Neuronal substrates for semantic memory: a positron emission tomography study in Alzheimer's disease.
We examined 57 patients with mild Alzheimer's disease by using three kinds of verbal semantic memory tests (category fluency, confrontation naming and generation of verbal definition) and correlated each score with regional cerebral glucose metabolism determined by (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose and positron emission tomography. The scores of all three verbal semantic memory tests correlated significantly with regional cerebral glucose metabolism in the left inferior temporal gyrus, even after controlling for the effects of age, sex and educational attainment. In contrast, the scores of the word recall test did not correlate significantly with regional cerebral glucose metaboliosm in the left inferior temporal gyrus, neither before nor after controlling for these confounders. Our results suggested that the left inferior temporal lobe contributes to verbal semantic memory.
Hirono
N
N
Division of Clinical Neurosciences, Hyogo Institute for Aging Brain and Cognitive Disorders, Himeji, Japan. hirono@hiabcd.go.jp
Mori
E
E
Ishii
K
K
Imamura
T
T
Tanimukai
S
S
Kazui
H
H
Hashimoto
M
M
Takatsuki
Y
Y
Kitagaki
H
H
Sasaki
M
M
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000523:psychology*; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012660:Semantics; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism*; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed; D014706:Verbal Learning
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18