A temporal lobe factor in verb fluency.
Verb fluency requires self-sustained verb retrieval. The brain correlates of this task are virtually unknown. We investigated the relations between verb and noun (semantic) fluency and regional brain perfusion in subjects with varying degrees of cognitive decline, ranging from very mild subjective impairment to Alzheimer's disease (AD). Data consisted of single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) data and temporally resolved verb and noun fluency scores from 93 participants. Impaired verb fluency was predicted by a temporal lobe hypoperfusion factor and low education, whereas high age and low perfusion in the parietotemporal-occipital region predicted impaired noun fluency. Analysis of perfusion within the temporal region indicated primary involvement of the temporal pole and medial temporal lobe in AD. This might reflect pathology of the anterior parahippocampal region, which appears early in neurodegenerative disease. Although temporal lobe structures have not usually been implicated in verb processing, early temporal pathology thus appears to contribute to impaired verb fluency in cognitive decline.
Ostberg
Per
P
Section for Clinical Geriatrics, Neurotec Department, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden.
Crinelli
Raffaella M
RM
Danielsson
Rimma
R
Wahlund
Lars-Olof
LO
Bogdanovic
Nenad
N
Fernaeus
Sven-Erik
SE
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000503:physiopathology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D007806:Language Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007807:Language Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D011930:Reaction Time; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D012660:Semantics; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon; D014705:Verbal Behavior; D014706:Verbal Learning