1
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Wu W, Hoffman P. Verbal semantic expertise is associated with reduced functional connectivity between left and right anterior temporal lobes. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhae256. [PMID: 38897815 PMCID: PMC11186671 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2024] [Revised: 05/30/2024] [Accepted: 06/04/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024] Open
Abstract
The left and right anterior temporal lobes (ATLs) encode semantic representations. They show graded hemispheric specialization in function, with the left ATL contributing preferentially to verbal semantic processing. We investigated the cognitive correlates of this organization, using resting-state functional connectivity as a measure of functional segregation between ATLs. We analyzed two independent resting-state fMRI datasets (n = 86 and n = 642) in which participants' verbal semantic expertise was measured using vocabulary tests. In both datasets, people with more advanced verbal semantic knowledge showed weaker functional connectivity between left and right ventral ATLs. This effect was highly specific. It was not observed for within-hemisphere connections between semantic regions (ventral ATL and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), though it was found for left-right IFG connectivity in one dataset). Effects were not found for tasks probing semantic control, nonsemantic cognition, or face recognition. Our results suggest that hemispheric specialization in the ATLs is not an innate property but rather emerges as people develop highly detailed verbal semantic representations. We speculate that this effect is a consequence of the left ATL's greater connectivity with left-lateralized written word recognition regions, which causes it to preferentially represent meaning for advanced vocabulary acquired primarily through reading.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Wu
- School of Philosophy, Psychology & Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, 7 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, United Kingdom
- Department of Music, Durham University, Palace Green, Durham DH1 3RL, United Kingdom
| | - Paul Hoffman
- School of Philosophy, Psychology & Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, 7 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, United Kingdom
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2
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Shebani Z, Patterson K. (What) can patients with semantic dementia learn? Neuropsychologia 2024; 197:108844. [PMID: 38428519 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2024.108844] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2023] [Revised: 02/17/2024] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 03/03/2024]
Abstract
Semantic Dementia (SD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterised by progressive deterioration of semantic knowledge, resulting in diminished understanding of concepts, whether encountered in verbal or non-verbal form. Over the past three decades, a number of studies employing a range of treatment techniques and learning methods have examined whether patients with SD can relearn previously known concepts or learn and retain new information. In this article, we review this research, addressing two main questions: a) Can aspects of semantic knowledge that are 'lost' due to degeneration be re-acquired? b) How much do other memory systems (working and episodic memory) interact with and depend on semantic memory? Several studies demonstrate successful relearning of previously known words and concepts in SD, particularly after regular, prolonged practice; but this success tends to diminish once practice ceases, and furthermore often fails to generalise to other instances of the same object/concept. This pattern suggests that, with impaired semantic knowledge, learning relies to an abnormal extent on perceptual factors, making it difficult to abstract away from the specific visual or other perceptual format in which a given concept has been trained. Furthermore, the impact of semantic 'status' of a word or object on both working and episodic memory indicates pervasive interaction of these other memory systems with conceptual knowledge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zubaida Shebani
- Department of Psychology, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman.
| | - Karalyn Patterson
- Medical Research Council, Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, UK
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3
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Belder CRS, Marshall CR, Jiang J, Mazzeo S, Chokesuwattanaskul A, Rohrer JD, Volkmer A, Hardy CJD, Warren JD. Primary progressive aphasia: six questions in search of an answer. J Neurol 2024; 271:1028-1046. [PMID: 37906327 PMCID: PMC10827918 DOI: 10.1007/s00415-023-12030-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2023] [Accepted: 09/27/2023] [Indexed: 11/02/2023]
Abstract
Here, we review recent progress in the diagnosis and management of primary progressive aphasia-the language-led dementias. We pose six key unanswered questions that challenge current assumptions and highlight the unresolved difficulties that surround these diseases. How many syndromes of primary progressive aphasia are there-and is syndromic diagnosis even useful? Are these truly 'language-led' dementias? How can we diagnose (and track) primary progressive aphasia better? Can brain pathology be predicted in these diseases? What is their core pathophysiology? In addition, how can primary progressive aphasia best be treated? We propose that pathophysiological mechanisms linking proteinopathies to phenotypes may help resolve the clinical complexity of primary progressive aphasia, and may suggest novel diagnostic tools and markers and guide the deployment of effective therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher R S Belder
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, 8 - 11 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
- UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
- Adelaide Medical School, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Charles R Marshall
- Preventive Neurology Unit, Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Jessica Jiang
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, 8 - 11 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Salvatore Mazzeo
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, 8 - 11 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
- Department of Neuroscience, Psychology, Drug Research and Child Health, University of Florence, Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria Careggi, Florence, Italy
| | - Anthipa Chokesuwattanaskul
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, 8 - 11 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
- Division of Neurology, Department of Internal Medicine, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok, Thailand
- Cognitive Clinical and Computational Neuroscience Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Jonathan D Rohrer
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, 8 - 11 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Anna Volkmer
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, 8 - 11 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Chris J D Hardy
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, 8 - 11 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Jason D Warren
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, 8 - 11 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK.
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4
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Huang L, Cui L, Chen K, Han Z, Guo Q. Functional and structural network changes related with cognition in semantic dementia longitudinally. Hum Brain Mapp 2023; 44:4287-4298. [PMID: 37209400 PMCID: PMC10318263 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2023] [Revised: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 05/01/2023] [Indexed: 05/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Longitudinal changes in the white matter/functional brain networks of semantic dementia (SD), as well as their relations with cognition remain unclear. Using a graph-theoretic method, we examined the neuroimaging (T1, diffusion tensor imaging, functional MRI) network properties and cognitive performance in processing semantic knowledge of general and six modalities (i.e., object form, color, motion, sound, manipulation and function) from 31 patients (at two time points with an interval of 2 years) and 20 controls (only at baseline). Partial correlation analyses were carried out to explore the relationships between the network changes and the declines of semantic performance. SD exhibited aberrant general and modality-specific semantic impairment, and gradually worsened over time. Overall, the brain networks showed a decreased global and local efficiency in the functional network organization but a preserved structural network organization with a 2-year follow-up. With disease progression, both structural and functional alterations were found to be extended to the temporal and frontal lobes. The regional topological alteration in the left inferior temporal gyrus (ITG.L) was significantly correlated with general semantic processing. Meanwhile, the right superior temporal gyrus and right supplementary motor area were identified to be associated with color and motor-related semantic attributes. SD manifested disrupted structural and functional network pattern longitudinally. We proposed a hub region (i.e., ITG.L) of semantic network and distributed modality-specific semantic-related regions. These findings support the hub-and-spoke semantic theory and provide targets for future therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lin Huang
- Department of GerontologyShanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of MedicineShanghaiChina
| | - Liang Cui
- Department of GerontologyShanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of MedicineShanghaiChina
| | - Keliang Chen
- Department of Neurology, Huashan HospitalFudan UniversityShanghaiChina
| | - Zaizhu Han
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain ResearchBeijing Normal UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Qihao Guo
- Department of GerontologyShanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of MedicineShanghaiChina
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5
