Delivery of a Prevention Program in Large College Classes: Effectiveness of the Expectancy Challenge Alcohol Literacy Curriculum.

Background: Despite modest reductions in alcohol use among college students, drinking-related harms continue to be prevalent. Group-delivered programs have had little impact on drinking except for experiential expectancy challenge interventions that are impractical because they rely on alcohol administration. Expectancy Challenge Alcohol Literacy Curriculum (ECALC), however, offers a non-experiential alternative suitable for widespread implementation for universal, selective, or indicated prevention. Objectives: ECALC has been effective with mandated students, fraternity members, and small classes of 30 or fewer first-year college students. Larger universities, however, typically have classes with 100 students or more, and ECALC has not yet been tested with groups of this size. To fill this gap, we conducted a group randomized trial in which five class sections with over 100 college students received either ECALC or an attention-matched control presentation and completed follow-up at four weeks. Results: ECALC was associated with significant changes on six subscales of the Comprehensive Effects of Alcohol Scale (CEOA), post-intervention expectancies predicted drinking at four-week follow-up, and there were significant expectancy differences between groups. Compared to the control group, students who received ECALC demonstrated significant expectancy changes and reported less alcohol use at follow-up. Conclusions: Findings suggest ECALC is an effective, single session group-delivered intervention program that can be successfully implemented in large classes.

Impaired Recognition of Emotional Faces after Stroke Involving Right Amygdala or Insula.

Despite its basic and translational importance, the neural circuitry supporting the perception of emotional faces remains incompletely understood. Functional imaging studies and chronic lesion studies indicate distinct roles of the amygdala and insula in recognition of fear and disgust in facial expressions, whereas intracranial encephalography studies, which are not encumbered by variations in human anatomy, indicate a somewhat different role of these structures. In this article, we leveraged lesion-mapping techniques in individuals with acute right hemisphere stroke to investigate lesions associated with impaired recognition of prototypic emotional faces before significant neural reorganization can occur during recovery from stroke. Right hemisphere stroke patients were significantly less accurate than controls on a test of emotional facial recognition for both positive and negative emotions. Patients with right amygdala or anterior insula lesions had significantly lower scores than other right hemisphere stroke patients on recognition of angry and happy faces. Lesion volume within several regions, including the right amygdala and anterior insula, each independently contributed to the error rate in recognition of individual emotions. Results provide additional support for a necessary role of the right amygdala and anterior insula within a network of regions underlying recognition of facial expressions, particularly those that have biological importance or motivational relevance and have implications for clinical practice.

Purification, auto-activation and kinetic characterization of apoptosis signal-regulating kinase I.

Apoptosis signal-regulating kinase I (ASK1) is a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase (MAP3K) that activates the downstream MAP kinase kinases (MKKs) from two MAP kinase cascades: c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38. The essential physiological functions of ASK1 have attracted extensive attention. However, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of ASK1, including the activation mechanism of ASK1 and the catalytic mechanism of ASK1-mediated MKK phosphorylation, remain unclear. The lack of purified ASK1 protein has hindered the elucidation of ASK1-initiated signal transduction mechanisms. Here, we report a one-step chromatography method for the expression and purification of functional full-length ASK1 from Escherichia coli. The purified ASK1 demonstrates auto-phosphorylation activity. The kinase activity of auto-phosphorylated ASK1 (pASK1) was also evaluated on two MKK substrates, MKK4 and 7, from the JNK cascades. Our results show that MKK7 can be phosphorylated by pASK1 more effectively than MKK4. The steady-state kinetic analysis demonstrates that MKK7 is a better ASK1 substrate than MKK4. These observations are further confirmed by direct pull-down assays which shows ASK1 binds MKK7 significantly stronger than MKK4. Furthermore, robust phospho-tyrosine signal is observed in MKK4 phosphorylation by pASK1 in addition to the phospho-serine and phospho-threonine. This study provides novel mechanistic and kinetic insights into the ASK1-initiated MAPK signal transduction via highly controlled reconstructed protein systems.

