The role of the left anterior temporal lobe in exception word reading: Reconciling patient and neuroimaging findings

Semantic dementia (SD) is a neurodegenerative disease that occurs following the atrophy of the anterior temporal lobes (ATLs). It is characterised by the degradation of semantic knowledge and difficulties in reading exception words (surface dyslexia). This disease has highlighted the role of the ATL...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:NeuroImage (Orlando, Fla.) Fla.), 2012-05, Vol.60 (4), p.2000-2007
Main Authors: Wilson, Maximiliano A., Joubert, Sven, Ferré, Perrine, Belleville, Sylvie, Ansaldo, Ana Inés, Joanette, Yves, Rouleau, Isabelle, Brambati, Simona Maria
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Atrophy
Atrophy - pathology
Atrophy - physiopathology
Brain
Brain Mapping
Dementia disorders
Dyslexia
Dyslexia, Acquired - etiology
Dyslexia, Acquired - pathology
Dyslexia, Acquired - physiopathology
Female
Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration - complications
Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration - pathology
Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration - physiopathology
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
Functional MRI
Humans
Hypotheses
Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted
Language
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Medical imaging
Neurodegenerative diseases
Neuroimaging
Orthography
Patients
Reading
Semantic dementia
Semantic knowledge
Semantics
Studies
Substantia grisea
Surface dyslexia
Temporal gyrus
Temporal lobe
Temporal Lobe - pathology
Temporal Lobe - physiopathology
Voxel-based morphometry
Word processing
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Summary:Semantic dementia (SD) is a neurodegenerative disease that occurs following the atrophy of the anterior temporal lobes (ATLs). It is characterised by the degradation of semantic knowledge and difficulties in reading exception words (surface dyslexia). This disease has highlighted the role of the ATLs in the process of exception word reading. However, imaging studies in healthy subjects have failed to detect activation of the ATLs during exception word reading. The aim of the present study was to test whether the functional brain regions that mediate exception word reading in normal readers overlap those brain regions atrophied in SD. In Study One, we map the brain regions of grey matter atrophy in AF, a patient with mild SD and surface dyslexia profile. In Study Two, we map the activation pattern associated with exception word compared to pseudoword reading in young, healthy participants using fMRI. The results revealed areas of significant activation in healthy subjects engaged in the exception word reading task in the left anterior middle temporal gyrus, in a region observed to be atrophic in the patient AF. These results reconcile neuropsychological and functional imaging data, revealing the critical role of the left ATL in exception word reading. ► We studied the role of the anterior temporal lobes in exception word (EW) reading. ► Atrophy in the left anterior temporal lobe was associated with surface dyslexia. ► The same region was activated during EW reading in healthy subjects. ► Patient and functional data consistently show the role of this region in EW reading.
ISSN:1053-8119
1095-9572
DOI:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.02.009