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Bonnì S, Borghi I, Maiella M, Casula EP, Koch G, Caltagirone C, Gainotti G. Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Effects on the Neural Substrate of Conceptual Representations. Brain Sci 2023; 13:1037. [PMID: 37508969 PMCID: PMC10376965 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13071037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Revised: 07/03/2023] [Accepted: 07/04/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The aim of this study was to shed light on the neural substrate of conceptual representations starting from the construct of higher-order convergence zones and trying to evaluate the unitary or non-unitary nature of this construct. We used the 'Thematic and Taxonomic Semantic (TTS) task' to investigate (a) the neural substrate of stimuli belonging to biological and artifact categories, (b) the format of stimuli presentation, i.e., verbal or pictorial, and (c) the relation between stimuli, i.e., categorial or contextual. We administered anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to different brain structures during the execution of the TTS task. Twenty healthy participants were enrolled and divided into two groups, one investigating the role of the anterior temporal lobes (ATL) and the other the temporo-parietal junctions (TPJ). Each participant underwent three sessions of stimulation to facilitate a control condition and to investigate the role of both hemispheres. Results showed that ATL stimulation influenced all conceptual representations in relation to the format of presentation (i.e., left-verbal and right-pictorial). Moreover, ATL stimulation modulated living categories and taxonomic relations specifically, whereas TPJ stimulation did not influence semantic task performances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonia Bonnì
- Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Unit, Department of Behavioral and Clinical Neurology, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
| | - Ilaria Borghi
- Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Unit, Department of Behavioral and Clinical Neurology, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
- Section of Human Physiology, University of Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
| | - Michele Maiella
- Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Unit, Department of Behavioral and Clinical Neurology, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
| | - Elias Paolo Casula
- Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Unit, Department of Behavioral and Clinical Neurology, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - Giacomo Koch
- Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Unit, Department of Behavioral and Clinical Neurology, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
- Section of Human Physiology, University of Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
| | - Carlo Caltagirone
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
- Department of Clinical and Behavioral Neurology, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
| | - Guido Gainotti
- Department of Clinical and Behavioral Neurology, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
- Institute of Neurology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 00168 Rome, Italy
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6
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Luzzi S, Baldinelli S, Fiori C, Morelli M, Gainotti G. The Dynamic Interplay between Loss of Semantic Memory and Semantic Learning Capacity: Insight from Neologisms Learning in Semantic Variant Primary Progressive Aphasia. Brain Sci 2023; 13:brainsci13050788. [PMID: 37239259 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13050788] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2023] [Revised: 05/08/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Semantic Variant of Primary Progressive Aphasia (svPPA) has often been considered as a loss of knowledge stored in semantic memory, but might also be due to a general disruption of mechanisms allowing the acquisition, storage, and retrieval of semantic memories. In order to assess any parallelism in svPPA patients between loss of semantic knowledge and inability to acquire new semantic information, we administered a battery of semantic learning tasks to healthy individuals and svPPA patients, where they were requested to learn new conceptual representations and new word forms, and to associate the former with the latter. A strong relation was found between loss of semantic knowledge and disruption of semantic learning: (a) patients with severe svPPA had the lowest scores in the semantic learning tasks; (b) significant correlations were found between scores obtained in semantic learning tasks and scores obtained in semantic memory disorders in svPPA patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simona Luzzi
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60126 Ancona, Italy
| | - Sara Baldinelli
- Neurologic Clinic, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria delle Marche, 60126 Ancona, Italy
| | - Chiara Fiori
- Neurologic Clinic, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria delle Marche, 60126 Ancona, Italy
| | | | - Guido Gainotti
- Institute of Neurology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy
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7
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Which components of famous people recognition are lateralized? A study of face, voice and name recognition disorders in patients with neoplastic or degenerative damage of the right or left anterior temporal lobes. Neuropsychologia 2023; 181:108490. [PMID: 36693520 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2022] [Revised: 01/16/2023] [Accepted: 01/16/2023] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
We administered to large groups of patients with neoplastic or degenerative damage affecting the right or left ATL, the 'Famous People Recognition Battery' (FPRB), in which subjects are required to recognize the same 40 famous people through their faces, voices and names, to clarify which components of famous people recognition are lateralized. At the familiarity level, we found, as expected, a dissociation between a greater impairment of patients with right ATL lesions on the non-verbal (face and voice) recognition modalities and of those with left ATL lesions on name familiarity. Equally expected were results obtained at the naming level, because the worse naming scores for faces and voices were observed in left-sided patients. Less foregone were, for two reasons, results obtained at the semantic level. First, no difference was found between the two hemispheric groups when scores obtained on the verbal (name) and non-verbal (face and voice) recognition modalities were account for. Second, the face and voice recognition modalities showed a different degree of right lateralization. All groups of patients showed, indeed, both at the familiarity and at the semantic level, a greater difficulty in the recognition of voices regarding faces, but this difference reached significance only in patients with right ATL lesions, suggesting a greater right lateralization of the more complex task of voice recognition. A model aiming to explain the greater right lateralization of the more perceptually demanding voice modality of person recognition is proposed.
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8
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González-García I, Visser M. A Semantic Cognition Contribution to Mood and Anxiety Disorder Pathophysiology. Healthcare (Basel) 2023; 11:healthcare11060821. [PMID: 36981478 PMCID: PMC10047953 DOI: 10.3390/healthcare11060821] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2022] [Revised: 02/17/2023] [Accepted: 03/02/2023] [Indexed: 03/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Over the last two decades, the functional role of the bilateral anterior temporal lobes (bATLs) has been receiving more attention. They have been associated with semantics and social concept processing, and are regarded as a core region for depression. In the past, the role of the ATL has often been overlooked in semantic models based on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) due to geometric distortions in the BOLD signal. However, previous work has unequivocally associated the bATLs with these higher-order cognitive functions following advances in neuroimaging techniques to overcome the geometric distortions. At the same time, the importance of the neural basis of conceptual knowledge in understanding mood disorders became apparent. Theoretical models of the neural basis of mood and anxiety disorders have been classically studied from the emotion perspective, without concentrating on conceptual processing. However, recent work suggests that the ATL, a brain region underlying conceptual knowledge, plays an essential role in mood and anxiety disorders. Patients with anxiety and depression often cope with self-blaming biases and guilt. The theory is that in order to experience guilt, the brain needs to access the related conceptual information via the ATL. This narrative review describes how aberrant interactions of the ATL with the fronto–limbic emotional system could underlie mood and anxiety disorders.
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9
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Snowden JS. Changing perspectives on frontotemporal dementia: A review. J Neuropsychol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/jnp.12297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2022] [Revised: 10/04/2022] [Accepted: 10/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Julie S. Snowden
- Cerebral Function Unit, Manchester Centre for Neurosciences Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust Salford UK
- Division of Neuroscience & Experimental Psychology School of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester Manchester UK
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10
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Bhat A, Biswas A. Cognitive Profile of Large-Vessel Vascular Dementia—An Observational Study from a Tertiary Care Center in Kolkata. J Neurosci Rural Pract 2022; 13:411-416. [PMID: 35946021 PMCID: PMC9357488 DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1744467] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction
Vascular dementia is the second leading cause of dementia worldwide. Its heterogenous presentation along with potential for reversibility at earlier stages makes it unique among all dementias.
Objectives
We aimed to study the cognitive dysfunction in large-vessel vascular dementia. Second, we tried to study the cognitive dysfunction in large-vessel vascular dementia as per the arterial territory involvement. Additionally, we also tried to study the contribution of hemispheric involvement to the dementia severity as evidenced by clinical dementia rating (CDR) scale.
Materials and Methods
We recruited 28 patients of large-vessel vascular dementia and categorized them on the basis of the arterial territories and hemisphere involved. The groups were later studied for the type of cognitive and behavioral dysfunctions as well as the dementia severity.
Results
Among 28 patients of large-vessel vascular dementia, attention (100%), executive function (100%), and behavior (100%) were more impaired in anterior cerebral artery territory infarcts (
p
< 0.05). Language (53.8%) and memory (53.8%) were more impaired in middle cerebral artery territory infarcts, while visuoperceptual (33.3%) domains were more impaired in posterior cerebral artery territory infarcts (
p
> 0.05). The mean CDR was lower in patients of right-sided lesions (1.292) than in those with left-sided (1.750) or bilateral lesions (2.000).