Picturing the Size and Site of Stroke With an Expanded National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) includes minimal assessment of cognitive function, particularly in right hemisphere (RH) stroke. Descriptions of the Cookie Theft picture from the NIHSS allow analyses that (1) correlate with aphasia severity and (2) identify communication deficits in RH stroke. We hypothesized that analysis of the picture description contributes valuable information about volume and location of acute stroke. METHODS: We evaluated 67 patients with acute ischemic stroke (34 left hemisphere [LH]; 33 RH) with the NIHSS, analysis of the Cookie Theft picture, and magnetic resonance imaging, compared with 35 sex- and age-matched controls. We evaluated descriptions for total content units (CU), syllables, ratio of left:right CU, CU/minute, and percent interpretive CU, based on previous studies. Lesion volume and percent damage to regions of interest were measured on diffusion-weighted imaging. Multivariable linear regression identified variables associated with infarct volume, independently of NIHSS score, age and sex. RESULTS: Patients with RH and LH stroke differed from controls, but not from each other, on CU, syllables/CU, and CU/minute. Left:right CU was lower in RH compared with LH stroke. CU, syllables/CU, and NIHSS each correlated with lesion volume in LH and RH stroke. Lesion volume was best accounted by a model that included CU, syllables/CU, NIHSS, left:right CU, percent interpretive CU, and age, in LH and RH stroke. Each discourse variable and NIHSS score were associated with percent damage to different regions of interest, independently of lesion volume and age. CONCLUSIONS: Brief picture description analysis complements NIHSS scores in predicting stroke volume and location.

Effectiveness of a mental skills curriculum to reduce novices' stress.

BACKGROUND: Stress has been shown to negatively impact surgical performance, and surgical novices are particularly susceptible to its effects. Mental skills are psychological strategies designed to enhance performance and reduce the impact of stress to consistently facilitate the ideal mental conditions that enable performers to perform their best. Mental skills have been used routinely in other high-stress domains (e.g., with Navy SEALs, military pilots, elite athletes, and so forth) to facilitate optimal performance in challenging situations. We have developed a novel mental skills curriculum (MSC) to aid surgical trainees in optimizing their performance under stressful conditions. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of this MSC in reducing novices' stress. METHODS: The MSC was implemented with a convenience sample of surgical novices over 8 wk. Two stress tests were administered before and after completion of the MSC to assess its effectiveness in reducing trainee stress. The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) is a validated method of measuring participants' stress responses; it was implemented by giving participants 10 min to prepare for an impromptu presentation and 5 min to present it in front of a medical education expert who would be assessing them. The O'Connor Tweezer Dexterity Test (OTDT) is a test of fine motor dexterity; participants competed against each other in small groups who would complete the test the fastest. Such competition has been shown to cause acute stress in performers. To assess stress, heart rate (HR), perceived stress (STAI-6), and perceived workload (NASA-TLX) were completed during all testing sessions. RESULTS: Nine novices (age 23 ± 7 y, 55% women) completed the MSC. HR increased significantly from resting to performance during the TSST and from early during competition (at 2 min and 30 s of elapsed time) to immediately after completing the task. However, participants perceived less stress during and immediately after the TSST and OTDT tests (P < 0.05) after completion of the MSC. In addition, they reported significantly less workload during the second OTDT administration (P < 0.05) and showed a trend toward faster completion of this test. CONCLUSIONS: The novel MSC was effective at reducing surgical novices' perceived stress and workload during two comprehensive stress tests. Although not statistically significant, participant's enhanced performance during the OTDT is encouraging. This curriculum may be valuable to help inexperienced learners reduce stress in a variety of situations related to learning and performing surgical skills. Additional research using a larger sample size is currently underway to validate the effectiveness of this curriculum.

White matter tracts critical for recognition of sarcasm.

