Awake surgery for right frontal lobe glioma can preserve visuospatial cognition and spatial working memory

Abstract OBJECTIVE Awake surgery is the standard treatment to preserve motor and language functions. The aim of this study is to evaluate the awake surgery for the patients with right frontal lobe (RFL) glioma on resection rate and preservation of higher cognitive functions. METHODS Out of the 139 cases that underwent awake surgery at our hospital between 2013 and 2019, 34 cases (mean age: 47.8 years) of RFL glioma were included in this study. The WHO classification was grade II, III, and IV for 15, 13, and 6 cases, respectively. We evaluated visual spatial cognition (VSC), spatial working memory (SWM), and social cognition (SC) before and after the surgery. These relevant areas were mapped intraoperatively. We did not map these areas in the cases in which the task could not be accomplished. Therefore, each function was divided into an intraoperative evaluation group (EG) and a non-evaluation group (NEG), and the resection rate and functional outcomes were compared. RESULTS The removal rate was significantly higher in the EG group for VSC and SC than that in the NEG (p= 0.0078 and 0.0024, respectively). The chronic disability rate of VSC was significantly lower in the EG than that in the NEG (5.6% vs. 31.3%, p= 0.043). None of the patients had postoperative disability of SWM in the EG which is significantly lower than that in the NEG (16.7%, p= 0.049). SC tended to have a lower disability rate (20.0%) in the EG compared to that in the NEG (45.8%). The probability that the posterior deep part of the middle frontal gyrus, which is the relevant area of VSC, was resected higher in the NEG (p= 0.0052). CONCLUSIONS We scientifically verified that the awake surgery for RFL glioma contributes to the improvement of resection rate and the preservation of higher cognitive functions.

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Protective Effect of Occupational Complexity on Working Memory in Patients with Frontal Lobe Tumors

10.21203/rs.3.rs-227304/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Kota Ebina ◽

Mie Matsui ◽

Masashi Kinoshita ◽

Daisuke Saito ◽

Mitsutoshi Nakada

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Frontal Lobe ◽

Memory Impairment ◽

Cognitive Reserve ◽

Spatial Working Memory ◽

Tumor Resection ◽

Memory Deficits ◽

Protective Effects ◽

Occupational Complexity ◽

Brain Tumor Resection

Abstract Cognitive reserve (CR) is the capacity to cope with cognitive impairments due to brain damage by neurological disease. CR is increased by intellectually enriching activities, such as education, occupation, and leisure. After brain tumor resection, patients show working memory impairment because of damage to fronto-parietal networks, such as the superior longitudinal fascicle (SLF). To date, whether occupational experience represented as CR impacts postoperative working memory impairment in patients with frontal lobe tumors remains unknown. We hypothesized that occupational experience predicted postoperative working memory and that higher damage in the SLF was associated with poorer working memory. We enrolled 27 patients who had undergone tumor resection. Patient's occupational experience was estimated using an occupational complexity index based on a dictionary of occupational titles. Working memory was measured using verbal and spatial working memory tasks. Our results showed that patients who had engaged in more complex occupations showed higher performance of postoperative working memory, which supported the previous CR hypothesis. In conclusion, CR has protective effects against working memory impairment in patients with frontal lobe tumors. CR measures, such as occupational experience, will help more accurately predict the severity of working memory deficits and the likelihood of recovery in the postoperative period.

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Frontal lobe function in Korsakoff and non- Korsakoff alcoholics: Planning and spatial working memory

Neuropsychologia ◽

10.1016/0028-3932(91)90067-i ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 29 (8) ◽

pp. 709-723 ◽

Cited By ~ 137

Author(s):

Eileen M. Joyce ◽

Trevor W. Robbins

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Frontal Lobe ◽

Spatial Working Memory ◽

Frontal Lobe Function

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Working Memory and Number Sense as Predictors of Mathematical (Dis-)Ability

Zeitschrift für Psychologie ◽

10.1027/2151-2604/a000208 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 223 (2) ◽

pp. 102-109 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Evelyn H. Kroesbergen ◽

Marloes van Dijk

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Learning Disabilities ◽

Spatial Working Memory ◽

Number Sense ◽

Mathematical Learning ◽

Visual Spatial ◽

Mathematical Learning Disabilities ◽

Visual Spatial Working Memory ◽

And Mathematics

Recent research has pointed to two possible causes of mathematical (dis-)ability: working memory and number sense, although only few studies have compared the relations between working memory and mathematics and between number sense and mathematics. In this study, both constructs were studied in relation to mathematics in general, and to mathematical learning disabilities (MLD) in particular. The sample consisted of 154 children aged between 6 and 10 years, including 26 children with MLD. Children performing low on either number sense or visual-spatial working memory scored lower on math tests than children without such a weakness. Children with a double weakness scored the lowest. These results confirm the important role of both visual-spatial working memory and number sense in mathematical development.

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