; pp. 196 - 206
• Main Authors: Parente, Maria Alice de Mattos Pimenta, Baradel, Roberta Roque, Fonseca, Rochele Paz, Pereira, Natalie, Carthery-Goulart, Maria Teresa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brazil Associação de Neurologia Cognitiva e do Comportamento 01-07-2014; Associação Neurologia Cognitiva e do Comportamento
• Subjects: acquired aphasia; CLINICAL NEUROLOGY; disability evaluation; GERIATRICS & GERONTOLOGY; HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES; history; MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL; NURSING; PSYCHIATRY; PSYCHOLOGY; Views & Reviews; acquired aphasia; disability evaluation; history; avaliação da deficiência; afasia adquirida; aspectos históricos
• ISSN: 1980-5764; 1980-5764
• DOI: 10.1590/S1980-57642014DN83000002

The objective of this paper was to describe the evolution of language assessments in patients with acquired neurological diseases over a period of around 45 years from 1970, when interdisciplinarity in Neuropsychology first began in Brazil, to the present day. The first twenty years of data was based on memories of Speech Pathology University Professors who were in charge of teaching aphasia. We then show the contributions of Linguistics, Cognitive Psychology, as well as Psycholinguistic and Psychometric criteria, to language evaluation. Finally, the current panorama of adaptations and creations of validated and standardized instruments is given, based on a search of the databases Pubmed, Scopus and Lilacs. Our closing remarks highlight the diversity in evaluation approaches and the recent tendency of language evaluations linked to new technologies such as brain imaging and computational analysis.