title: Noun and knowledge retrieval for biological and non-biological entities following right occipitotemporal lesions.
abstract: We investigated the critical contribution of right ventral occipitotemporal cortex to knowledge of visual and functional-associative attributes of biological and non-biological entities and how this relates to category-specificity during confrontation naming. In a consecutive series of 7 patients with lesions confined to right ventral occipitotemporal cortex, we conducted an extensive assessment of oral generation of visual-sensory and functional-associative features in response to the names of biological and nonbiological entities. Subjects also performed a confrontation naming task for these categories. Our main novel finding related to a unique case with a small lesion confined to right medial fusiform gyrus who showed disproportionate naming impairment for nonbiological versus biological entities, specifically for tools. Generation of visual and functional-associative features was preserved for biological and non-biological entities. In two other cases, who had a relatively small posterior lesion restricted to primary visual and posterior fusiform cortex, retrieval of visual attributes was disproportionately impaired compared to functional-associative attributes, in particular for biological entities. However, these cases did not show a category-specific naming deficit. Two final cases with the largest lesions showed a classical dissociation between biological versus nonbiological entities during naming, with normal feature generation performance. This is the first lesion-based evidence of a critical contribution of the right medial fusiform cortex to tool naming. Second, dissociations along the dimension of attribute type during feature generation do not co-occur with category-specificity during naming in the current patient sample.
authors: Laboratory for Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Belgium; Neurology Department, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors: Rose
authors: R
authors: Bruffaerts
authors: Laboratory for Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Belgium.
authors: An-Sofie
authors: AS
authors: De Weer
authors: Laboratory for Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Belgium; Radboud University Nijmegen, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors: Sophie
authors: S
authors: De Grauwe
authors: Laboratory for Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Belgium.
authors: Miek
authors: M
authors: Thys
authors: Laboratory for Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Belgium.
authors: Eva
authors: E
authors: Dries
authors: Neurology Department, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors: Vincent
authors: V
authors: Thijs
authors: Radiology Department, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors: Stefan
authors: S
authors: Sunaert
authors: Brain and Emotion Laboratory Leuven, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Belgium; Psychiatry Department, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors: Mathieu
authors: M
authors: Vandenbulcke
authors: Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors: Simon
authors: S
authors: De Deyne
authors: Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors: Gerrit
authors: G
authors: Storms
authors: Laboratory for Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Belgium; Neurology Department, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: rik.vandenberghe@uz.kuleuven.ac.be.
authors: Rik
authors: R
authors: Vandenberghe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000473:pathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D019359:Knowledge; D007802:Language; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000473:pathology*; D012660:Semantics; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology*; D014792:Visual Acuity; D058609:Visual Field Tests
keywords: Category-specific deficits; Retrieval of visual attributes; Right temporal lesions