Conclusion
Different arterial territory lesions have different patterns of cognitive impairment in large-vessel vascular dementia. The dementia severity is less in right-sided lesions when compared with left-sided or bilateral lesions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashwani Bhat
- Department of Neurology, Bangur Institute of Neurosciences and IPGME&R, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
- Department of Neurology, Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
| | - Atanu Biswas
- Department of Neurology, Bangur Institute of Neurosciences and IPGME&R, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
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11
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Semenza C. Proper names and personal identity. HANDBOOK OF CLINICAL NEUROLOGY 2022; 187:287-302. [PMID: 35964978 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-823493-8.00008-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The present chapter reviews the body of knowledge acquired so far about the role of the temporal lobe in representing and processing proper names and individual identity information. This body of knowledge has been collected with the contribution of several methodologies, including neuroimaging, electrophysiological techniques, and, critically, clinical observations. All this evidence converges in showing that proper names and related information are processed in at least partially independent neural networks mainly placed in the anterior areas of the left temporal lobe. A description of the properties distinguishing proper names from common names is provided. These properties, it will be claimed, made a different anatomical organization necessary and, possibly, determined the evolution of the brain to support this advantageous distinction in meeting environmental demands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlo Semenza
- Department of Neuroscience, Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
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12
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Belder CRS, Chokesuwattanaskul A, Marshall CR, Hardy CJD, Rohrer JD, Warren JD. The problematic syndrome of right temporal lobe atrophy: Unweaving the phenotypic rainbow. Front Neurol 2022; 13:1082828. [PMID: 36698890 PMCID: PMC9868162 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2022.1082828] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Christopher R S Belder
- Department of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London, United Kingdom.,Adelaide Medical School, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Anthipa Chokesuwattanaskul
- Division of Neurology, Department of Internal Medicine, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok, Thailand.,Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Charles R Marshall
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.,Preventive Neurology Unit, Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Chris J D Hardy
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Jonathan D Rohrer
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Jason D Warren
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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13
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Borghesani V, DeLeon J, Gorno-Tempini ML. Frontotemporal dementia: A unique window on the functional role of the temporal lobes. HANDBOOK OF CLINICAL NEUROLOGY 2022; 187:429-448. [PMID: 35964986 PMCID: PMC9793689 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-823493-8.00011-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is an umbrella term covering a plethora of progressive changes in executive functions, motor abilities, behavior, and/or language. Different clinical syndromes have been described in relation to localized atrophy, informing on the functional networks that underlie these specific cognitive, emotional, and behavioral processes. These functional declines are linked with the underlying neurodegeneration of frontal and/or temporal lobes due to diverse molecular pathologies. Initially, the accumulation of misfolded proteins targets specifically susceptible cell assemblies, leading to relatively focal neurodegeneration that later spreads throughout large-scale cortical networks. Here, we discuss the most recent clinical, neuropathological, imaging, and genetics findings in FTD-spectrum syndromes affecting the temporal lobe. We focus on the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia and its mirror image, the right temporal variant of FTD. Incipient focal atrophy of the left anterior temporal lobe (ATL) manifests with predominant naming, word comprehension, reading, and object semantic deficits, while cases of predominantly right ATL atrophy present with impairments of socioemotional, nonverbal semantic, and person-specific knowledge. Overall, the observations in FTD allow for crucial clinical-anatomic inferences, shedding light on the role of the temporal lobes in both cognition and complex behaviors. The concerted activity of both ATLs is critical to ensure that percepts are translated into concepts, yet important hemispheric differences should be acknowledged. On one hand, the left ATL attributes meaning to linguistic, external stimuli, thus supporting goal-oriented, action-related behaviors (e.g., integrating sounds and letters into words). On the other hand, the right ATL assigns meaning to emotional, visceral stimuli, thus guiding socially relevant behaviors (e.g., integrating body sensations into feelings of familiarity).
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentina Borghesani
- Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada; Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.
| | - Jessica DeLeon
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, United States; Department of Neurology, Dyslexia Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA, United States
| | - Maria Luisa Gorno-Tempini
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, United States; Department of Neurology, Dyslexia Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA, United States
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14
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Gainotti G. Is There a Causal Link between the Left Lateralization of Language and Other Brain Asymmetries? A Review of Data Gathered in Patients with Focal Brain Lesions. Brain Sci 2021; 11:1644. [PMID: 34942946 PMCID: PMC8699490 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11121644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2021] [Revised: 12/01/2021] [Accepted: 12/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
This review evaluated if the hypothesis of a causal link between the left lateralization of language and other brain asymmetries could be supported by a careful review of data gathered in patients with unilateral brain lesions. In a short introduction a distinction was made between brain activities that could: (a) benefit from the shaping influences of language (such as the capacity to solve non-verbal cognitive tasks and the increased levels of consciousness and of intentionality); (b) be incompatible with the properties and the shaping activities of language (e.g., the relations between language and the automatic orienting of visual-spatial attention or between cognition and emotion) and (c) be more represented on the right hemisphere due to competition for cortical space. The correspondence between predictions based on the theoretical impact of language on other brain functions and data obtained in patients with lesions of the right and left hemisphere was then assessed. The reviewed data suggest that different kinds of hemispheric asymmetries observed in patients with unilateral brain lesions could be subsumed by common mechanisms, more or less directly linked to the left lateralization of language.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guido Gainotti
- Institute of Neurology, Catholic University, 00168 Rome, Italy
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15
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Semantic Variant Primary Progressive Aphasia: Practical Recommendations for Treatment from 20 Years of Behavioural Research. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11121552. [PMID: 34942854 PMCID: PMC8699306 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11121552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2021] [Revised: 11/15/2021] [Accepted: 11/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
People with semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA) present with a characteristic progressive breakdown of semantic knowledge. There are currently no pharmacological interventions to cure or slow svPPA, but promising behavioural approaches are increasingly reported. This article offers an overview of the last two decades of research into interventions to support language in people with svPPA including recommendations for clinical practice and future research based on the best available evidence. We offer a lay summary in English, Spanish and French for education and dissemination purposes. This paper discusses the implications of right- versus left-predominant atrophy in svPPA, which naming therapies offer the best outcomes and how to capitalise on preserved long-term memory systems. Current knowledge regarding the maintenance and generalisation of language therapy gains is described in detail along with the development of compensatory approaches and educational and support group programmes. It is concluded that there is evidence to support an integrative framework of treatment and care as best practice for svPPA. Such an approach should combine rehabilitation interventions addressing the language impairment, compensatory approaches to support activities of daily living and provision of education and support within the context of dementia.
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16
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Alonso MA, Díez-Álamo AM, Gómez-Ariza CJ, Díez E, Fernandez A. Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Over the Right Anterior Temporal Lobe Does Not Modulate False Recognition. Front Psychol 2021; 12:718118. [PMID: 34603142 PMCID: PMC8484642 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.718118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2021] [Accepted: 08/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Non-invasive transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the left anterior temporal lobe (ATL) has been shown to cause a reduction in the rate of false memories with semantically related words. Such a reduction seems to be specific to false memories induced by the study of associative lists, but is not observed when the studied lists are categorical in nature. These findings are interpreted as evidence that the left ATL functions as an integration hub that is crucial for the binding of semantic information into coherent representations of concepts. In order to investigate whether the right ATL might also contribute to semantic integration in the processing of verbal associative material, a follow-up tDCS study was conducted with the stimulation at study lateralized on the right ATL. A sample of 75 undergraduate students participated in an experiment in which they studied 8 associative lists and 8 categorical lists. One third of the participants studied all their word lists under anodal stimulation, another third studied under cathodal stimulation and the other third under sham stimulation. Results showed that stimulation of the right ATL by tDCS does not modulate false recognition for either association-related critical words or category-related critical words. These results provide preliminary support to views positing asymmetric connectivity between the anterior temporal lobes and the semantic representational network, and provide evidence for understanding bilateral brain dynamics and the nature of semantically induced memory distortions.
