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The anterior temporal lobes support residual comprehension in Wernicke's aphasia

Robson, Holly; Zahn, Roland; Keidel, James L.; Binney, Richard J.; Sage, Karen; Lambon Ralph, Matthew A.

Authors

Holly Robson

Roland Zahn

James L. Keidel

Richard J. Binney

Karen Sage

Matthew A. Lambon Ralph



Abstract

Wernicke's aphasia occurs after a stroke to classical language comprehension regions in the left temporoparietal cortex. Consequently, auditory-verbal comprehension is significantly impaired in Wernicke's aphasia but the capacity to comprehend visually presented materials (written words and pictures) is partially spared. This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the neural basis of written word and picture semantic processing in Wernicke's aphasia, with the wider aim of examining how the semantic system is altered after damage to the classical comprehension regions. Twelve participants with chronic Wernicke's aphasia and 12 control participants performed semantic animate-inanimate judgements and a visual height judgement baseline task. Whole brain and region of interest analysis in Wernicke's aphasia and control participants found that semantic judgements were underpinned by activation in the ventral and anterior temporal lobes bilaterally. The Wernicke's aphasia group displayed an 'over-activation' in comparison with control participants, indicating that anterior temporal lobe regions become increasingly influential following reduction in posterior semantic resources. Semantic processing of written words in Wernicke's aphasia was additionally supported by recruitment of the right anterior superior temporal lobe, a region previously associated with recovery from auditory-verbal comprehension impairments. Overall, the results provide support for models in which the anterior temporal lobes are crucial for multimodal semantic processing and that these regions may be accessed without support from classic posterior comprehension regions. © 2014 The Author .

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jan 1, 2014
Journal Brain
Print ISSN 0006-8950
Electronic ISSN 1460-2156
Publisher Oxford University Press (OUP)
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 137
Issue 3
Pages 931-943
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awt373
Keywords Wernicke’s aphasia, semantic processing, language comprehension, anterior temporal lobe, Wernicke’s area
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/820905
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/brain/awt373



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