Failure to recognize sarcasm can lead to important miscommunications. Few previous studies have identified brain lesions associated with impaired recognition of sarcasm. We tested the hypothesis that percent damage to specific white matter tracts, age, and education together predict accuracy in sarcasm recognition. Using multivariable linear regression, with age, education, and percent damage to each of eight white matter tracts as independent variables, and percent accuracy on sarcasm recognition as the dependent variable, we developed a model for predicting sarcasm recognition. Percent damage to the sagittal stratum had the greatest weight and was the only independent predictor of sarcasm recognition.

The roles of occipitotemporal cortex in reading, spelling, and naming.

We evaluated the hypothesis that Brodmann's area (BA) 37 within left occipitotemporal cortex has at least two important functions in lexical processing. One role is the computation of case-, font-, location-, and orientation-independent grapheme descriptions for written word recognition and production (reading and spelling). This role may depend on the medial part of BA 37, in left midfusiform gyrus. The second role is in accessing modality-independent lexical representations for output, for naming and for reading and spelling of irregular or exception words. This role may depend on the lateral part of BA 37 in inferior temporal cortex. We tested these hypotheses in 234 participants with acute left hemisphere ischaemic stroke who underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and language testing within 48 hours of onset of stroke symptoms.

Nicotine Vaping Expectancies: Organization and Activation in Memory Based on Vaping Use Patterns.

OBJECTIVE: Prevalence of smoking combustible cigarettes has decreased, but rates of nicotine vaping among adolescents and young adults have increased dramatically. Vaping is associated with acute health problems and exposes users to toxic metals with unknown long-term consequences. Research on factors influencing vaping is needed to inform development of effective prevention and intervention methods. Nicotine vaping expectancies, or expected effects related to vaping, may be an important target as they can predict vaping behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine nicotine expectancy activation patterns with corresponding nicotine vaping behaviors. METHOD: Using methods from alcohol expectancy research, we applied a memory model approach to identifying nicotine vaping expectancies and modeling organization and activation patterns in relation to frequency of nicotine vaping. We created a memory model-based nicotine expectancy measure based on information from 200 adolescents in 8th and 12th grades, and 429 college students. Our expectancy measure was completed by a second sample of 862 college students. RESULTS: We mapped expectancies into network format using Individual Differences Scaling (INDSCAL) and we modeled likely paths of expectancy activation using Preference Mapping (PREFMAP). Non-users primarily emphasized a positive-negative expectancy dimension and were more likely to activate expectancies of negative internal experiences in relation to vaping. Students who vaped nicotine daily or almost daily primarily emphasized an external appearance-internal experience expectancy dimension and were more likely to activate expectancies of negative affect reduction and withdrawal relief. CONCLUSIONS: Our results identify specific targets for expectancy-based prevention and intervention methods that have the potential to be as effective as similar approaches to preventing and reducing alcohol use.

Distinct mechanisms and timing of language recovery after stroke.

The "language network" is remarkably stable across language tasks but changes in response to injury to specific components or in response to "disconnection" of input to one component. We investigated network changes during language recovery, hypothesizing that language recovery takes place through distinct mechanisms: (a) reperfusion; (b) recovery from diaschisis; (c) recovery from structural disconnection; and (d) "reorganization" of language, whereby various components assume function of a damaged component. We also tested the hypothesis that "reorganization" depends on: the language task, level of performance, size and site of stroke, and time post onset. We tested these hypotheses in five participants who had structural, perfusion, and functional imaging utilizing spelling, reading, word generation, and picture naming tasks at acute and subsequent stages after ischaemic stroke. These cases illustrate different mechanisms of aphasia recovery or illustrate that reorganization of language acutely depends on individual variables in addition to size and site of stroke.

