Sheila E. Blumstein - When Words Betray Us: Language, the Brain, and Aphasia

Sheila E. Blumstein

When Words Betray Us

Language, the Brain, and Aphasia

Logo of the publisher

Logo of the publisher

To all those, here and gone, who made a difference in my life

The ASA Press

ASA Press, which represents a collaboration between the Acoustical Society of America and Springer Nature, is dedicated to encouraging the publication of important new books as well as the distribution of classic titles in acoustics. These titles, published under a dual ASA Press/Springer imprint, are intended to reflect the full range of research in acoustics. ASA Press titles can include all types of books that Springer publishes, and may appear in any appropriate Springer book series.

Editorial Board

Mark F. Hamilton (Chair), University of Texas at Austin

James Cottingham, Coe College

Timothy F. Duda, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Robin Glosemeyer Petrone, Threshold Acoustics

William M. Hartmann (Ex Officio), Michigan State University

Darlene R. Ketten, Boston University

James F. Lynch (Ex Officio), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Philip L. Marston, Washington State University

Arthur N. Popper (Ex Officio), University of Maryland

Christine H. Shadle, Haskins Laboratories

G. Christopher Stecker, Boys Town National Research Hospital

Stephen C. Thompson, The Pennsylvania State University

Ning Xiang, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

My first introduction to aphasia was personal. At the time I did not know what aphasia was. When I was 19, my grandmother had a stroke. Within days of her stroke, I visited her in her home where she was lying in a hospital bed in her room. She could no longer speak. Although she tried, what came out were incomprehensible syllables. Over time, I could tell from my visits that she was improving. But the improvement was painfully slow. She could not walk on her own, she could say only a few words, and it was not clear how much she understood. Unfortunately, her story did not have a happy ending. She continued to have small strokes, and as a result, her language declined until she ultimately stopped all communication.

At the time, no one gave a name to her disorder. It was not until I was in graduate school that I made the connection when one of my professors, Roman Jakobson, talked about the breakdown of language in adults as a result of brain injury. I realized that my grandmother had had aphasia. It was then that I started reading and wrote my first paper in that course about aphasia. My grandmother may have lost her voice, but it has lived on as her legacy to me in my lifelong interest and commitment to understanding language, the brain, and aphasia.

Having been in the field since 1967 (starting in my second year as a graduate student), one has what I call the long view. Theories come and go, old theories are rediscovered, and new theories are developed. Progress seems infinitely slow but with the long view, one can see that there is real and substantial change. And one also develops a personal perspective. And that is what this book represents. It is not intended to be a historical overview nor a critical analysis of the research of the field, although my worldview has been influenced by and owes much to those before me. It was written with the goal of making it accessible to the non-professional who may have personal experience with someone with aphasia or who is simply interested in learning about how language works, how it breaks down, and how the machinery of the brain makes it all happen.

There are many to thank for the support I have had throughout the years and who have helped bring this book to fruition. The list of people included here is not exhaustive, but it represents those who have deeply influenced and assisted me. First to my mentors of years ago, Roman Jakobson and Harold Goodglass. They provided guidance and support as I learned about aphasia and started my research career. In preparing this book, special thanks go to Carol Fowler and Donald Shankweiler who read drafts of all of the chapters and provided many helpful comments and criticisms; to Ann Marie Clarkson, a talented artist, who drew many of the figures included in the book; and to my colleagues David Badre, Elena Festa, Bill Heindel, and Philip Lieberman and former students, now colleagues, Sara Guediche, Allard Jongman, Sahil Luthra, Emily Myers, Rachel Theodore, and Kathleen Kurowski for many helpful discussions and assistance. Thanks to the Labites, the undergraduate and graduate students and the postdocs, who were part of my lab at Brown University. Many thanks go to the team at Springer and especially to Sam Harrison, a great editor, who gave consistently helpful comments and advice. Finally, my gratitude goes to the many persons with aphasia with whom I worked and who were gracious participants in my research program and also to the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders for supporting my research starting with a predoctoral fellowship in 1968 and continuing throughout my career.