title: A temporal lobe factor in verb fluency.
abstract: 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.
authors: Section for Clinical Geriatrics, Neurotec Department, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors: Per
authors: P
authors: Ostberg
authors: Raffaella M
authors: RM
authors: Crinelli
authors: Rimma
authors: R
authors: Danielsson
authors: Lars-Olof
authors: LO
authors: Wahlund
authors: Nenad
authors: N
authors: Bogdanovic
authors: Sven-Erik
authors: SE
authors: Fernaeus
mesh_terms: 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