Role of aphasia in discharge location after stroke.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate language deficits after acute stroke and their association with post-acute care at a setting other than home. We hypothesized that deficits in language comprehension would be associated with discharge to a setting other than home after adjustment for physical/occupational therapy (PT/OT) needs. DESIGN: Secondary analysis of prospectively collected data. Discharge location, demographic characteristics (age, sex, race), and the presence of PT/OT recommendations were abstracted from the medical record. SETTING: Acute stroke unit at a tertiary medical center. PARTICIPANTS: Left hemispheric stroke patients (N=152) within 24 hours of event. INTERVENTIONS: The following tasks were administered: (a-b) oral and written naming of pictured objects, (c) oral naming with tactile input (tactile naming), (d-f) oral reading, oral spelling, and repetition of words and pseudowords, (g) written spelling to dictation, (h) spoken word-picture verification (ie, auditory comprehension), and (i) written word-picture verification (ie, written word comprehension). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Discharge to a setting other than home. RESULTS: Of 152 cases, 88 were discharged home and 64 to another setting. Among stroke subjects discharged to a setting other than home, 63.6% had auditory comprehension deficits compared with 42.9% of those discharged home (P=.03). Deficits in auditory and reading comprehension and oral spelling to dictation were significantly associated with increased odds of discharge to a setting other than home after adjustment for age and PT/OT recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: Cases with deficits in auditory comprehension, reading comprehension, and oral spelling to dictation had increased odds of being discharged to settings other than home. Early evaluation of these language deficits and prompt treatment may allow patients who would otherwise be discharged to an institution to go home. Further research is needed to design and evaluate individualized treatment protocols and their effect on discharge recommendations.

Cardiovascular involvement among collegiate athletes following COVID-19 infection.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies suggest that the prevalence of cardiac involvement in young competitive athletes with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection appears to be low. AIM: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of cardiovascular involvement in young competitive athletes. METHODS: In this single-center retrospective cohort study from one Division I university; we assessed the prevalence of cardiovascular involvement among collegiate athletes who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by polymerase chain reaction testing. Data were collected from June 25, 2020, to May 15, 2021. The primary outcome was the prevalence of cardiac involvement based on a comparison of pre- and post-infection electrocardiogram (ECGs). The secondary outcome was to evaluate for any association between ethnicity and the presence or absence of symptoms. RESULTS: Among 99 athletes who tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus (mean age 19.9 years [standard deviation 1.7 years]; 31% female), baseline ECG changes suggestive of cardiovascular involvement post-infection were detected in two athletes (2/99; 2%). There was a statistically significant association between ethnicity and the presence or absence of symptoms, χ 2 (3, n = 99) = 10.61, P = 0.01. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of cardiovascular involvement among collegiate athletes following SARS-CoV-2 infection in this cohort is low. Afro-American and Caucasian athletes are more likely to experience symptoms following SARS-CoV-2 infection in comparison to Hispanic and Pacific Islander athletes; however, there is no association between ethnicity and symptom severity. RELEVANCE FOR PATIENTS: These data add to the growing body of the literature and agree with larger cohorts that the risk of cardiac involvement post-infection appears to be low among elite athletic and semi-professional athletic populations.

Formal education, socioeconomic status, and the severity of aphasia after stroke.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the role of education and socioeconomic status on the severity of aphasia after stroke. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Stroke units of 2 affiliated medical centers. PARTICIPANTS: Stroke patients (n=173) within 24 hours of symptom development and hospitalized controls (n=62) matched for age, education, and socioeconomic status (SES) with normative brain magnetic resonance imaging. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Percent error on 9 language tasks (auditory and written comprehension, naming [oral, written, and tactile], oral reading, oral spelling, written spelling, and repetition). Education was recorded in years and dichotomized as less than 12 years or 12 years and above for data analysis. Demographic characteristics (age, sex, race) and stroke volume were recorded for adjustment. SES was obtained from census tract data as 2 variables: mean neighborhood household income and family income. RESULTS: The percentage of errors for participants with 12 or more years of education was significantly lower for auditory and written comprehension, written naming, oral reading, oral spelling, and written spelling of fifth grade vocabulary words, even after adjusting for age, sex, stroke volume, and SES. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that even once learned, access to written word forms may become less vulnerable to disruption by stroke with increasing years of education.

