Brain activation on fMRI and verbal memory ability: Functional neuroanatomic correlates of CVLT performance

2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
STERLING C. JOHNSON ◽  
ANDREW J. SAYKIN ◽  
LAURA A. FLASHMAN ◽  
THOMAS W. McALLISTER ◽  
MOLLY B. SPARLING

We have recently reported (Saykin et al., 1999b) selective activation of left medial temporal lobe structures during processing of novel compared to familiar words using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The current study describes the relationship between a widely used clinical test of verbal learning, the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT), and the previously reported fMRI activations. Thirteen right-handed healthy adult participants were studied with whole brain echo-planar fMRI while listening to novel and recently learned (familiar) words intermixed pseudorandomly in an event-related design. These participants were also tested with the CVLT. Scores for CVLT Trial 1 (immediate encoding of novel words) and recognition discriminability (recognition of familiar vs. novel words) were correlated with fMRI signal change during processing of novel versus familiar words using a covariance model implemented in SPM96. For the novel words analysis, voxels in the right anterior hippocampus correlated significantly with Trial 1 (r = .76 at the maxima). For the recognition analysis, a significant cluster of voxels was found in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (r = .88 at the maxima). Our prior results of separable left medial temporal activation to novel and familiar words, together with results of the covariance analyses reported here, suggest that in addition to the left medial temporal lobe (MTL) regions that are engaged during novel and familiar word processing, the right hippocampus and right frontal lobe are also involved, particularly in those participants with better memory ability. This positive relationship between fMRI activation and CVLT performance suggests a role for these right hemisphere regions in successful memory processing of verbal material, perhaps reflecting more efficient encoding and retrieval strategies that facilitate memory. (JINS, 2001, 7, 55–62.)

2001 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 721-729 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Sumie Funayama ◽  
Christian Grillon ◽  
Michael Davis ◽  
Elizabeth A. Phelps

In the present study we report a double dissociation between right and left medial temporal lobe damage in the modulation of fear responses to different types of stimuli. We found that right unilateral temporal lobectomy (RTL) patients, in contrast to control subjects and left temporal lobectomy (LTL) patients, failed to show potentiated startle while viewing negative pictures. However, the opposite pattern of impairment was observed during a stimulus that patients had been told signaled the possibility of shock. Control subjects and RTL patients showed potentiated startle while LTL patients failed to show potentiated startle. We hypothesize that the right medial temporal lobe modulates fear responses while viewing emotional pictures, which involves exposure to (emotional) visual information and is consistent with the emotional processing traditionally ascribed to the right hemisphere. In contrast, the left medial temporal lobe modulates fear responses when those responses are the result of a linguistic/cognitive representation acquired through language, which, like other verbally mediated material, generally involves the left hemisphere. Additional evidence from case studies suggests that, within the medial temporal lobe, the amygdala is responsible for this modulation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 1218-1218
Author(s):  
Lauren Bolden ◽  
Kim Willment

Abstract Objective To examine the utility of the 7/24 Spatial Recall Test (7/24) in the assessment of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) patients who have not undergone surgical resection. We hypothesized that patients with right TLE (RTLE) would perform significantly worse on the 7/24 than patients with left TLE (LTLE), but better on measures of verbal memory and naming. Participants and Methods Twenty-one patients with RTLE and 17 patients with LTLE were identified from a larger dataset of 152 epilepsy patients who underwent comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Exclusion criteria included: 1) Extratemporal, bitemporal, or unclear seizure onset, 2) Post-surgical evaluations, and 3) Co-morbid neurodegenerative or neurological conditions. The Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RVLT) and Boston Naming Test (BNT) and were selected as outcome measures of verbal memory and naming, respectively. Results Independent samples t-tests revealed that patients with RTLE performed significantly worse on the 7/24 delayed recall than LTLE patients (p = 0.026), but there were no significant differences between groups in their 7/24 immediate recall across trials (p = 0.118). As predicted, patients with LTLE performed significantly worse than RTLE patients on the BNT (p = 0.005), however no significant differences were found between groups on the RVLT total learning, short delay, or long delay. Conclusions These findings support the use of the 7/24 for assessing nonverbal memory in patients with TLE, and more specifically, suggest that the 7/24 may be a sensitive measure for detecting lateralized dysfunction of the right temporal lobe in TLE patients.


1995 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
pp. 554-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberlee J. Sass ◽  
Cari M. Silberfein ◽  
Ioannis Platis ◽  
Michael Westerveld ◽  
Cathleen P. Buchanan ◽  
...  

