title: Verb generation in children with spina bifida.
abstract: We investigated verb generation in children with spina bifida meningomyelocele (SBM; n = 55) and in typically developing controls (n = 32). Participants completed 6 blocks (40 trials each) of a task requiring them to produce a semantically related verb in response to a target noun and an additional 40 trials on which they were simply required to read target nouns aloud. After controlling for reading response time, groups did not differ significantly in verb generation response time or learning. Children with SBM produced more non-verb errors than controls and tended to repeat their mistakes over blocks. Verb generation performance was associated with brain volume measures in participants with SBM. Congenital cerebellar dysmorphology is associated with impaired performance in verb generation accuracy, although not with increased response times to produce verbs
authors.affiliation: Program in Neurosciences & Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. maureen.dennis@sickkids.ca
authors.forename: Maureen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dennis
authors.forename: Derryn
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jewell
authors.forename: Ross
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hetherington
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Burton
authors.forename: Michael E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Brandt
authors.forename: Susan E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Blaser
authors.forename: Jack M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Fletcher
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D011932:Reading; D016135:Spinal Dysraphism / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*