Laura Murray, assistant professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at IU Bloomington, researches communication problems associated with age-related disorders.

"I’ve been most interested in problems with stroke, particularly aphasia, which involves difficulty understanding and producing spoken and written language—problems with retrieving and producing words, producing or understanding grammar, problems with spelling words or with reading, sounding out words or deriving meaning from them," she said.

"But I’m also looking at progressive diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s. With these, I’m interested in determining the nature of the communication problem. Does the patient have problems communicating because of language deficits or because problems in other cognitive abilities, like memory or attention, interact to cause communication problems?"

Murray, also a core faculty member of the Program in Neural Science and the Cognitive Science Program, and an affiliated scientist with the IU Center for Aging Research, currently has a five-year grant from the National Institute of Deafness and Communication Disorders, to study aphasia, its assessment methods and remedial techniques.

"It’s important to understand the nature of an elderly patient’s communication problems because this affects assessment and treatment procedures," said Murray. "Communication skills may also be affected by changes in other abilities. For example, normal aging is associated with gradual changes in hearing and visual acuity. Obviously, an elderly individual will have communication problems if he or she cannot hear what other people are saying or see well enough to read written information.

"We examine not just a patient’s language abilities, but also his or her memory, attention and other cognitive abilities, such as problem solving or reasoning," she said. "This may provide information about how well a patient will do at learning communication strategies—can the patient remember to use the strategy or figure out when to use it? Or it may identify problematic environments—someone with attention problems will likely suffer communication breakdowns in a distracting environment."

Murray is testing various techniques of intervention. "In one study, we used word prediction software in which the user types a letter and the software generates a list of possible word choices. One particular patient improved from being unable to spell even short, single words to being able to write a small vocabulary, as well as to correctly write simple sentences."

Also involved in a study focused upon assessment procedures to help differentiate patients in the early stages of Alzheimer’s from those with depression, Murray has a long list of interventions in her arsenal. She has found that providing patients with relaxation techniques before language skills training helps significantly. She employs traditional language treatment that focuses on stimulating and practicing language, and also alternative means of communication, like drawing and electronic communication devices. Caregivers are trained in communication strategies, like asking yes/no questions rather than those that are open ended.

"It’s important that the public and physicians understand that there are lots of treatment procedures that can maintain communication interactions even when the elderly person has a progressive disease," said Murray. "Communication problems translate into reduced quality and quantity of social interactions for the elderly. Much of what we do all day involves communication, and the far-reaching implications of having a communication problem are often underestimated until a person or a loved one suffers."