title: Word-finding impairment in veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
abstract: Approximately one quarter of 1991 Persian Gulf War Veterans experience cognitive and physiological sequelae that continue to be unexplained by known medical or psychological conditions. Difficulty coming up with words and names, familiar before the war, is a hallmark of the illness. Three Gulf War Syndrome subtypes have been identified and linked to specific war-time chemical exposures. The most functionally impaired veterans belong to the Gulf War Syndrome 2 (Syndrome 2) group, for which subcortical damage due to toxic nerve gas exposure is the suspected cause. Subcortical damage is often associated with specific complex language impairments, and Syndrome 2 veterans have demonstrated poorer vocabulary relative to controls. 11 Syndrome 1, 16 Syndrome 2, 9 Syndrome 3, and 14 age-matched veteran controls from the Seabees Naval Construction Battalion were compared across three measures of complex language. Additionally, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was collected during a covert category generation task, and whole-brain functional activity was compared between groups. Results demonstrated that Syndrome 2 veterans performed significantly worse on letter and category fluency relative to Syndrome 1 veterans and controls. They also exhibited reduced activity in the thalamus, putamen, and amygdala, and increased activity in the right hippocampus relative to controls. Syndrome 1 and Syndrome 3 groups tended to show similar, although smaller, differences than the Syndrome 2 group. Hence, these results further demonstrate specific impairments in complex language as well as subcortical and hippocampal involvement in Syndrome 2 veterans. Further research is required to determine the extent of language impairments in this population and the significance of altered neurologic activity in the aforementioned brain regions with the purpose of better characterizing the Gulf War Syndromes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida, 1225 Center Drive, Room 3151, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA. Electronic address: kmoffett@phhp.ufl.edu.
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Moffett
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research and Development, Brain Rehabilitation Research Center of Excellence, Malcolm Randall VA Medical Center, 1601 S.W. Archer Road, Gainesville, FL 32608-1197, USA; Department of Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research and Development, Center of Excellence for Visual and Neurocognitive Rehabilitation, 1670 Clairmont Rd., Decatur, GA 30033, USA; Departments of Neurology and Radiology, Emory University, 101 Woodruff Circle, Suite 6000, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, PO Box 5010, Atlanta, GA 303025010, USA. Electronic address: bruce.crosson@emory.edu.
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Crosson
authors.affiliation: Departments of Internal Medicine (Epidemiology Division) and Radiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390-8874, USA. Electronic address: jss130230@utdallas.edu.
authors.forename: Jeffrey S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Spence
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida, 1225 Center Drive, Room 3151, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA. Electronic address: kim.case@ufl.edu.
authors.forename: Kimberly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Case
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida, 1225 Center Drive, Room 3151, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA. Electronic address: ilana.f.levy@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ilana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.affiliation: Departments of Internal Medicine (Epidemiology Division) and Radiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390-8874, USA. Electronic address: Kaundinya.s.gopinath@emory.edu.
authors.forename: Kaundinya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gopinath
authors.affiliation: Departments of Internal Medicine (Epidemiology Division) and Radiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390-8874, USA. Electronic address: parina.shah30@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Parina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.affiliation: Departments of Internal Medicine (Epidemiology Division) and Radiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390-8874, USA. Electronic address: goyala@yorku.ca.
authors.forename: Aman
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goyal
authors.affiliation: Departments of Internal Medicine (Epidemiology Division) and Radiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390-8874, USA. Electronic address: fangyan331@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Departments of Internal Medicine (Epidemiology Division) and Radiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390-8874, USA; Department of Physics & Astronomy, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30302-5060, USA. Electronic address: rbriggs1@gsu.edu.
authors.forename: Richard W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Briggs
authors.affiliation: Departments of Internal Medicine (Epidemiology Division) and Radiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390-8874, USA. Electronic address: jhart@utdallas.edu.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hart
authors.affiliation: Center for Rehabilitation Medicine, Emory University, 101 Woodruff Circle, Suite 6000, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. Electronic address: annabmoore@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: Departments of Internal Medicine (Epidemiology Division) and Radiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390-8874, USA. Electronic address: Robert.Haley@UTSouthwestern.edu.
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Haley
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D047830:Gulf War; D006801:Humans; D007806:Language Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018923:Persian Gulf Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014728:Veterans
keywords: Functional MRI; Hippocampus; Language disorders; Neuropsychological tests; Persian Gulf syndrome; Putamen; Thalamus; Veterans