AbstractForty-eight patients with temporal lobe epilepsy completed measures of narrative recall and list learning prior to surgery. The intracarotid amytal procedure (IAP) established that 13 patients were right hemisphere dominant for speech and 35 (18 left foci, 17 right foci) were left hemisphere dominant. Hippocampal volumetric neuron densities were measured after surgery. The left hippocampal neuron densities in subfields CA3 and the hilar area were significantly correlated with list learning ability and percent retention for narrative recall only for left hemisphere speech dominant patients with left seizure foci. No significant correlations between measures of neuron volume and memory were found for the left hemisphere speech dominant patients with right seizure foci or the right hemisphere speech dominant patients with left seizure foci. This suggests that the right hemisphere of right speech dominant patients mediates verbal memory as well as speech. This conclusion is supported by patterns of correlations among measures of verbal memory that differed for patients undergoing resection of the dominant hemisphere versus those undergoing resection of the nondominant hemisphere. However, it is premature to conclude that the cerebral organization of cognitive functions of right hemisphere speech dominant patients is equivalent albeit reversed from that of left hemisphere speech dominant patients. Right hemisphere speech dominant patients with left temporal foci differed from left hemisphere speech dominant patients with right temporal foci with respect to the patterns of correlations between measures of verbal memory and intelligence as well as the level of intellectual ability that they demonstrated. (JINS, 1995, 1, 554–560.)


2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 1193-1205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabet Service ◽  
Päivi Helenius ◽  
Sini Maury ◽  
Riitta Salmelin

Electrophysiological methods have been used to study the temporal sequence of syntactic and semantic processing during sentence comprehension. Two responses associated with syntactic violations are the left anterior negativity (LAN) and the P600. A response to semantic violation is the N400. Although the sources of the N400 response have been identified in the left (and right) temporal lobe, the neural signatures of the LAN and P600 have not been revealed. The present study used magnetoencephalography to localize sources of syntactic and semantic activation in Finnish sentence reading. Participants were presented with sentences that ended in normally inf lected nouns, nouns in an unacceptable case, verbs instead of nouns, or nouns that were correctly inflected but made no sense in the context. Around 400 msec, semantically anomalous last words evoked strong activation in the left superior temporal lobe with significant activation also for word class errors (N400). Weaker activation was seen for the semantic errors in the right hemisphere. Later, 600-800 msec after word onset, the strongest activation was seen to word class and morphosyntactic errors (P600). Activation was significantly weaker to semantically anomalous and correct words. The P600 syntactic activation was localized to bilateral sources in the temporal lobe, posterior to the N400 sources. The results suggest that the same general region of the superior temporal cortex gives rise to both LAN and N400 with bilateral reactivity to semantic manipulation and a left hemisphere effect to syntactic manipulation. The bilateral P600 response was sensitive to syntactic but not semantic factors.


2008 ◽  
Vol 105 (47) ◽  
pp. 18555-18560 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. S. Wig ◽  
S. T. Grafton ◽  
K. E. Demos ◽  
G. L. Wolford ◽  
S. E. Petersen ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 119 (5) ◽  
pp. 1098-1104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takehiro Uda ◽  
Michiharu Morino ◽  
Hirotaka Ito ◽  
Noriaki Minami ◽  
Atsushi Hosono ◽  
...  

Object Amygdalohippocampectomy is a well-established, standard surgery for medically intractable mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE). However, in the case of MTLE without hippocampal atrophy or sclerosis, amygdalohippocampectomy is associated with decreased postoperative memory function. Hippocampal transection (HT) has been developed to overcome this problem. In HT the hippocampus is not removed; rather, the longitudinal hippocampal circuits of epileptic activities are disrupted by transection of the pyramidal layer of the hippocampus. The present study describes a less invasive modification of HT (transsylvian HT) and presents the seizure and memory outcomes for this procedure. Methods Thirty-seven patients with MTLE (18 men and 19 women; age range 9–63 years; 19 with surgery on the right side and 18 with surgery on the left side; seizure onset from 3 to 34 years) who were treated with transsylvian HT were retrospectively analyzed. All patients had left-side language dominance, and follow-up periods ranged from 12 to 94 months (median 49 months). Seizure outcomes were evaluated for all patients by using the Engel classification. Memory function was evaluated for 22 patients based on 3 indices (verbal memory, nonverbal memory, and delayed recall), with those scores obtained using the Wechsler Memory Scale–Revised. Patients underwent evaluation of the memory function before and after surgery (6 months–1 year). Results Engel Class I (completely seizure free) was achieved in 25 patients (67.6%). Class II and Class III designation was achieved in 10 (27%) and 2 patients (5.4%), respectively. There were differences in memory outcome between the sides of operation. On the right side, verbal memory significantly increased postoperatively (p = 0.003) but nonverbal memory and delayed recall showed no significant change after the operation (p = 0.718 and p = 0.210, respectively). On the left side, all 3 indices (verbal memory, nonverbal memory, and delayed recall) showed no significant change (p = 0.331, p = 0.458, and p = 0.366, respectively). Conclusions Favorable seizure outcome and preservation of verbal memory were achieved with transsylvian HT for the treatment of MTLE without hippocampal atrophy or sclerosis.


Neurology ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 458-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Boatman ◽  
J. Hart ◽  
R. P. Lesser ◽  
N. Honeycutt ◽  
N. B. Anderson ◽  
...  