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Affiliation(s)
- María Angeles Alonso
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia (IUNE), University of La Laguna, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain.,Institute on Community Integration (INICO), University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Antonio M Díez-Álamo
- Institute on Community Integration (INICO), University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | | | - Emiliano Díez
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia (IUNE), University of La Laguna, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain.,Institute on Community Integration (INICO), University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Angel Fernandez
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia (IUNE), University of La Laguna, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain.,Institute on Community Integration (INICO), University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
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17
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Heyer DB, Wilbers R, Galakhova AA, Hartsema E, Braak S, Hunt S, Verhoog MB, Muijtjens ML, Mertens EJ, Idema S, Baayen JC, de Witt Hamer P, Klein M, McGraw M, Lein ES, de Kock CPJ, Mansvelder HD, Goriounova NA. Verbal and General IQ Associate with Supragranular Layer Thickness and Cell Properties of the Left Temporal Cortex. Cereb Cortex 2021; 32:2343-2357. [PMID: 34550325 PMCID: PMC9157308 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2021] [Revised: 08/10/2021] [Accepted: 08/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The left temporal lobe is an integral part of the language system and its cortical structure and function associate with general intelligence. However, whether cortical laminar architecture and cellular properties of this brain area relate to verbal intelligence is unknown. Here, we addressed this using histological analysis and cellular recordings of neurosurgically resected temporal cortex in combination with presurgical IQ scores. We find that subjects with higher general and verbal IQ scores have thicker left (but not right) temporal cortex (Brodmann area 21, BA21). The increased thickness is due to the selective increase in layers 2 and 3 thickness, accompanied by lower neuron densities, and larger dendrites and cell body size of pyramidal neurons in these layers. Furthermore, these neurons sustain faster action potential kinetics, which improves information processing. Our results indicate that verbal mental ability associates with selective adaptations of supragranular layers and their cellular micro-architecture and function in left, but not right temporal cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- D B Heyer
- Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research (CNCR), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081HV, The Netherlands
| | - R Wilbers
- Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research (CNCR), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081HV, The Netherlands
| | - A A Galakhova
- Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research (CNCR), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081HV, The Netherlands
| | - E Hartsema
- Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research (CNCR), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081HV, The Netherlands
| | - S Braak
- Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research (CNCR), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081HV, The Netherlands
| | - S Hunt
- Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research (CNCR), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081HV, The Netherlands
| | - M B Verhoog
- Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research (CNCR), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081HV, The Netherlands.,Department of Human Biology, Neuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7925, South Africa
| | - M L Muijtjens
- Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research (CNCR), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081HV, The Netherlands
| | - E J Mertens
- Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research (CNCR), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081HV, The Netherlands
| | - S Idema
- Department of Neurosurgery, Amsterdam UMC, location VUmc, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081HV, The Netherlands
| | - J C Baayen
- Department of Neurosurgery, Amsterdam UMC, location VUmc, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081HV, The Netherlands
| | - P de Witt Hamer
- Department of Neurosurgery, Amsterdam UMC, location VUmc, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081HV, The Netherlands
| | - M Klein
- Department of Medical Psychology, Amsterdam UMC, location VUmc, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081HZ, The Netherlands
| | - M McGraw
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - E S Lein
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - C P J de Kock
- Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research (CNCR), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081HV, The Netherlands
| | - H D Mansvelder
- Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research (CNCR), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081HV, The Netherlands
| | - N A Goriounova
- Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research (CNCR), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081HV, The Netherlands
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18
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Henderson SK, Dev SI, Ezzo R, Quimby M, Wong B, Brickhouse M, Hochberg D, Touroutoglou A, Dickerson BC, Cordella C, Collins JA. A category-selective semantic memory deficit for animate objects in semantic variant primary progressive aphasia. Brain Commun 2021; 3:fcab210. [PMID: 34622208 PMCID: PMC8493104 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcab210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2021] [Revised: 07/16/2021] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Data are mixed on whether patients with semantic variant primary progressive aphasia exhibit a category-selective semantic deficit for animate objects. Moreover, there is little consensus regarding the neural substrates of this category-selective semantic deficit, though prior literature has suggested that the perirhinal cortex and the lateral posterior fusiform gyrus may support semantic memory functions important for processing animate objects. In this study, we investigated whether patients with semantic variant primary progressive aphasia exhibited a category-selective semantic deficit for animate objects in a word-picture matching task, controlling for psycholinguistic features of the stimuli, including frequency, familiarity, typicality and age of acquisition. We investigated the neural bases of this category selectivity by examining its relationship with cortical atrophy in two primary regions of interest: bilateral perirhinal cortex and lateral posterior fusiform gyri. We analysed data from 20 patients with semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (mean age = 64 years, S.D. = 6.94). For each participant, we calculated an animacy index score to denote the magnitude of the category-selective semantic deficit for animate objects. Multivariate regression analysis revealed a main effect of animacy (β = 0.52, t = 4.03, P < 0.001) even after including all psycholinguistic variables in the model, such that animate objects were less likely to be identified correctly relative to inanimate objects. Inspection of each individual patient's data indicated the presence of a disproportionate impairment in animate objects in most patients. A linear regression analysis revealed a relationship between the right perirhinal cortex thickness and animacy index scores (β = -0.57, t = -2.74, P = 0.015) such that patients who were more disproportionally impaired for animate relative to inanimate objects exhibited thinner right perirhinal cortex. A vertex-wise general linear model analysis restricted to the temporal lobes revealed additional associations between positive animacy index scores (i.e. a disproportionately poorer performance on animate objects) and cortical atrophy in the right perirhinal and entorhinal cortex, superior, middle, and inferior temporal gyri, and the anterior fusiform gyrus, as well as the left anterior fusiform gyrus. Taken together, our results indicate that a category-selective semantic deficit for animate objects is a characteristic feature of semantic variant primary progressive aphasia that is detectable in most individuals. Our imaging findings provide further support for the role of the right perirhinal cortex and other temporal lobe regions in the semantic processing of animate objects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shalom K Henderson
- Frontotemporal Disorders Unit and Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sheena I Dev
- Frontotemporal Disorders Unit and Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Rania Ezzo
- Frontotemporal Disorders Unit and Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Megan Quimby
- Frontotemporal Disorders Unit and Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Bonnie Wong
- Frontotemporal Disorders Unit and Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Michael Brickhouse
- Frontotemporal Disorders Unit and Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Daisy Hochberg
- Frontotemporal Disorders Unit and Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Alexandra Touroutoglou
- Frontotemporal Disorders Unit and Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Bradford C Dickerson
- Frontotemporal Disorders Unit and Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Claire Cordella
- Frontotemporal Disorders Unit and Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jessica A Collins
- Frontotemporal Disorders Unit and Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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19
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Sakurai Y, Uchiyama Y, Takeda A, Terao Y. On-Reading (Chinese-Style Pronunciation) Predominance Over Kun-Reading (Native Japanese Pronunciation) in Japanese Semantic Dementia. Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 15:700181. [PMID: 34421561 PMCID: PMC8374332 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.700181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2021] [Accepted: 06/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Japanese kanji (morphograms) have two ways of reading: on-reading (Chinese-style pronunciation) and kun-reading (native Japanese pronunciation). It is known that some Japanese patients with semantic dementia read kanji with on-reading but not with kun-reading. To characterize further reading impairments of patients with semantic dementia, we analyzed data from a total of 9 patients who underwent reading and writing tests of kanji and kana (Japanese phonetic writing) and on-kun reading tests containing two-character kanji words with on-on reading, kun-kun reading, and specific (so-called Jukujikun or irregular kun) reading. The results showed that on-reading preceding (pronouncing first with on-reading) and kun-reading deletion (inability to recall kun-reading) were observed in nearly all patients. In the on-kun reading test, on-reading (57.6% correct), kun-reading (46.6% correct), and specific-reading (30.0% correct) were more preserved in this decreasing order (phonology-to-semantics gradient), although on-reading and kun-reading did not significantly differ in performance, according to a more rigorous analysis after adjusting for word frequency (and familiarity). Furthermore, on-substitution (changing to on-reading) errors in kun-reading words (27.0%) were more frequent than kun-substitution (changing to kun-reading) errors in on-reading words (4.0%). These results suggest that kun-reading is more predominantly disturbed than on-reading, probably because kun-reading and specific-reading are closely associated with the meaning of words.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Yumiko Uchiyama
- Department of Neurology, Tokyo Women's Medical University, Tokyo, Japan.,Department of Neurology, Kudanzaka Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Akitoshi Takeda
- Department of Neurology, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan
| | - Yasuo Terao
- Department of Cell Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kyorin University, Tokyo, Japan
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20
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Hogrefe K, Goldenberg G, Glindemann R, Klonowski M, Ziegler W. Nonverbal Semantics Test (NVST)-A Novel Diagnostic Tool to Assess Semantic Processing Deficits: Application to Persons with Aphasia after Cerebrovascular Accident. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11030359. [PMID: 33799816 PMCID: PMC7998888 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11030359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2021] [Revised: 02/26/2021] [Accepted: 03/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Assessment of semantic processing capacities often relies on verbal tasks which are, however, sensitive to impairments at several language processing levels. Especially for persons with aphasia there is a strong need for a tool that measures semantic processing skills independent of verbal abilities. Furthermore, in order to assess a patient’s potential for using alternative means of communication in cases of severe aphasia, semantic processing should be assessed in different nonverbal conditions. The Nonverbal Semantics Test (NVST) is a tool that captures semantic processing capacities through three tasks—Semantic Sorting, Drawing, and Pantomime. The main aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship between the NVST and measures of standard neurolinguistic assessment. Fifty-one persons with aphasia caused by left hemisphere brain damage were administered the NVST as well as the Aachen Aphasia Test (AAT). A principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted across all AAT and NVST subtests. The analysis resulted in a two-factor model that captured 69% of the variance of the original data, with all linguistic tasks loading high on one factor and the NVST subtests loading high on the other. These findings suggest that nonverbal tasks assessing semantic processing capacities should be administered alongside standard neurolinguistic aphasia tests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katharina Hogrefe
- Clinical Neuropsychology Research Group, Institute of Phonetics and Speech Processing, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80799 Munich, Germany; (R.G.); (W.Z.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Georg Goldenberg
- Neurologische Klinik und Poliklinik, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, 81675 Munich, Germany;
| | - Ralf Glindemann
- Clinical Neuropsychology Research Group, Institute of Phonetics and Speech Processing, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80799 Munich, Germany; (R.G.); (W.Z.)
| | - Madleen Klonowski
- Sprach- und Schlucktherapie, Schön Klinik München Schwabing, 80804 Munich, Germany;
| | - Wolfram Ziegler
- Clinical Neuropsychology Research Group, Institute of Phonetics and Speech Processing, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80799 Munich, Germany; (R.G.); (W.Z.)
