title: Morphological derivation overflow as a result of disruption of the left frontal aslant white matter tract.
abstract: The frontal aslant tract (FAT) is a recently described major connection between the preSMA and Broca's area, whose functional role remains undefined. In this study we examined a patient presenting a morphological overregularization strategy in a verb generation task during awake surgery. This specific language deficit coincided with brain tumor resection at the level of the left FAT. During the task execution the patient formed the non-existent verbs by applying a morphological derivation rule to the given nouns, instead of retrieving the appropriate verbs. DTI results confirmed left FAT damage. Neuropsychological follow-up showed that this morphological derivation impairment partially persisted after surgery, whereas the results on a wide spectrum of other language-related tasks remained satisfactory. Additionally, we compared the pre- and the post-operational fMRI activation maps for the same verb generation task. We discuss the potential role of the left FAT in the morphological derivation process and in lexical retrieval.
authors: Cognition and Brain Plasticity Group [Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute - IDIBELL], 08097 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain; Dept. of Basic Psychology, Campus Bellvitge, University of Barcelona, 08097 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Joanna
authors: J
authors: Sierpowska
authors: Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge (HUB), Neurosurgery Section, Campus Bellvitge, University of Barcelona - IDIBELL, 08097 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Andreu
authors: A
authors: Gabarrós
authors: Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge (HUB), Neurosurgery Section, Campus Bellvitge, University of Barcelona - IDIBELL, 08097 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Alejandro
authors: A
authors: Fernandez-Coello
authors: Institut de Diagnòstic per la Imatge, Centre Bellvitge, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, 08907 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Àngels
authors: À
authors: Camins
authors: Institut de Diagnòstic per la Imatge, Centre Bellvitge, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, 08907 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Sara
authors: S
authors: Castañer
authors: Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge (HUB), Neurology Section, Campus Bellvitge, University of Barcelona - IDIBELL, 08097 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Montserrat
authors: M
authors: Juncadella
authors: Cognition and Brain Plasticity Group [Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute - IDIBELL], 08097 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain; Dept. of Basic Psychology, Campus Bellvitge, University of Barcelona, 08097 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain; Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies, ICREA, 08010 Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Ruth
authors: R
authors: de Diego-Balaguer
authors: Cognition and Brain Plasticity Group [Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute - IDIBELL], 08097 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain; Dept. of Basic Psychology, Campus Bellvitge, University of Barcelona, 08097 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain; Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies, ICREA, 08010 Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: antoni.rodriguez@icrea.cat.
authors: Antoni
authors: A
authors: Rodríguez-Fornells
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001254:Astrocytoma / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D001931:Brain Mapping; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012660:Semantics; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D066127:White Matter / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery
keywords: Diffusion tensor imaging; Electrical Stimulation Mapping; Frontal aslant tract; Morphological derivation