The Cologne Picture Naming Test for Language Mapping and Monitoring (CoNaT): An Open Set of 100 Black and White Object Drawings

Language assessment using a picture naming task crucially relies on the interpretation of the given verbal response by the rater. To avoid misinterpretations, a language-specific and linguistically controlled set of unambiguous, clearly identifiable and common object–word pairs is mandatory. We, here, set out to provide an open-source set of black and white object drawings, particularly suited for language mapping and monitoring, e.g., during awake brain tumour surgery or transcranial magnetic stimulation, in German language. A refined set of 100 black and white drawings was tested in two consecutive runs of randomised picture order and was analysed in respect of correct, prompt, and reliable object recognition and naming in a series of 132 healthy subjects between 18 and 84 years (median 25 years, 64% females) and a clinical pilot cohort of 10 brain tumour patients (median age 47 years, 80% males). The influence of important word- and subject-related factors on task performance and reliability was investigated. Overall, across both healthy subjects and patients, excellent correct object naming rates (97 vs. 96%) as well as high reliability coefficients (Goodman–Kruskal's gamma = 0.95 vs. 0.86) were found. However, the analysis of variance revealed a significant, overall negative effect of low word frequency (p < 0.05) and high age (p < 0.0001) on task performance whereas the effect of a low educational level was only evident for the subgroup of 72 or more years of age (p < 0.05). Moreover, a small learning effect was observed across the two runs of the test (p < 0.001). In summary, this study provides an overall robust and reliable picture naming tool, optimised for the clinical use to map and monitor language functions in patients. However, individual familiarisation before the clinical use remains advisable, especially for subjects that are comparatively prone to spontaneous picture naming errors such as older subjects of low educational level and patients with clinically apparent word finding difficulties.

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A Novel Language Paradigm for Intraoperative Language Mapping: Feasibility and Evaluation

Journal of Clinical Medicine ◽

10.3390/jcm10040655 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 655

Author(s):

Katharina Rosengarth ◽

Delin Pai ◽

Frank Dodoo-Schittko ◽

Katharina Hense ◽

Teele Tamm ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Healthy Subjects ◽

Intraoperative Complications ◽

Evaluation Study ◽

Awake Craniotomy ◽

Language Mapping ◽

Tumor Patients ◽

Language Functions ◽

Before And After ◽

Assessment Time ◽

Neuropsychological Outcomes

(1) Background—Mapping language using direct cortical stimulation (DCS) during an awake craniotomy is difficult without using more than one language paradigm that particularly follows the demand of DCS by not exceeding the assessment time of 4 s to prevent intraoperative complications. We designed an intraoperative language paradigm by combining classical picture naming and verb generation, which safely engaged highly relevant language functions. (2) Methods—An evaluation study investigated whether a single trial of the language task could be performed in less than 4 s in 30 healthy subjects and whether the suggested language paradigm sufficiently pictured the cortical language network using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 12 healthy subjects. In a feasibility study, 24 brain tumor patients conducted the language task during an awake craniotomy. The patients’ neuropsychological outcomes were monitored before and after surgery. (3) Results—The fMRI results in healthy subjects showed activations in a language-associated network around the (left) sylvian fissure. Single language trials could be performed within 4 s. Intraoperatively, all tumor patients showed DCS-induced language errors while conducting the novel language task. Postoperatively, mild neuropsychological impairments appeared compared to the presurgical assessment. (4) Conclusions—These data support the use of a novel language paradigm that safely monitors highly relevant language functions intraoperatively, which can consequently minimize negative postoperative neuropsychological outcomes.

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Developing fMRI protocol for clinical use Comparison of 6 Arabic paradigms for brain language mapping in native Arabic speakers

Neurosciences ◽

10.17712/nsj.2021.1.20200012 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 26 (1) ◽

pp. 45-55

Author(s):

Rafat S. Mohtasib ◽

Jamaan S. Alghamdi ◽

Salah M. Baz ◽

Haya F. Aljoudi ◽

Ahmed M. Masawi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Clinical Use ◽

Language Mapping ◽

Arabic Speakers ◽

Native Arabic Speakers

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Movie-watching fMRI for presurgical language mapping in patients with brain tumour

Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry ◽

10.1136/jnnp-2020-325738 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. jnnp-2020-325738

Author(s):

Shun Yao ◽

Laura Rigolo ◽

Fuxing Yang ◽

Mark G Vangel ◽

Haijun Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Brain Tumour ◽

Language Mapping

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Language Mapping with Magnetoencephalography

Fifty Years of Magnetoencephalography ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190935689.003.0017 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 247-262

Author(s):

Panagiotis G. Simos ◽

Susan M. Bowyer ◽

Kyousuke Kamada

Keyword(s):

Imaging Techniques ◽

Target Function ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Language Mapping ◽

