Naming Errors Research Articles

Patterns of neural activity predict picture-naming performance of a patient with chronic aphasia

Naming objects represents a substantial challenge for patients with chronic aphasia. This could be in part because the reorganized compensatory language networks of persons with aphasia may be less stable than the intact language systems of healthy individuals. Here, we hypothesized that the degree of stability would be instantiated by spatially differential neural patterns rather than either increased or diminished amplitudes of neural activity within a putative compensatory language system. We recruited a chronic aphasic patient (KL; 66 year-old male) who exhibited a semantic deficit (e.g., often said “milk” for “cow” and “pillow” for “blanket”). Over the course of four behavioral sessions involving a naming task performed in a mock scanner, we identified visual objects that yielded an approximately 50% success rate. We then conducted two fMRI sessions in which the patient performed a naming task for multiple exemplars of those objects. Multivoxel pattern analysis (MVPA) searchlight revealed differential activity patterns associated with correct and incorrect trials throughout intact brain regions. The most robust and largest cluster was found in the right occipito-temporal cortex encompassing fusiform cortex, lateral occipital cortex (LOC), and middle occipital cortex, which may account for the patient's propensity for semantic naming errors. None of these areas were found by a conventional univariate analysis. By using an alternative approach, we extend current evidence for compensatory naming processes that operate through spatially differential patterns within the reorganized language system.

How to include the variability of TMS responses in simulations: a speech mapping case study

When delivered over a specific cortical site, TMS can temporarily disrupt the ongoing process in that area. This allows mapping of speech-related areas for preoperative evaluation purposes. We numerically explore the observed variability of TMS responses during a speech mapping experiment performed with a neuronavigation system. We selected four cases with very small perturbations in coil position and orientation. In one case (E) a naming error occurred, while in the other cases (NEA, B, C) the subject appointed the images as smoothly as without TMS. A realistic anisotropic head model was constructed of the subject from T1-weighted and diffusion-weighted MRI. The induced electric field distributions were computed, associated to the coil parameters retrieved from the neuronavigation system. Finally, the membrane potentials along relevant white matter fibre tracts, extracted from DTI-based tractography, were computed using a compartmental cable equation. While only minor differences could be noticed between the induced electric field distributions of the four cases, computing the corresponding membrane potentials revealed different subsets of tracts were activated. A single tract was activated for all coil positions. Another tract was only triggered for case E. NEA induced action potentials in 13 tracts, while NEB stimulated 11 tracts and NEC one. The calculated results are certainly sensitive to the coil specifications, demonstrating the observed variability in this study. However, even though a tract connecting Broca’s with Wernicke’s area is only triggered for the error case, further research is needed on other study cases and on refining the neural model with synapses and network connections. Case- and subject-specific modelling that includes both electromagnetic fields and neuronal activity enables demonstration of the variability in TMS experiments and can capture the interaction with complex neural networks.

Anosognosia and self-correction of naming errors in aphasia

ABSTRACTBackground: There has been comparatively little research into anosognosia for aphasia (a lack of awareness of acquired language deficits). Direct assessments of metacognitive awareness tend to rely on high levels of verbal competence and are difficult for people with aphasia to complete. Therefore, indirect measures of awareness have been considered, notably the person’s self-correction of his or her naming errors. Different mechanisms for self-correction based in comprehension or production skills have been proposed. In addition, in other areas of cognition, the relationships between direct and indirect measures and underlying forms of awareness have not been clearly established.Aims: The aims of this study were: (a) to investigate the relationship between a direct and an indirect measure of awareness of aphasia, (b) to examine the role of executive functioning in performance on both assessment types, and (c) to examine the relationship between these measures and underlying language comprehension and production skills.Methods & Procedures: A total of 48 people with aphasia participated, drawn from rehabilitation hospital caseloads. Participants were assessed on a language battery, a non-verbal test of executive function, a direct measure of awareness (ratings of difficulties), and had self-correction behaviour examined in a 40-item naming test.Outcomes & Results: There was a trend relationship between performance on the direct and indirect measures. Both related to overall severity of language impairment, with more severely impaired people being less aware of their difficulties. The two measures, however, dissociated with respect to single-word production and comprehension scores: the direct measure related to production and not comprehension, while the indirect measure related to comprehension and not production. Executive functioning related only to the direct measure of metacognitive awareness. Within production scores, the rate of correction success rather than pre-correction naming rate was associated with metacognitive awareness.Conclusions: This study revealed different underlying bases, in language processes and executive function, for two measures of anosognosia for aphasia. When used to assess awareness of deficits, direct and indirect methods should not be regarded as equivalent.

