title: The role of the left anterior temporal lobe in exception word reading: reconciling patient and neuroimaging findings.
abstract: Semantic dementia (SD) is a neurodegenerative disease that occurs following the atrophy of the anterior temporal lobes (ATLs). It is characterised by the degradation of semantic knowledge and difficulties in reading exception words (surface dyslexia). This disease has highlighted the role of the ATLs in the process of exception word reading. However, imaging studies in healthy subjects have failed to detect activation of the ATLs during exception word reading. The aim of the present study was to test whether the functional brain regions that mediate exception word reading in normal readers overlap those brain regions atrophied in SD. In Study One, we map the brain regions of grey matter atrophy in AF, a patient with mild SD and surface dyslexia profile. In Study Two, we map the activation pattern associated with exception word compared to pseudoword reading in young, healthy participants using fMRI. The results revealed areas of significant activation in healthy subjects engaged in the exception word reading task in the left anterior middle temporal gyrus, in a region observed to be atrophic in the patient AF. These results reconcile neuropsychological and functional imaging data, revealing the critical role of the left ATL in exception word reading.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Québec and Département de réadaptation, Université Laval, Québec, Québec, Canada. maximiliano.wilson@fmed.ulaval.ca
authors.forename: Maximiliano A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Joubert
authors.forename: Perrine
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ferré
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Belleville
authors.forename: Ana Inés
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Ansaldo
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Joanette
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rouleau
authors.forename: Simona Maria
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Brambati
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001284:Atrophy / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004411:Dyslexia, Acquired / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D057174:Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D011932:Reading; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*