Effects of temporal lobectomy on generative fluency and other language functions

Abstract

We investigated the acute effects of unilateral temporal lobectomy on multiple language measures and standardized generative word fluency tasks, as well as longer term effects measured 1 year following surgery. All patients were left cerebral dominant for language functioning as determined by Wada testing. Results indicate consistent acute language decline for left but not right temporal lobectomy patients. In contrast, verbal generative fluency decreased independent of lesion laterality, suggesting diffuse acute lesion effects on certain tasks mediated primarily by the left hemisphere. When examining language performance in an independent patient group at their 1-year follow-up assessment, no negative surgery effects were present on any language measure. Further, significant improvement over baseline performance for word fluency was present 1 year following surgery. In the acute assessment of cognition following temporal lobectomy, the relative sensitivity of neuropsychological measures to acute cerebral lesions should be considered.