Disorders of lexical access and production

Disorders of lexical access are characterized by inconsistent lexical access such that individuals successfully comprehend or produce a word in some contexts but fail on other occasions. Therefore, the lexical representations are thought to be intact, but their retrieval or activation is impaired and/or competing representations are not effectively managed. Lexical access deficits are most well-studied in individuals with aphasia, though some degree of lexical access difficulty can occur in a wide variety of neurogenic and developmental disorders, as well as in typical aging. This chapter focuses on the intersections of language, cognitive control, and memory: (1) how inhibition of lexical competitors and selection among competitors may explain some lexical access deficit phenomena, and (2) learning and retrieval processes in lexical access deficits from both basic research and translational application perspectives.