Surgical Interventions ◽

Cortical Organization ◽

Language Functions ◽

Normal Populations ◽

Motor Cortex Mapping ◽

The Brain

This chapter explores the applications of magnetoencephalography (MEG) to the study of the brain mechanisms for language functions. Language mapping with MEG has proved helpful in presurgical estimates of the location and extent of language-related cortex as well as in the intraoperative identification of these cortical patches. In fact, in several neurosurgical centers around the world, such assessments are part of the protocol of surgical interventions, especially in the case of epilepsy. Moreover, MEG alone or in combination with other imaging methods, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), is extensively used for the testing of alternative models of cortical organization for language in normal populations. However, applications of MEG to language mapping face most of the limitations that characterize brain imaging techniques relying on hemodynamic measures. Perhaps the most fundamental of these limitations concerns the degree of specificity of results: Activation profiles feature brain regions that may not be indispensable for a particular target function. This problem is particularly serious in the case of language mapping and to a lesser degree in motor cortex mapping.

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Two Novel Polymorphisms in 5' Flanking Region of the Mesothelin Gene are Associated with Soluble Mesothelin-Related Peptide (SMRP) Levels

The International Journal of Biological Markers ◽

10.5301/jbm.2011.8332 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 26 (2) ◽

pp. 117-123 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Alfonso Cristaudo ◽

Rudy Foddis ◽

Alessandra Bonotti ◽

Silvia Simonini ◽

Agnese Vivaldi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Healthy Subjects ◽

Fold Increase ◽

High Rate ◽

Pleural Mesothelioma ◽

Clinical Use ◽

Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽

Single Nucleotide ◽

Elisa Kit ◽

Surveillance Programs ◽

Flanking Region

Background and aims Increased concentrations of soluble mesothelin-related peptides (SMRP) have been found in sera of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) even if a relatively high rate of false positives has hampered their clinical use as a tumor marker. Individual SMRP levels could be affected by polymorphic elements. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms within the promoter-5'UTR regions and SMRP levels in healthy asbestos-exposed individuals and patients suffering from MPM. Methods The promoter-5'UTR regions of the mesothelin gene were genotyped in 59 healthy asbestos-exposed subjects and 27 MPM patients. SMRP levels were measured using a commercially available ELISA kit. Results Two novel polymorphisms, an A>C variant (called New1) and a C>T variant (called New2), were identified. In healthy subjects, high SMRP levels were associated with the C-variant of New1, with an average 1.62-fold increase compared with AA homozygotes (p<0.0001). Most of the C-allele carriers had SMRP levels above the threshold of 1.00 nM. We set two different SMRP cutoffs on the basis of the combined New1+New2 genotypes. Conclusions New1-New2 genotypes could be employed as markers for setting individualized and appropriate thresholds of “normality” when SMRP is used in surveillance programs of asbestos-exposed people.

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ERP Correlates of Word Production before and after Stroke in an Aphasic Patient

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn.2010.21412 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 374-381 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Marina Laganaro ◽

Stéphanie Morand ◽

Christoph M. Michel ◽

Laurent Spinelli ◽

Armin Schnider

Keyword(s):

Picture Naming ◽

Healthy Subjects ◽

Language Production ◽

Time Window ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Temporal Cortex ◽

Word Production ◽

Control Group ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Aphasic Patient

Changes in brain activity characterizing impaired speech production after brain damage have usually been investigated by comparing aphasic speakers with healthy subjects because prestroke data are normally not available. However, when interpreting the results of studies of stroke patients versus healthy controls, there is an inherent difficulty in disentangling the contribution of neuropathology from other sources of between-subject variability. In the present work, we had an unusual opportunity to study an aphasic patient with severe anomia who had incidentally performed a picture naming task in an ERP study as a control subject one year before suffering a left hemisphere stroke. The fortuitous recording of this patient's brain activity before his stroke allows direct comparison of his pre- and poststroke brain activity in the same language production task. The subject did not differ from other healthy subjects before his stroke, but presented major electrophysiological differences after stroke, both in comparison to himself before stroke and to the control group. ERP changes consistently appeared after stroke in a specific time window starting about 250 msec after picture onset, characterized by a single divergent but stable topographic configuration of the scalp electric field associated with a cortical generator abnormally limited to left temporal posterior perilesional areas. The patient's pattern of anomia revealed a severe lexical–phonological impairment and his ERP responses diverged from those of healthy controls in the time window that has previously been associated with lexical–phonological processes during picture naming. Given that his prestroke ERPs were indistinguishable from those of healthy controls, it seems highly likely that the change in his poststroke ERPs is due to changes in language production processes as a consequence of stroke. The patient's neurolinguistic deficits, combined with the ERPs results, provide unique evidence for the role of left temporal cortex in lexical–phonological processing from about 250 to 450 msec during word production.

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Racial Differences in Men's Unemployment

ILR Review ◽

10.1177/001979399304600301 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 46 (3) ◽

pp. 451-463 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Leslie S. Stratton

Keyword(s):

Labor Market ◽

Racial Differences ◽

Labor Force Participation ◽

Educational Level ◽

Population Survey ◽

Probability Function ◽

White Men ◽

Current Population Survey Data ◽

Labor Market Conditions ◽

Black And White

The author uses March 1990 Current Population Survey data to investigate the reasons for the long-standing gap between the unemployment levels of black and white men (which were about 11.8% and 4.8%, respectively, in 1990). An employment probability function that controls for labor force participation is estimated separately by race. The results indicate that only 20–40% of the differential can be explained by variables other than race that are typically associated with unemployment, such as educational level and local labor market conditions. The predicted differential appears to be greatest among younger, less-skilled men.

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Association of behavioral “Theory of Mind” Test performance with neurophysiological and vegetative parameters in schizophrenia patients and healthy subjects

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.eurpsy.2017.01.1443 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 41 (S1) ◽

pp. S766-S767

Author(s):

Z. Garakh ◽

Y. Zaytseva ◽

A. Morozova ◽

V. Strelets

Keyword(s):

Theory Of Mind ◽

Task Performance ◽

Resting State ◽

Healthy Subjects ◽

Chronically Ill ◽

Physiological Parameters ◽

Classification Model ◽

Imagery Task ◽

Mu Rhythm ◽

Chronically Ill Patients

IntroductionTheory of Mind (ToM) deficit is investigated by psychological and neurobiological methods using a range of social cognitive tests, including the verbal test Hinting Task. However, it remains unclear whether there is a connection between ToM results and the physiological characteristics in norm and in pathology.ObjectivesWe performed the comparison of Hinting Task performance in patients with schizophrenia and healthy subjects; analysis of correlations between Hinting Task performance with physiological parameters; discriminant analysis in order to classify subject groups according to predictors, including psychological and physiological parameters.MethodsWe measured Hinting Task, spectral power of the EEG mu-rhythm (SP) and heart rate (HR) at rest and during a motion imagery task in 114 right-handed subjects, 1st episode patients with schizophrenia (SCH1) n = 29, chronically ill patients with schizophrenia, duration of illness more than 5 years, (SCH2) n = 23, and healthy subjects (НС) n = 62.ResultsHinting Task rate: HC > SCH2 (P < 0.01), HC ≥ SCH1 (P = 0.07), SCH1 = SCH2 (P = 0.3). Only SCH1 Hinting Task score was associated with a complex of physiological parameters in the resting state [Multiple R = 0.78, F (3.25) = 13.31, P < 0.0001]. Discriminant function analysis of HC and the combined SCH group [F (7.106) = 7.078, P < 0.0000]. The samples were classified at 89% and 71%, respectively, including HR (P < 0.000001), SP in the resting state in C4 (P < 0.001), C3 (P < 0.01), SP changes in C3 (P < 0.05) and Hinting Task (P = 0.2).ConclusionsHinting Task Hinting Task is a part of classification model of norm and schizophrenia. Patients with first episode and chronically ill patients with schizophrenia do not differ in the studied parameters.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

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The influence of short-term language-switching training on the plasticity of the cognitive control mechanism in bilingual word production

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology ◽

10.1177/1747021817737520 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 71 (10) ◽

pp. 2115-2128 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Junjie Wu ◽

Chunyan Kang ◽

Fengyang Ma ◽

Xiaoyi Gao ◽

Taomei Guo

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Control ◽

Picture Naming ◽

Control Mechanism ◽

Local Level ◽

Naming Task ◽

Word Production ◽

Language Switching ◽

Short Term ◽

Language Mapping ◽

Target Languages

This study examined the effect of short-term language-switching training on the cognitive control mechanism in bilingual word production. In two experiments, two groups of relatively proficient but unbalanced Chinese–English bilinguals performed a cued picture-naming task, in which they switched between their two languages. On two consecutive days, the participants took part in four sessions. The same procedure was employed on 2 days in Experiment 1, whereas the cue-language mapping was reversed on Day 2 in Experiment 2. In both experiments, picture naming in the dominant language (L1, Chinese) was slower than that in the weaker second language (L2, English) in all sessions. In addition, the reversed language dominance effect was enhanced with training, suggesting that training proactively increases the amount of inhibition of the dominant L1 at the global level. Furthermore, switching costs in the L1 were reduced with training in Experiment 1, but not in Experiment 2. These results indicate that language-switching training improves the efficiency of reactively exerting inhibitory control over the dominant L1 at the local level. However, when a cue matches with different target languages, the effect of training is absent at the local level. These findings reveal the plasticity and complexity of the cognitive control mechanism as a function of bilingual experience, particularly in language switching.

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