title: Verbal memory impairment after left insular cortex infarction.
abstract: PET studies have shown an association between changes in blood flow in the insular cortex and verbal memory. This study compared verbal memory profiles between a group of four right handed patients with right insular infarction and a group of six right handed patients with left insular infarction. Patient groups were comparable in age, education, and sex. Patients were administered memory tests about 4-8 weeks poststroke. Patients with left insular lesions showed significantly poorer immediate and delayed verbal memory as measured by story A of the WMS-R logical memory I (t=-2.73, p<0.03) and logical memory II (t=-4.1, p<0.004) subtests as well as the CERAD word list memory (delayed recall) (t=-2.4, p<0.05). These findings indicate that left insular damage is associated with poorer performance on verbal memory tasks. The findings suggest that the insula may be part of a functional network that mediates verbal memory.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa, USA. ffm21@cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Manes
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Springer
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jorge
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Robinson
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests