The Neural Basis of Successful Word Reading in Aphasia. J Cogn Neurosci 2018 Apr;30(4):514-525
Date
12/07/2017Pubmed ID
29211656Pubmed Central ID
PMC9926535DOI
10.1162/jocn_a_01214Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85042764522 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 8 CitationsAbstract
Understanding the neural basis of recovery from stroke is a major research goal. Many functional neuroimaging studies have identified changes in brain activity in people with aphasia, but it is unclear whether these changes truly support successful performance or merely reflect increased task difficulty. We addressed this problem by examining differences in brain activity associated with correct and incorrect responses on an overt reading task. On the basis of previous proposals that semantic retrieval can assist pronunciation of written words, we hypothesized that recruitment of semantic areas would be greater on successful trials. Participants were 21 patients with left-hemisphere stroke with phonologic retrieval deficits. They read words aloud during an event-related fMRI paradigm. BOLD signals obtained during correct and incorrect trials were contrasted to highlight brain activity specific to successful trials. Successful word reading was associated with higher BOLD signal in the left angular gyrus. In contrast, BOLD signal in bilateral posterior inferior frontal cortex, SMA, and anterior cingulate cortex was greater on incorrect trials. These data show for the first time the brain regions where neural activity is correlated specifically with successful performance in people with aphasia. The angular gyrus is a key node in the semantic network, consistent with the hypothesis that additional recruitment of the semantic system contributes to successful word production when phonologic retrieval is impaired. Higher activity in other brain regions during incorrect trials likely reflects secondary engagement of attention, working memory, and error monitoring processes when phonologic retrieval is unsuccessful.
Author List
Pillay SB, Gross WL, Graves WW, Humphries C, Book DS, Binder JRAuthors
Jeffrey R. Binder MD Professor in the Neurology department at Medical College of WisconsinDiane S. Book MD Associate Professor in the Neurology department at Medical College of Wisconsin
William Gross MD, PhD Assistant Professor in the Anesthesiology department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Sara B. Pillay PhD Assistant Professor in the Neurology department at Medical College of Wisconsin
MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdultAged
Aged, 80 and over
Aphasia
Brain
Brain Mapping
Cerebrovascular Circulation
Female
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Middle Aged
Oxygen
Phonetics
Reading
Semantics
Speech
Stroke