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21
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Poch C, Toledano R, García-Morales I, Alemán-Gómez Y, Gil-Nagel A, Campo P. Contributions of left and right anterior temporal lobes to semantic cognition: Evidence from patients with small temporopolar lesions. Neuropsychologia 2020; 152:107738. [PMID: 33383038 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107738] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2019] [Revised: 12/04/2020] [Accepted: 12/24/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Decades of research have increased the understanding of the contribution of the anterior temporal lobes (ATLs) to semantic cognition. Nonetheless, whether semantic processing of different types of information show a selective relationship with left and right ATLs, or whether semantic processing in the ATLs is independent of the modality of the input is currently unknown. There exists evidence supporting each of these alternatives. A fundamental objection to these findings is that they were obtained from studies with patients with brain damage affecting extensive regions, sometimes bilaterally. In the current study, we assessed a group of 38 temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) patients with either left or right small epileptogenic lesions with a battery of commonly used semantic tasks that tested verbal and non-verbal semantic processing. We found that left TLE patients exhibited worse performance than controls on the verbal semantic tasks, as expected, but also on the non-verbal semantic task. On the other hand, performance of the right TLE group did not differ from controls on the non-verbal task, but was worse on a semantic fluency task. When performance between patient groups was compared, we found that left TLE not only did worse than right TLE on the naming task, but also on the non-verbal associative memory task. When considered together, current data do not support a strong view of input modality differences between left and right ATLs. Additionally, they provide evidence indicating that the left and right ATLs do not make similar contributions to a singular functional system for semantic representation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Poch
- Facultad de Lenguas y Educación, Universidad Nebrija, Spain
| | - Rafael Toledano
- Hospital Ruber Internacional, Epilepsy Unit, Neurology Department, Madrid, Spain; University Hospital of Ramón y Cajal, Epilepsy Unit, Neurology Department, Madrid, Spain
| | - Irene García-Morales
- Hospital Ruber Internacional, Epilepsy Unit, Neurology Department, Madrid, Spain; University Hospital of San Carlos, Epilepsy Unit, Neurology Department, Madrid, Spain
| | - Yasser Alemán-Gómez
- Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Radiology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Lausanne, Switzerland; Medical Image Analysis Laboratory (MIAL), Centre D'Imagerie BioMédicale (CIBM), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Antonio Gil-Nagel
- Hospital Ruber Internacional, Epilepsy Unit, Neurology Department, Madrid, Spain
| | - Pablo Campo
- Department of Basic Psychology, Autonoma University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
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22
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Foley JA, Hyare H, Rees JH, Caine D. A case study investigating the role of the anterior temporal lobes in general semantics and semantics specific to persons, emotions and social conceptual knowledge. J Neuropsychol 2020; 15:428-447. [PMID: 33253487 DOI: 10.1111/jnp.12236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2019] [Revised: 11/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The role of the anterior temporal lobes (ATLs) in semantic representation remains still much debated. Long thought to support domain-general semantic processing, recent accounts have alternatively suggested that they may be preferentially involved in the processing of person-related semantic knowledge. Several studies have supported such a distinction, but few have either examined both types of semantic processing together, or considered the role of potentially important confounding variables. Here, we address these issues by investigating both domain-general and person-specific semantic processing in a patient with focal ATL damage. The patient presents with dense anterograde and retrograde amnesia. Performance was impaired on tests of general semantic knowledge, but most striking deficits were for person-related semantics, including recognition and identification, knowledge of emotions and social conceptual knowledge. This unique case provides compelling evidence that, in addition to the role in general semantic knowledge, the ATLs are critical for person-related semantics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer A Foley
- Department of Neuropsychology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK.,Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, UK
| | - Harpreet Hyare
- Department of Neuro-radiology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK
| | - Jeremy H Rees
- Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, UK.,Department of Neuro-oncology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK
| | - Diana Caine
- Department of Neuropsychology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK
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23
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Boccia M, Raimo S, Di Vita A, Battisti A, Matano A, Guariglia C, Grossi D, Palermo L. Topological and hodological aspects of body representation in right brain damaged patients. Neuropsychologia 2020; 148:107637. [PMID: 32980373 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2020] [Revised: 09/10/2020] [Accepted: 09/19/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
The triadic taxonomy posits that three distinct types of body representations do exist, namely the body schema (BS), which corresponds to the representation derived from multiple sensory and motor inputs, the body structural representation (BSR), which corresponds to the structural description of spatial relations among the body parts, and the body semantics (SEM), which corresponds to the lexical-semantic representation of the body. Although several studies have assessed neural correlates of these representations, no study has compared them in brain-damaged patients, controlling for deficits in other cognitive domains. Also, little is known about the contribution of the right hemisphere to different body representations. Here we used a computerized battery to test these three body representations in twenty-six right brain damaged patients, controlling for other cognitive deficits by means of tests tapping similar spatial and lexical processes on non-body related stimuli. Residual scores corresponding to the BS, the BSR and the SEM were used to test neural correlates, which were assessed by integrating topological and hodological approaches to lesion-deficit analyses. We found that the BSR was associated with lesion of the superior temporal gyrus, the insula, the supramarginal gyrus and the temporo-parietal junction, extending also to the Rolandic operculum and the inferior frontal gyrus. Also, it was associated with the disconnection probability of the posterior arcuate segment. The BS was associated with a small cluster of voxels in the precentral and postcentral gyri, whereas the SEM was associated with white matter lesion at the boundary between the parietal and temporal lobes. Overall, these results provide strong support to the regional and connectional contribution of the right hemisphere to body representation, and more specifically to the BSR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maddalena Boccia
- Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Italy; Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging Unit, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.