Topographical gradients of semantics and phonology revealed by temporal lobe stimulation

Word retrieval is a fundamental component of oral communication, and it is well established that this function is supported by left temporal cortex. Nevertheless, the specific temporal areas mediating word retrieval and the particular linguistic processes these regions support have not been well delineated. Toward this end, we analyzed over 1000 naming errors induced by left temporal cortical stimulation in epilepsy surgery patients. Errors were primarily semantic (lemon → "pear"), phonological (horn → "corn"), non-responses, and delayed responses (correct responses after a delay), and each error type appeared predominantly in a specific region: semantic errors in mid-middle temporal gyrus (TG), phonological errors and delayed responses in middle and posterior superior TG, and non-responses in anterior inferior TG. To the extent that semantic errors, phonological errors and delayed responses reflect disruptions in different processes, our results imply topographical specialization of semantic and phonological processing. Specifically, results revealed an inferior-to-superior gradient, with more superior regions associated with phonological processing. Further, errors were increasingly semantically related to targets toward posterior temporal cortex. We speculate that detailed semantic input is needed to support phonological retrieval, and thus, the specificity of semantic input increases progressively toward posterior temporal regions implicated in phonological processing. Hum Brain Mapp 38:688-703, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

"Dark Victory" (prognosis negative): The beginnings of neurology on screen.

Editors' Note: In WriteClick this week, Dr. Gilbert clarifies a naming error in “‘Dark Victory’ (prognosis negative): The beginnings of neurology on screen” and provides several interesting details, historical and neurologic, about the lives of Susan Hayward and Rita Hayworth. In reference to “The place of generic modified-release formulations for epilepsy: Slow and steady,” Dr. Baumann questions whether there are any proven benefits in efficacy or adherence …

The place of generic modified-release formulations for epilepsy: Slow and steady

Editors' Note: In WriteClick this week, Dr. Gilbert clarifies a naming error in “‘Dark Victory’ (prognosis negative): The beginnings of neurology on screen” and provides several interesting details, historical and neurologic, about the lives of Susan Hayward and Rita Hayworth. In reference to “The place of generic modified-release formulations for epilepsy: Slow and steady,” Dr. Baumann questions whether there are any proven benefits in efficacy or adherence with extended-release formulations. Author French responds. —Megan …

EP 23. Cortical language mapping by rTMS compared to fMRI in healthy volunteers

Introduction Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is considered to be the standard method regarding non-invasive language mapping. However, repetitive navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) gains increasing importance with respect to that purpose. However, comparisons between both methods are sparse. Objective To compare the results of rTMS and fMRI language mapping in healthy volunteers. Patients & methods We performed fMRI and rTMS language mapping of the left hemisphere in 40 healthy, right-handed subjects in combination with the tasks that are most commonly used in the neurosurgical context (fMRI: word-generation = WGEN task; rTMS: object-naming = ON task). Different rTMS error rate thresholds (ERTs) were calculated, and Cohen’s kappa coefficient and the cortical parcellation system (CPS) were used for systematic comparison of the two techniques. Results Overall, mean kappa coefficients were low, revealing no distinct agreement. We found the highest agreement for both techniques when using the 2-out-of-3 rule (CPS region defined as language-positive in terms of rTMS if at least 2 out of 3 stimulations led to a naming error). However, kappa for this threshold was only 0.24, indicating fair agreement. Conclusions Regarding the comparison of fMRI and rTMS, language mapping results seem to differ in a wide range, at least when the tasks of the present trials are used. Since it is not possible to verify the present results via direct cortical stimulation (DCS) as the gold standard method, we must be careful to call one of the two techniques the true one. However, this study yields valuable results regarding the comparison of these frequently used mapping techniques for the most common language tasks applied in the neurosurgical routine.

