Steffie Bruehl

CFA-Screening and CFAT


 Diagnosis and therapy of cognitive flexibility in aphasia

Persons with aphasia can present with impairments in executive functions, over and above language deficits. This includes deficits in cognitive flexibility, the ability to update behaviour quickly and flexibly in a changing environment. These deficits have been neglected in aphasia diagnosis and therapy, even though their consideration may be beneficial for the persons affected.  The novel Cognitive Flexibility in Aphasia-Screening/CFA-Screening and the appended Cognitive Flexibility in Aphasia Therapy (CFAT) aim to close this scientific and clinical gap. The present project set out to evaluate whether aphasia therapy including cognitive flexibility led to more improvement than conventional aphasia therapy. Results showed that the novel approach allows the assessment and treatment of impaired cognitive flexibility and word finding in aphasia within a communicative setting.
The PhD project of Dr. Lena Spitzer was supported by the German National Merit Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes).
Publications und cooperators:
  • Spitzer, L., Binkofski, F., Willmes, K. & Bruehl, S. (2021). The novel Cognitive Flexibility in Aphasia Therapy (CFAT): A combined treatment of aphasia and executive functions to improve communicative success. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 23(2), 168-179. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2020.1757152
  • Spitzer, L. & Bruehl, S. (2021). Update Diagnostik: Cognitive Flexibility in Aphasia-Screening (CFA-Screening). Forum Logopädie, 35(5), 24. (Request HERE)
  • Spitzer, L., Binkofski, F., Willmes, K. & Bruehl, S. (2020; Online 2019). Executive functions in aphasia: A novel aphasia screening for cognitive flexibility in everyday communication. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 30(9), 1701-1719. https://doi.org/10.1080/09602011.2019.1601572
  • Spitzer, L., Binkofski, F., Willmes, K., Bruehl, S. (2020). Beeinträchtigte Umstellungsfähigkeit bei Aphasie – Vorstellung eines neuen Therapieansatzes. Aphasie und verwandte Gebiete, 47(1), 6-17. http://www.aphasie.org/de/3-fachpersonen/3.1-fachzeitschriften/apha_fachzeitschrift_1-2020.pdf
  • Spitzer, L., Binkofski, F., Willmes, K., Abel, S. (2017). Exekutivfunktionen bei Aphasie: Entwicklung eines neuen Therapiekonzepts zur Verbesserung der Umstellungsfähigkeit bei Aphasie. Sprache, Stimme, Gehör, 41(4), 304-311. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0043-117234