| | - Simona Raimo
- Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging Unit, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy; Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy
| | - Antonella Di Vita
- Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Italy; Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging Unit, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | - Andrea Battisti
- Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Italy
| | | | - Cecilia Guariglia
- Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Italy; Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging Unit, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | - Dario Grossi
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Caserta, Italy
| | - Liana Palermo
- Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging Unit, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy; Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy
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24
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Borghesani V, Battistella G, Mandelli ML, Welch A, Weis E, Younes K, Neuhaus J, Grinberg LT, Seeley WM, Spina S, Miller B, Miller Z, Gorno-Tempini ML. Regional and hemispheric susceptibility of the temporal lobe to FTLD-TDP type C pathology. Neuroimage Clin 2020; 28:102369. [PMID: 32798912 PMCID: PMC7426562 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2020.102369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2019] [Revised: 07/23/2020] [Accepted: 07/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Post-mortem studies show that focal anterior temporal lobe (ATL) neurodegeneration is most often caused by frontotemporal lobar degeneration TDP-43 type C pathology. Clinically, these patients are described with different terms, such as semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA), semantic dementia (SD), or right temporal variant frontotemporal dementia (FTD) depending on whether the predominant symptoms affect language, semantic knowledge for object or people, or socio-emotional behaviors. ATL atrophy presents with various degrees of lateralization, with right-sided cases considered rarer even though estimation of their prevalence is hampered by the paucity of studies on well-characterized, pathology-proven cohorts. Moreover, it is not clear whether left and right variants show a similar distribution of atrophy within the ATL cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Here we study the largest cohort to-date of pathology-proven TDP-43-C cases diagnosed during life as svPPA, SD or right temporal variant FTD. We analyzed clinical, cognitive, and neuroimaging data from 30 cases, a subset of which was followed longitudinally. Guided by recent structural and functional parcellation studies, we constructed four bilateral ATL regions of interest (ROIs). The computation of an atrophy lateralization index allowed the comparison of atrophy patterns between the two hemispheres. This led to an automatic, imaging-based classification of the cases as left-predominant or right-predominant. We then compared the two groups in terms of regional atrophy patterns within the ATL ROIs (cross-sectionally) and atrophy progression (longitudinally). Results showed that 40% of pathology proven cases of TDP-43-C diagnosed with a temporal variant presented with right-lateralized atrophy. Moreover, the findings of our ATL ROI analysis indicated that, irrespective of atrophy lateralization, atrophy distribution within both ATLs follows a medial-to-lateral gradient. Finally, in both left and right cases, atrophy appeared to progress to the contralateral ATL, and from the anterior temporal pole to posterior temporal and orbitofrontal regions. Taken together, our findings indicate that incipient right predominant ATL atrophy is common in TDP-43-C pathology, and that distribution of damage within the ATLs appears to be the same in left- and right- sided variants. Thus, regardless of differences in clinical phenotype and atrophy lateralization, both temporal variants of FTD should be viewed as a spectrum presentation of the same disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- V Borghesani
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University
of California San Francisco, United States.
| | - G Battistella
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University
of California San Francisco, United States
| | - M L Mandelli
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University
of California San Francisco, United States
| | - A Welch
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University
of California San Francisco, United States
| | - E Weis
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University
of California San Francisco, United States
| | - K Younes
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University
of California San Francisco, United States
| | - J Neuhaus
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University
of California San Francisco, United States
| | - L T Grinberg
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University
of California San Francisco, United States
| | - W M Seeley
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University
of California San Francisco, United States
| | - S Spina
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University
of California San Francisco, United States
| | - B Miller
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University
of California San Francisco, United States
| | - Z Miller
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University
of California San Francisco, United States
| | - M L Gorno-Tempini
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University
of California San Francisco, United States; Department of Neurology, Dyslexia Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA, United States
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25
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Macoir J, Pilote-Paradis S, Lacoste L, Proulx M, Auclair-Ouellet N. Of logos and men: semantic memory impairment for unique entities in a case of semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia. Neurocase 2020; 26:188-196. [PMID: 32615858 DOI: 10.1080/13554794.2020.1772311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
In this study, an individual (NG) with the semantic varient of primary progressive aphasis (svPPA) was assessed with tasks designed to investigate the recognition and activation of semantic knowledge about unique entities. NG had significant difficulties in the recognition of brand names and famous names but was largely unimpaired in the recognition of logos and famous faces. However, she was impaired in tasks requiring the activation of semantic representations of logos, brand names, famous faces, and famous names. These results suggest that the recognition of unique entities results from the interaction of perceptual and conceptual processes and, that the ability to activate semantic information about these entities can be affected in svPPA.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Macoir
- Faculté de Médecine, Département de Réadaptation, Université Laval , Québec, Canada.,Centre De Recherche CERVO - Brain Research Centre , Québec, Canada
| | - S Pilote-Paradis
- Faculté de Médecine, Département de Réadaptation, Université Laval , Québec, Canada
| | - L Lacoste
- Faculté de Médecine, Département de Réadaptation, Université Laval , Québec, Canada
| | - M Proulx
- Faculté de Médecine, Département de Réadaptation, Université Laval , Québec, Canada
| | - N Auclair-Ouellet
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University , Montreal, Canada.,Language and Music, Centre for Research on Brain , Montreal, Canada.,Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal , Montreal, Canada
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26
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Ding J, Chen K, Liu H, Huang L, Chen Y, Lv Y, Yang Q, Guo Q, Han Z, Lambon Ralph MA. A unified neurocognitive model of semantics language social behaviour and face recognition in semantic dementia. Nat Commun 2020; 11:2595. [PMID: 32444620 PMCID: PMC7244491 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-16089-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2019] [Accepted: 04/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The anterior temporal lobes (ATL) have become a key brain region of interest in cognitive neuroscience founded upon neuropsychological investigations of semantic dementia (SD). The purposes of this investigation are to generate a single unified model that captures the known cognitive-behavioural variations in SD and map these to the patients' distribution of frontotemporal atrophy. Here we show that the degree of generalised semantic impairment is related to the patients' total, bilateral ATL atrophy. Verbal production ability is related to total ATL atrophy as well as to the balance of left > right ATL atrophy. Apathy is found to relate positively to the degree of orbitofrontal atrophy. Disinhibition is related to right ATL and orbitofrontal atrophy, and face recognition to right ATL volumes. Rather than positing mutually-exclusive sub-categories, the data-driven model repositions semantics, language, social behaviour and face recognition into a continuous frontotemporal neurocognitive space.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junhua Ding
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Department of Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Keliang Chen
- Department of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Haoming Liu
- Department of Asian and North African Studies, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Venice, Italy
| | - Lin Huang
- Department of gerontology, Shanghai Jiaotong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Shanghai, China
| | - Yan Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yingru Lv
- Department of Radiology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Qing Yang
- Department of Rehabilitation, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Qihao Guo
- Department of gerontology, Shanghai Jiaotong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Shanghai, China.
| | - Zaizhu Han
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
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27
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Gainotti G. Representional and connectivity-based accounts of the cognitive consequences of atrophy of the right and left anterior temporal lobes. Cogn Neuropsychol 2020; 37:466-481. [PMID: 32174279 DOI: 10.1080/02643294.2020.1739011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
According to the original "hub-and-spoke" model of conceptual representations, the neural network for semantic memory requires a single convergence zone located in the anterior temporal lobes (ATLs). However, a more recent version of this model acknowledges that a graded specialization of the left and right ATLs might emerge as a consequence of their differential connectivity with language and sensory-motor regions. A recent influential paper maintained that both the format of semantic representations (representational account) and their differential connectivity (connectivity account) could contribute to the cognitive consequences of atrophy to the left versus the right ATL atrophy. That paper, however, also raised questions as to whether the distinction between representational and connectivity accounts is a meaningful question. I argue that an important theoretical difference exists between the representational and the connectivity-based models and that investigations, based on this difference, should allow to choose between these alternative accounts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guido Gainotti
- Institute of Neurology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.,Department of Clinical and Behavioral Neurology, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
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28
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A Case of Right Temporal Lobectomy for Brain Tumor With Selective Semantic Pictorial Disorder. Cogn Behav Neurol 2020; 33:52-62. [PMID: 32132403 DOI: 10.1097/wnn.0000000000000220] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Disagreement exists regarding representational and connectionist interpretations of semantic knowledge subserved by the right versus left anterior temporal lobes (ATLs). These interpretations predict a different pattern of impairment in patients with a right unilateral ATL lesion. We conducted a neuropsychological study of a selective semantic pictorial defect exhibited by a 57-year-old man who had undergone a right temporal lobectomy due to the presence of a glioblastoma. The patient was given the Thematic and Taxonomic Semantic task, in which individuals must select, within triplets of words or pictures, the best associates of living or nonliving stimuli, related by thematic or taxonomic links, and presented in the verbal or pictorial modality. The selectivity of the defect was documented by a comparison between the results obtained by our patient and those obtained by healthy controls on living items and on pictures with a thematic relation. The selectivity of the defect was confirmed by a within-subject analysis of the results obtained on all of the task's triplets and those obtained on the stimuli representing living entities with a taxonomic relation. The selectivity of this semantic pictorial defect mainly concerning living entities is consistent with the representational account of semantic defects observed in our patient. In the present case report, a right temporal lobectomy resulted in a selective semantic pictorial defect with the qualitative features predicted by the representational account of semantic defects observed after a unilateral ATL lesion.
