title: Naming is associated with left temporal pole metabolite levels in neurodegenerative diseases.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the relationship between performance in language tests and levels of brain metabolites in two selected left temporal lobe regions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ninety-five subjects were included: 26 controls, 30 amnestic mild cognitive impairment subjects, 27 Alzheimer's disease and 12 frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) patients. Language was assessed by a naming test: Boston Naming Test (BNT) and by a semantic verbal fluency test. Other cognitive functions: verbal and visual memory, visual perception, attention and executive function, and praxis were also assessed. Single voxel magnetic resonance spectroscopy was obtained in the left temporal pole (L-TPOLE), and in the left posterior temporoparietal region (L-TPAR).
  
  
  RESULTS
  BNT scores were significantly associated with N-acetylaspartate/creatine ratios (r = 0.45; p < 0.001) and choline/creatine ratios (r = 0.33; p < 0.005) in the L-TPOLE. No significant associations were found between BNT and metabolite levels in the L-TPAR. No significant associations were found between the semantic verbal fluency test and other cognitive tests and metabolite levels either in the L-TPOLE or in the L-TPAR.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Naming performance is related to metabolite levels in the anterior L-TPOLE.
authors.affiliation: Alzheimer's Disease and Other Cognitive Disorders Unit, Department of Neurology, Institute of Neurosciences, Hospital Clinic i Universitari de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rami
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Caprile
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gómez-Ansón
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Valle
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Monte
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bosch
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Molinuevo
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000647:Amnesia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D000849:Anomia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D002794:Choline / Q000378:metabolism; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D003401:Creatine / Q000378:metabolism; D003704:Dementia / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D001224:Aspartic Acid; C000179:N-acetylaspartate; D003401:Creatine; D002794:Choline