title: Discourse production following injury to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
abstract: Individuals with damage to the prefrontal cortex, and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in particular, often demonstrate difficulties with the formulation of complex language not attributable to aphasia. The present study employed a discourse analysis procedure to characterize the language of individuals with left (L) or right (R) DLPFC lesions. All participants were 30-35 years post-onset of injury and presented with persistent discourse impairments. The discourse performance of the R DLPFC group was not significantly different from either the L DLPFC group or the non-injured comparison group. Individuals from the L DLPFC group demonstrated specific difficulties with narrative coherence and inclusion of critical story components. Both measures were significantly different from the comparison group. The discourse ability of the DLPFC groups was significantly correlated with measures of working memory. Findings support the use of discourse analysis for examining language impairments in individuals with PFC lesions.
authors.affiliation: Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences Department, University of Connecticut, 850 Bolton Road, Storrs, CT 06269-1085, USA. coelho@uconn.edu
authors.forename: Carl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Coelho
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lê
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mozeiko
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Krueger
authors.forename: Jordan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Grafman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013064:Speech Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D013223:Statistics as Topic