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29
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Adams-Carr KL, Bocchetta M, Neason M, Holton JL, Lashley T, Warren JD, Rohrer JD. A case of TDP-43 type C pathology presenting as nonfluent variant primary progressive aphasia. Neurocase 2020; 26:1-6. [PMID: 31747857 DOI: 10.1080/13554794.2019.1690665] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
We report a case of rapidly progressive nonfluent variant PPA (nfvPPA), age at onset 77 years old and disease duration 3.3 years, who came to post mortem and was found to have TDP-43 type C pathology, an unusual finding for nfvPPA. All prior TDP-43 type C cases from the UCL FTD cohort (n=25) had a semantic variant PPA (svPPA) phenotype, with all having a younger age at onset and longer disease duration than the nfvPPA case. Volumetric analysis of MRI from the nfvPPA case, twelve of the svPPA cases and ten age-matched controls was performed. Whilst left frontal and insular volumes were lower in the nfvPPA case compared with svPPA, cortical and medial temporal lobe volumes were lower (particularly on the right) in the svPPA group compared with the nfvPPA patient. Such anatomical involvement is likely to be consistent with the presence of a nonfluent aphasia (left frontal lobe and insula), and only mild semantic deficit early in the illness (left but not right temporal lobe). Such unique cases add to the heterogeneity of the FTD spectrum.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Martina Bocchetta
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Mollie Neason
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Janice L Holton
- Queen Square Brain Bank for Neurological Disorders, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Tammaryn Lashley
- Queen Square Brain Bank for Neurological Disorders, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Jason D Warren
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Jonathan D Rohrer
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK
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30
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Chen Y, Chen K, Ding J, Zhang Y, Yang Q, Lv Y, Guo Q, Han Z. Neural substrates of amodal and modality-specific semantic processing within the temporal lobe: A lesion-behavior mapping study of semantic dementia. Cortex 2019; 120:78-91. [PMID: 31280071 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2019.05.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2018] [Revised: 03/27/2019] [Accepted: 05/29/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Although the human temporal lobe has been documented to participate in semantic processing of both verbal and nonverbal stimuli, the exact neural basis underlying the common and unique processing of the two modalities is unclear. Semantic dementia (SD), a disease with a semantic-selective deficit due to predominant temporal lobe atrophy is an ideal lesion model to address this issue. However, many previous studies of SD used an impure patient sample or did not appropriately control for common components between tasks. To overcome these limitations, the present study aims to identify amodal semantic hubs and modality-specific regions in the temporal lobe by investigating behavioral performance on a verbal modality task (word associative matching) and a nonverbal modality task (picture associative matching) and neuroimaging data in 33 SD patients. We found that the left anterior fusiform gyrus was an amodal semantic hub whose gray matter volume correlated significantly with both modalities. We also observed two verbal modality-specific regions (the left posterior inferior temporal gyrus and the left middle superior temporal gyrus) and a nonverbal modality-specific region (the right lateral anterior middle temporal gyrus) whose gray matter volume correlated significantly with one modality when performance on the other modality was partialled out. The results remained significant when we excluded a wide range of potential confounding variables. Furthermore, to confirm the observed effects, we compared the performance of left- and right-hemispheric-predominant atrophic patients on the verbal and nonverbal tasks. The left-predominant patients showed more severe deficits in performance of the verbal task than the right-predominant patients, whereas the two groups of patients presented comparable deficits in the performance of the nonverbal task. These findings refined the structure of semantic network in the temporal lobe, deepening our understanding of the critical role of the temporal lobe in semantic processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, 100875, China; College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Sciences, Zhejiang University, 310027, China
| | - Keliang Chen
- Department of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 200040, China
| | - Junhua Ding
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, 100875, China
| | - Yumei Zhang
- Department of Radiology, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, 100050, China
| | - Qing Yang
- Department of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 200040, China
| | - Yingru Lv
- Department of Radiology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 200040, China
| | - Qihao Guo
- Department of Gerontology, Shanghai Jiaotong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, 200233, China
| | - Zaizhu Han
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, 100875, China.
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31
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Borghesani V, Narvid J, Battistella G, Shwe W, Watson C, Binney RJ, Sturm V, Miller Z, Mandelli ML, Miller B, Gorno-Tempini ML. "Looks familiar, but I do not know who she is": The role of the anterior right temporal lobe in famous face recognition. Cortex 2019; 115:72-85. [PMID: 30772608 PMCID: PMC6759326 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2019.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2018] [Revised: 09/29/2018] [Accepted: 01/07/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Processing a famous face involves a cascade of steps including detecting the presence of a face, recognizing it as familiar, accessing semantic/biographical information about the person, and finally, if required, production of the proper name. Decades of neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies have identified a network of occipital and temporal brain regions ostensibly comprising the 'core' system for face processing. Recent research has also begun to elucidate upon an 'extended' network, including anterior temporal and frontal regions. However, there is disagreement about which brain areas are involved in each step, as many aspects of face processing occur automatically in healthy individuals and rarely dissociate in patients. Moreover, some common phenomena are not easily induced in an experimental setting, such as having a sense of familiarity without being able to recall who the person is. Patients with the semantic variant of Primary Progressive Aphasia (svPPA) often recognize a famous face as familiar, even when they cannot specifically recall the proper name or biographical details. In this study, we analyzed data from a large sample of 105 patients with neurodegenerative disorders, including 43 svPPA, to identify the neuroanatomical substrates of three different steps of famous face processing. Using voxel-based morphometry, we correlated whole-brain grey matter volumes with scores on three experimental tasks that targeted familiarity judgment, semantic/biographical information retrieval, and naming. Performance in naming and semantic association significantly correlates with grey matter volume in the left anterior temporal lobe, whereas familiarity judgment with integrity of the right anterior middle temporal gyrus. These findings shed light on the neuroanatomical substrates of key components of overt face processing, addressing issues of functional lateralization, and deepening our understanding of neural substrates of semantic knowledge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentina Borghesani
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
| | - Jared Narvid
- Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Giovanni Battistella
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Wendy Shwe
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Christa Watson
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Neurology, Dyslexia Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | | | - Virginia Sturm
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Zachary Miller
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Neurology, Dyslexia Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Maria Luisa Mandelli
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Neurology, Dyslexia Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Bruce Miller
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Maria Luisa Gorno-Tempini
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Neurology, Dyslexia Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
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32
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Naming and conceptual understanding in frontotemporal dementia. Cortex 2019; 120:22-35. [PMID: 31220614 PMCID: PMC6838679 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2019.04.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2018] [Revised: 02/08/2019] [Accepted: 04/20/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is characterised by behaviour change and impaired executive skills. There is growing evidence that naming difficulties may also be present but the basis for these is unclear. A primary semantic deficit has been proposed, although executive contributions to naming breakdown are also possible. The study aimed to improve understanding of the naming disorder in bvFTD through direct comparison with semantic dementia (SD), and examination of neural correlates. It aimed also to address current controversies about the role of the anterior temporal lobes in semantic memory. We studied 71 bvFTD and 32 SD patients. Naming data were elicited by two picture naming tests (one challenging and one less demanding) and word comprehension by word-picture matching. Structural magnetic resonance images were rated blind using a standardised visual rating scale. Around half of bvFTD patients showed impaired naming and 17% impaired word-picture matching. Deficits in bvFTD were less severe than in SD, but showed a similar pattern. There were strong inverse correlations between naming scores and atrophy in temporal structures, particularly temporal pole and fusiform gyrus. Word comprehension scores correlated more strongly with posterior than anterior temporal lobe atrophy in SD. Error analysis highlighted a significant relationship in both groups between associative-type responses and temporal pole atrophy. By contrast, ‘don't know’ responses, suggesting a loss of conceptual knowledge, correlated with more posterior temporal regions. There was some correlation in bvFTD between naming and executive test performance but not with frontal lobe atrophy. The findings support the view that naming problems can arise in bvFTD independently of patients' ‘frontal’ executive impairment and highlight clinical overlap between bvFTD and SD. We discuss the findings in relation to the hub and spoke model of semantic memory and argue against the notion of an anterior temporal lobe semantic hub.
