title: Object and proper name retrieval in temporal lobe epilepsy: a study of difficulties and latencies.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Retrieving a specific name is sometimes difficult and can be even harder when pathology affects the temporal lobes. Word finding difficulties have been well documented in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) but analyses have mostly concentrated on the study of accuracy. Our aim here was to go beyond simple accuracy and to provide both a quantitative and a qualitative assessment of naming difficulties and latencies in patients with TLE.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-two patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (16 with epilepsy affecting the cerebral hemisphere dominant for language (D-TLE) and 16 with epilepsy affecting the cerebral hemisphere non-dominant for language (ND-TLE)) and 34 healthy matched control subjects were included in the study. The experiment involved naming 70 photographs of objects and 70 photographs of celebrities as fast as possible. Accuracy and naming reaction times were recorded. Following each trial, a questionnaire was used to determine the specific nature of each subject's difficulty in retrieving the name (e.g., no difficulty, paraphasia, tip of the tongue, feeling of knowing the name, etc). Reaction times were analysed both across subjects and across trials.
  
  
  RESULTS
  D-TLE patients showed consistent and quasi-systematic impairment compared to matched control subjects on both object and famous people naming. This impairment was characterized not only by lower accuracy but also by more qualitative errors and tip of the tongue phenomena. Furthermore, minimum reaction times were slowed down by about 70 ms for objects and 150 ms for famous people naming. In contrast, patients with ND-TLE were less impaired, and their impairment was limited to object naming.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that patients with TLE, in particular D-TLE, show a general impairment of lexical access. Furthermore, there was evidence of subtle difficulties (increased reaction times) in patients with TLE.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche Cerveau et Cognition, CNRS et Université de Toulouse, UMR 5549, 31052 Toulouse Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Valérie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Condret-Santi
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche Cerveau et Cognition, CNRS et Université de Toulouse, UMR 5549, 31052 Toulouse Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Gladys
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Barragan-Jason
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche Cerveau et Cognition, CNRS et Université de Toulouse, UMR 5549, 31052 Toulouse Cedex, France; Explorations Neurophysiologiques, Hôpital Pierre Paul Riquet, Centre Hospitalier de Toulouse, 31052 Toulouse Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Valton
authors.affiliation: Explorations Neurophysiologiques, Hôpital Pierre Paul Riquet, Centre Hospitalier de Toulouse, 31052 Toulouse Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Denuelle
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche Cerveau et Cognition, CNRS et Université de Toulouse, UMR 5549, 31052 Toulouse Cedex, France; Explorations Neurophysiologiques, Hôpital Pierre Paul Riquet, Centre Hospitalier de Toulouse, 31052 Toulouse Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Curot
authors.affiliation: Octogone, Université de Toulouse, EA 4156, 31052 Toulouse Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Luc
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Nespoulous
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche Cerveau et Cognition, CNRS et Université de Toulouse, UMR 5549, 31052 Toulouse Cedex, France. Electronic address: emmanuel.barbeau@cerco.ups-tlse.fr.
authors.forename: Emmanuel J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Barbeau
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009275:Names; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time; D012660:Semantics; D013060:Speech; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Famous people; Naming; Semantic memory; Temporal lobe epilepsy; Tip-of-the-tongue