Contributors to Poststroke Dysphagia-Related Caregiver Burden.

Purpose Caregiver burden negatively impacts both stroke survivor and caregiver well-being. Thus, it is important to better understand the individual- and dyadic-level variables that may contribute to dysphagia-related caregiver burden. The aim of this preliminary study was to identify survivor-, caregiver-, and dyadic-specific factors associated with burden in couples experiencing poststroke dysphagia. Method Twenty-eight stroke survivors ("care recipients") with dysphagia and their spouses ("caregivers") participated. Care recipients and caregivers completed a survey from which scores for the following variables were derived: dysphagia-related caregiver burden, survivor- and spouse-perceived impact of dysphagia on mealtimes (social, mealtime logistics), dyadic congruence on perceived impact, International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative Functional Diet Scale, Swallowing-Related Quality of Life Scale, and Stroke Impact Scale (cognitive, emotional, physical, and social domains). Spearman's rho and point biserial correlation coefficients were calculated to determine the factors related to caregiver burden. Results Increased burden was significantly associated with greater care recipient- and spouse-perceived impact of dysphagia on mealtime logistics; however, burden was not associated with measures of dyadic congruence of perceived impact. Notably, increased burden was also associated with increased diet restrictiveness and decreased swallow-specific quality of life. Dysphagia-related caregiver burden was not associated with measures of stroke impact/severity across any domain. Conclusions Factors related to dysphagia-related caregiver burden are multifactorial and include both care recipient (e.g., International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative Functional Diet Scale, Swallowing-Related Quality of Life Scale, perceived impact of dysphagia on mealtime logistics) and caregiver (e.g., perceived impact of dysphagia on mealtime logistics) variables. The results of this preliminary investigation support the need to incorporate aspects of counseling and family-centered care into our management practices, a growing area of interest for speech-language pathologists.

Ischemia in broca area is associated with broca aphasia more reliably in acute than in chronic stroke.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We aimed to determine if ischemia involving Broca area predicts Broca aphasia more reliably in acute or chronic stroke. METHODS: We included consecutive right-hand-dominant patients with left hemisphere ischemic stroke (<48 hours from onset for acute stroke or >6 months after stroke for chronic stroke). MRI scans were analyzed for ischemic lesions or hypoperfusion in Broca area (Brodmann areas 44 and 45). Patients were scored on the Western Aphasia Battery to classify aphasia syndromes; chi(2) tests were used to identify significant associations. RESULTS: The presence of infarct involving any part of Broca area and the presence of Broca or global aphasia was much stronger in acute (chi(2)=38.1; df1; P<0.0001) than in chronic stroke (chi(2)=0.54; df1; P=0.46; not significant). The association between infarct or hypoperfusion covering all of Broca area and the presence of Broca or global aphasia was much stronger in acute (chi(2)=35.8; df1; P<0.0001) than in chronic stroke (chi(2)=1.2; df1; p=0.27; not significant). In a subset of 20 patients studied longitudinally, the associations were significant only acutely, not chronically (chi(2)=20; df1; P<0.0001 vs. chi(2)=0; df1; p=1; not significant for ischemia involving part of Broca area, and chi(2)=16.4; df1; P<0.0001 vs chi(2)=3.2; df1; p=0.08; not significant for ischemia covering all of Broca area). CONCLUSIONS: Broca aphasia is more reliably associated with infarct/ hypoperfusion of Broca area in acute stroke. Many chronic stroke patients with damage to part or all of Broca area had neither Broca nor global aphasia. Broca or global aphasia was sometimes present initially in these patients but resolved by 6 months. Our results indicate that the acute aphasia syndrome may allow the clinician to predict the compromised vascular territory, even when structural imaging shows only a small (or no) infarct.