Objective: To investigate the right hemispheric speech perception capabilities of an adult right-handed patient with seizures.Methods: Consecutive, unilateral, intracarotid sodium amobarbital injections and left hemispheric electrical interference mapping were used to determine lateralization and localization of speech perception, measured as syllable discrimination.Results: Syllable discrimination remained intact after left and right intracarotid sodium amobarbital injections. Language otherwise strongly lateralized to the left hemisphere. Despite evidence of bilateral speech perception capabilities, electrical interference testing in the left posterior temporal lobe impaired syllable discrimination.Conclusions: The results suggest a functionally symmetric, parallel system in the adult brain with preferential use of left hemispheric pathways for speech perception.


1998 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare E. Mackay ◽  
Neil Roberts ◽  
Andrew R. Mayes ◽  
John J. Downes ◽  
Jonathan K. Foster ◽  
...  

A rigorous new methodology was applied to the study of structure function relationships in the living human brain. Face recognition memory (FRM) and other cognitive measures were made in 29 healthy young male subjects (mean age = 21.7 years) and related to volumetric measurements of their cerebral hemispheres and of structures in their medial temporal lobes, obtained using the Cavalieri method in combination with high resolution Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI. Greatest proportional variability in volumes was found for the lateral ventricles (57%) for the cerebral hemispheres (8%) in the mean volumes of the hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, amygdala, caudate nucleus, temporal pole and temporal lobe on the right and left sides of the brain. The volumes of the right and left parahippocampal gyrus, temporal pole, temporal lobe, and left hippocampus were, prior to application of the Bonferroni correction to take account of 12 multiple comparisons, significantly correlated with the volume of the corresponding hemisphere (p< 0.05). The volumes of all structures were highly correlated (p< 0.0002 for all comparisons) between the two cerebral hemispheres. There were no positive relationships between structure volumes and FRM score. However, the volume of the right amygdala was, prior to application of the Bonferroni correction to take account of 38~multiple comparisons, found to be significantly smaller in the five most consistent high scorers compared to the five most consistent low scorers (t= 2.77,p= 0.025). The implications for possible relationships between healthy medial temporal lobe structures and memory are discussed.


1984 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 196-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Zatorre

A critical review is provided of the literature on musical performance following intracarotid sodium Amytal injection and on studies of musical perception in groups of unilaterally brain-damaged persons. The sodium Amytal data suggest that both hemispheres are active in singing familiar songs, since injection into either hemisphere produces disruption of singing. Studies with brain-damaged populations generally find deficits after right-sided damage in tasks demanding processing of patterns of pitches (e. g., unfamiliar melodic sequences) as well as with differences in timbre. Damage to the right temporal lobe causes the most consistent deficits in these tasks. Damage to the left side does not impair performance on such tasks, but does cause problems when familiar tunes are involved, especially if naming or identification is required, regardless of the presence or absence of aphasia. Damage to the right hemisphere also affects performance in such cases, but not usually to the extent that left-hemisphere lesions do.


Neurology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 90 (8) ◽  
pp. e673-e682 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Swardfager ◽  
Hugo Cogo-Moreira ◽  
Mario Masellis ◽  
Joel Ramirez ◽  
Nathan Herrmann ◽  
...  

ObjectiveTo determine the relationship between white matter hyperintensities (WMH) presumed to indicate disease of the cerebral small vessels, temporal lobe atrophy, and verbal memory deficits in Alzheimer disease (AD) and other dementias.MethodsWe recruited groups of participants with and without AD, including strata with extensive WMH and minimal WMH, into a cross-sectional proof-of-principle study (n = 118). A consecutive case series from a memory clinic was used as an independent validation sample (n = 702; Sunnybrook Dementia Study; NCT01800214). We assessed WMH volume and left temporal lobe atrophy (measured as the brain parenchymal fraction) using structural MRI and verbal memory using the California Verbal Learning Test. Using path modeling with an inferential bootstrapping procedure, we tested an indirect effect of WMH on verbal recall that depends sequentially on temporal lobe atrophy and verbal learning.ResultsIn both samples, WMH predicted poorer verbal recall, specifically due to temporal lobe atrophy and poorer verbal learning (proof-of-principle −1.53, 95% bootstrap confidence interval [CI] −2.45 to −0.88; and confirmation −0.66, 95% CI [−0.95 to −0.41] words). This pathway was significant in subgroups with (−0.20, 95% CI [−0.38 to −0.07] words, n = 363) and without (−0.71, 95% CI [−1.12 to −0.37] words, n = 339) AD. Via the identical pathway, WMH contributed to deficits in recognition memory (−1.82%, 95% CI [−2.64% to −1.11%]), a sensitive and specific sign of AD.ConclusionsAcross dementia syndromes, WMH contribute indirectly to verbal memory deficits considered pathognomonic of Alzheimer disease, specifically by contributing to temporal lobe atrophy.


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