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33
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Alemán-Gómez Y, Poch C, Toledano R, Jiménez-Huete A, García-Morales I, Gil-Nagel A, Campo P. Morphometric correlates of anomia in patients with small left temporopolar lesions. J Neuropsychol 2019; 14:260-282. [PMID: 31059211 DOI: 10.1111/jnp.12184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2018] [Revised: 03/06/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Visual object naming is a complex cognitive process that engages an interconnected network of cortical regions moving from occipitotemporal to anterior-inferior temporal cortices, and extending into the inferior frontal cortex. Naming can fail for diverse reasons, and different stages of the naming multi-step process appear to be reliant upon the integrity of different neuroanatomical locations. While the neural correlates of semantic errors have been extensively studied, the neural basis of omission errors remains relatively unspecified. Although a strong line of evidence supports an association between anterior temporal lobe damage and semantic errors, there are some studies suggesting that the anterior temporal lobe could be also associated with omissions. However, support for this hypothesis comes from studies with patients in whom damage affected extensive brain regions, sometimes bilaterally. Here, we availed of a group of 12 patients with epilepsy associated with a small lesion at the tip of the left temporal pole. Using an unbiased surface-based morphometry methodology, we correlated two morphological features with errors observed during visual naming. Analyses revealed a correlation between omission errors and reduced local gyrification index in three cortical clusters: one in the left anteromedial temporal lobe region (AMTL) and two in the left anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Our findings support the view that regions in ACC and AMTL are critical structures within a network engaged in word selection from semantics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yasser Alemán-Gómez
- Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Switzerland.,Department of Radiology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Switzerland.,Medical Image Analysis Laboratory (MIAL), Centre d'Imagerie BioMédicale (CIBM), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Claudia Poch
- Department of Basic Psychology, University Complutense of Madrid, Spain.,Instituto Pluridisciplinar, University Complutense of Madrid, Spain.,Facultad de Lenguas y Educación, Universidad Nebrija, Madrid, Spain
| | - Rafael Toledano
- Epilepsy Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital Ruber Internacional, Madrid, Spain.,Epilepsy Unit, Neurology Department, University Hospital of Ramón y Cajal, Madrid, Spain
| | - Adolfo Jiménez-Huete
- Epilepsy Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital Ruber Internacional, Madrid, Spain
| | - Irene García-Morales
- Epilepsy Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital Ruber Internacional, Madrid, Spain.,Epilepsy Unit, Neurology Department, University Hospital of San Carlos, Madrid, Spain
| | - Antonio Gil-Nagel
- Epilepsy Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital Ruber Internacional, Madrid, Spain
| | - Pablo Campo
- Department of Basic Psychology, Autonoma University of Madrid, Spain
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34
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Savill NJ, Cornelissen P, Pahor A, Jefferies E. rTMS evidence for a dissociation in short-term memory for spoken words and nonwords. Cortex 2019; 112:5-22. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2018.07.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2018] [Revised: 06/26/2018] [Accepted: 07/27/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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35
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Toller G, Yang WFZ, Brown JA, Ranasinghe KG, Shdo SM, Kramer JH, Seeley WW, Miller BL, Rankin KP. Divergent patterns of loss of interpersonal warmth in frontotemporal dementia syndromes are predicted by altered intrinsic network connectivity. NEUROIMAGE-CLINICAL 2019; 22:101729. [PMID: 30836325 PMCID: PMC6403437 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2019.101729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2018] [Revised: 01/18/2019] [Accepted: 02/20/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Loss of warmth is well-documented in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA) at a group level, and has been linked to salience (SN) and semantic-appraisal (SAN) network atrophy. However, clinical observations of individual patients show much greater heterogeneity, thus measuring this clinical variability and identifying the underlying neurologic mechanisms is a critical step for understanding the symptom profile of any one patient. We used reliable change indexes with premorbid and current informant-based evaluations to characterize patterns of change on the warmth subscale of the Interpersonal Adjective Scale (IAS) questionnaire in 132 patients (21 bvFTD, 19 svPPA, 22 nonfluent variant primary progressive aphasia [nfvPPA], 37 Alzheimer's disease [AD]) and 33 healthy older adults. We investigated whether individual differences in warmth change were reflected in SN or SAN functional connectivity, or structural volume of individual brain regions in these two networks. Though one subset of patients showed significant drop in warmth to abnormally low levels (bvFTD: 38%; svPPA: 21%; nfvPPA: 5%; AD: 11%), a second subset significantly dropped but remained within the clinically normal range (bvFTD: 33%; svPPA: 21%; nfvPPA: 9%; AD: 5%), and a third subset did not drop and stayed in the clinically normal range (bvFTD: 29%; svPPA: 58%; nfvPPA: 86%; AD: 84%). Furthermore, interpersonal warmth score was strongly predicted by SN functional connectivity (p < .01), but not by SAN functional connectivity or by structural volume in these networks. Our results extend earlier group-level findings by showing wide individual variability in degree of disease-related reduction of interpersonal warmth and SN functional connectivity in bvFTD and svPPA, and highlight new approaches to revealing how brain connectivity predicts behavior on an individual patient level. Our findings suggest that measures of interpersonal warmth can provide important clinical information about changes in underlying brain networks, and help clinicians and clinical researchers better identify which bvFTD and svPPA patients are at greater risk for interpersonal disruption. Many patients with bvFTD do not develop pathological loss of interpersonal warmth. Salience network functional connectivity, but not atrophy, predicts warmth. Loss of warmth may result from decreased connectivity in the salience network. Tools measuring interpersonal warmth can be valuable for clinical assessment of FTD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gianina Toller
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, USA.
| | - Winson F Z Yang
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, USA.
| | - Jesse A Brown
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, USA.
| | - Kamalini G Ranasinghe
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, USA.
| | - Suzanne M Shdo
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, USA.
| | - Joel H Kramer
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, USA.
| | - William W Seeley
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, USA.
| | - Bruce L Miller
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, USA.
| | - Katherine P Rankin
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, USA.
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Platonov A, Avanzini P, Pelliccia V, LoRusso G, Sartori I, Orban GA. Rapid and specific processing of person-related information in human anterior temporal lobe. Commun Biol 2019; 2:5. [PMID: 30740541 PMCID: PMC6320334 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-018-0250-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2018] [Accepted: 12/05/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The anterior temporal lobe (ATL), located at the tip of the human temporal lobes, has been heavily implicated in semantic processing by neuropsychological and functional imaging studies. These techniques have revealed a hemispheric specialization of ATL, but little about the time scale on which it operates. Here we show that ATL is specifically activated in intracerebral recordings when subjects discriminate the gender of an actor presented in a static frame followed by a video. ATL recording sites respond briefly (100 ms duration) to the visual static presentation of an actor in a task-, but not in a stimulus-duration-dependent way. Their response latencies correlate with subjects' reaction times, as do their activity levels, but oppositely in the two hemispheres operating in a push-pull fashion. Comparison of ATL time courses with those of more posterior, less specific regions emphasizes the role of inhibitory operations sculpting the fast ATL responses underlying semantic processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Artem Platonov
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, via Volturno 39E, 43125 Parma, Italy
| | - Pietro Avanzini
- Institute of Neuroscience, CNR, via Volturno 39E, 43125 Parma, Italy
| | - Veronica Pelliccia
- Claudio Munari Center for Epilepsy Surgery, Niguarda Hospital, Ospedale Ca’Granda Niguarda, Piazza dell’Ospedale Maggiore, 3, 20162 Milan, Italy
| | - Giorgio LoRusso
- Claudio Munari Center for Epilepsy Surgery, Niguarda Hospital, Ospedale Ca’Granda Niguarda, Piazza dell’Ospedale Maggiore, 3, 20162 Milan, Italy
| | - Ivana Sartori
- Claudio Munari Center for Epilepsy Surgery, Niguarda Hospital, Ospedale Ca’Granda Niguarda, Piazza dell’Ospedale Maggiore, 3, 20162 Milan, Italy
| | - Guy A. Orban
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, via Volturno 39E, 43125 Parma, Italy
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What face familiarity feelings say about the lateralization of specific entities within the core system. Behav Brain Sci 2019; 42:e287. [DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x19001778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
The target article carefully describes the memory system, centered on the temporal lobe that builds specific memory traces. It does not, however, mention the laterality effects that exist within this system. This commentary briefly surveys evidence showing that clear asymmetries exist within the temporal lobe structures subserving the core system and that the right temporal structures mainly underpin face familiarity feelings.
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Tribute to Glyn W. Humphreys, 1954-2016. Cortex 2018; 107:1-3. [PMID: 30119895 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2018.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2018] [Accepted: 07/04/2018] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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