A neural network critical for spelling.

We aimed to identify neuroanatomical regions associated with deficits to the graphemic buffer, a working memory component of the spelling system that holds the sequence of letter identities during production. We evaluated 331 patients with left hemisphere ischemic stroke with various spelling tests and magnetic resonance diffusion-weighted imaging and perfusion-weighted imaging, within 48 hours of stroke onset. A voxel-wise statistical map showed that ischemia in voxels in posterior and inferior frontal and parietal cortex, subcortical white matter underlying prefrontal cortex, lateral occipital gyrus, or caudate was associated with impairment in maintaining the sequence of letter identities while spelling.

Severity of hypoperfusion in distinct brain regions predicts severity of hemispatial neglect in different reference frames.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Hemispatial neglect is among the most common and disabling consequences of right hemisphere stroke. A variety of variables have been associated with the presence or severity of neglect but have not evaluated the independent effects of location, severity, and volume of ischemia. Few have determined areas involved in different types of neglect. We identified the contributions of these variables to severity of viewer-centered versus stimulus-centered neglect in acute ischemic right hemisphere stroke. METHODS: We studied 137 patients within 24 hours of stroke onset with MR diffusion- and perfusion-weighted imaging and a test of hemispatial neglect that distinguishes between viewer-centered and stimulus-centered neglect. Using multivariable linear regression, we identified the independent contributions of severity of ischemia in specific locations, volume of ischemia, and age in accounting for severity of each neglect type. RESULTS: Severity of hypoperfusion in angular gyrus was the only variable that significantly and independently contributed to severity of viewer-centered neglect. Volume of dysfunctional tissue and hypoperfusion in posterior frontal cortex also accounted for some variability in severity of viewer-centered neglect. Severity of hypoperfusion of superior temporal cortex was the only variable that independently and significantly contributed to severity of stimulus-centered neglect. CONCLUSIONS: Location, severity, and volume of ischemia together determine the type and severity of neglect after right hemisphere stroke. Results also show that perfusion-weighted MRI can be used as a semiquantitative measure of tissue dysfunction in acute stroke and can account for a substantial proportion of the variability in functional deficits in the acute stage.

Where (in the brain) do semantic errors come from?

BACKGROUND: Semantic errors result from the disruption of access either to semantics or to lexical representations. One way to determine the origins of these errors is to evaluate comprehension of words that elicit semantic errors in naming. We hypothesized that in acute stroke there are different brain regions where dysfunction results in semantic errors in both naming and comprehension versus those with semantic errors in oral naming alone. METHODS: A consecutive series of 196 patients with acute left hemispheric stroke who met inclusion criteria were evaluated with oral naming and spoken word/picture verification tasks and magnetic resonance imaging within 48 h of stroke onset. We evaluated the relationship between tissue dysfunction in 10 pre-specified Brodmann's areas (BA) and the production of coordinate semantic errors resulting from (1) semantic deficits or (2) lexical access deficits. RESULTS: Semantic errors arising from semantic deficits were most associated with tissue dysfunction/infarct of left BA 22. Semantic errors resulting from lexical access deficits were associated with hypoperfusion/infarct of left BA 37. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that semantic errors arising from damage to distinct cognitive processes reflect dysfunction of different brain regions.

Analysis of behavioral constraints and the neuroanatomy of fear to the predator odor trimethylthiazoline: a model for animal phobias.

Specific phobias, including animal phobias, are the most common anxiety disorders, and have a strong innate and genetic component. Research on the neurobiology and environmental constraints of innate fear of predators in rodents may be useful in elucidating mechanisms of animal phobias in humans. The present article reviews research on innate fear in rats to trimethylthiazoline (TMT), an odor originally isolated from fox feces. TMT induces unconditioned freezing and other defensive responses that are regulated by the dose of TMT and the shape of the testing environment. Contextual conditioning induced by TMT occurs, but is constrained by the environment. Lesion studies indicate the amygdala circuitry subserving fear conditioning is not necessary for unconditioned fear to TMT. Additionally, a medial hypothalamic defensive circuit also appears not necessary for unconditioned freezing to TMT, whereas circuits that include the medial nucleus of the amygdala and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis are essential. The importance of these findings of innate predator odor fear in rodents to animal phobias in humans is discussed.

Neural regions essential for reading and spelling of words and pseudowords.

OBJECTIVE: To identify dysfunctional brain regions critical for impaired reading/spelling of words/pseudowords by evaluating acute stroke patients on lexical tests and magnetic resonance imaging, before recovery or reorganization of structure-function relationships. METHODS: A series of 106 consenting patients were administered oral reading and spelling tests within 24 hours of left supratentorial stroke onset. Patients underwent diffusion- and perfusion-weighted magnetic resonance examination the same day to identify regions of hypoperfusion/infarct of 16 Brodmann areas. RESULTS: Simultaneous logistic regression analysis demonstrated that dysfunction of left Brodmann areas 40 (supramarginal gyrus) and 37 (posterior-inferior temporal/fusiform gyrus) best predicted impairment in reading words (odds ratio [OR], 6.20 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.54-24.96] and 2.71 [95% CI, 0.87-8.45], respectively), reading pseudowords (OR, 39.65 [95% CI 3.9-400.78] and 4.41 [95% CI, 1.1-17.51], respectively), spelling words (OR, 14.11 [95% CI 1.37-144.93] and 7.41 [95% CI, 1.48-37.24], respectively), and spelling pseudowords (OR, 4.84 [95% CI, 0.73-32.13] and 7.74 [95% CI, 1.56-38.51], respectively). Whole-brain voxel-wise analyses demonstrated voxel clusters within these regions that were most strongly associated with task deficits. INTERPRETATION: Results indicate that a shared network of regions including parts of left Brodmann areas 37 and 40 is necessary for reading and spelling of words and pseudowords. Further studies may define the precise roles of these brain regions in language. Identification of any neural regions specific to one of these tasks or one type of stimuli will require study of more patients with selective deficits.

Neural regions essential for distinct cognitive processes underlying picture naming.

We hypothesized that distinct cognitive processes underlying oral and written picture naming depend on intact function of different, but overlapping, regions of the left hemisphere cortex, such that the distribution of tissue dysfunction in various areas can predict the component of the naming process that is disrupted. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated 116 individuals within 24 h of acute ischaemic stroke using a battery of oral and written naming and other lexical tests, and with magnetic resonance diffusion and perfusion imaging to identify the areas of tissue dysfunction. Discriminant function analysis, using the degree of hypoperfusion in various Brodmann's areas--BA 22 (including Wernicke's area), BA 44 (part of Broca's area), BA 45 (part of Broca's area), BA 21 (inferior temporal cortex), BA 37 (posterior, inferior temporal/fusiform gyrus), BA 38 (anterior temporal cortex) and BA 39 (angular gyrus)--as discriminant variables, classified patients on the basis of the primary component of the naming process that was impaired (defined as visual, semantics, modality-independent lexical access, phonological word form, orthographic word form and motor speech by the pattern of performance and types of errors across lexical tasks). Additionally, linear regression analysis demonstrated that the areas contributing the most information to the identification of patients with particular levels of impairment in the naming process were largely consistent with evidence for the roles of these regions from functional imaging. This study provides evidence that the level of impairment in the naming process reflects the distribution of tissue dysfunction in particular regions of the left anterior, inferior and posterior middle/superior temporal cortex, posterior inferior frontal and inferior parietal cortex. While occipital cortex is also critical for picture naming, it is likely that bilateral occipital damage is necessary to disrupt visual recognition. These findings provide new evidence that a network of brain regions supports naming, but separate components of this network are differentially required for distinct cognitive processes or representations underlying the complex task of naming pictures.