All my children: The roles of semantic category and phonetic similarity in the misnaming of familiar individuals

Despite knowing a familiar individual (such as a daughter) well, anecdotal evidence suggests that naming errors can occur among very familiar individuals. Here, we investigate the conditions surrounding these types of errors, or misnamings, in which a person (the misnamer) incorrectly calls a familiar individual (the misnamed) by someone else's name (the named). Across 5 studies including over 1,700 participants, we investigated the prevalence of the phenomenon of misnaming, identified factors underlying why it may occur, and tested potential mechanisms. We included undergraduates and MTurk workers and asked questions of both the misnamed and the misnamer. We find that familiar individuals are often misnamed with the name of another member of the same semantic category; family members are misnamed with another family member's name and friends are misnamed with another friend's name. Phonetic similarity between names also leads to misnamings; however, the size of this effect was smaller than that of the semantic category effect. Overall, the misnaming of familiar individuals is driven by the relationship between the misnamer, misnamed, and named; phonetic similarity between the incorrect name used by the misnamer and the correct name also plays a role in misnaming.

Eye Movements and Articulations During a Letter Naming Speed Task

Naming speed (NS) refers to how quickly and accurately participants name a set of familiar stimuli (e.g., letters). NS is an established predictor of reading ability, but controversy remains over why it is related to reading. We used three techniques (stimulus manipulations to emphasize phonological and/or visual aspects, decomposition of NS times into pause and articulation components, and analysis of eye movements during task performance) with three groups of participants (children with dyslexia, ages 9–10; chronological-age [CA] controls, ages 9–10; reading-level [RL] controls, ages 6–7) to examine NS and the NS–reading relationship. Results indicated (a) for all groups, increasing visual similarity of the letters decreased letter naming efficiency and increased naming errors, saccades, regressions (rapid eye movements back to letters already fixated), pause times, and fixation durations; (b) children with dyslexia performed like RL controls and were less efficient, had longer articulation times, pause times, fixation durations, and made more errors and regressions than CA controls; and (c) pause time and fixation duration were the most powerful predictors of reading. We conclude that NS is related to reading via fixation durations and pause times: Longer fixation durations and pause times reflect the greater amount of time needed to acquire visual/orthographic information from stimuli and prepare the correct response.

Language function distribution in left-handers: A navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation study

Recent studies suggest that in left-handers, the right hemisphere (RH) is more involved in language function when compared to right-handed subjects. Since data on lesion-based approaches is lacking, we aimed to investigate language distribution of left-handers by repetitive navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Thus, rTMS was applied to the left hemisphere (LH) and RH in 15 healthy left-handers during an object-naming task, and resulting naming errors were categorized. Then, we calculated error rates (ERs=number of errors per number of stimulations) for both hemispheres separately and defined a laterality score as the quotient of the LH ER – RH ER through the LH ER + RH ER (abbreviated as (L−R)/(L+R)). In this context, (L−R)/(L+R)>0 indicates that the LH is dominant, whereas (L−R)/(L+R)<0 shows that the RH is dominant.No significant difference in ERs was found between hemispheres (all errors: mean LH 18.0±11.7%, mean RH 18.1±12.2%, p=0.94; all errors without hesitation: mean LH 12.4±9.8%, mean RH 12.9±10.0%, p=0.65; no responses: mean LH 9.3±9.2%, mean RH 11.5±10.3%, p=0.84). However, a significant difference between the results of (L−R)/(L+R) of left-handers and right-handers (source data of another study) for all errors (mean 0.01±0.14 vs. 0.19±0.20, p=0.0019) and all errors without hesitation (mean −0.02±0.20 vs. 0.19±0.28, p=0.0051) was revealed, whereas the comparison for no responses did not show a significant difference (mean: −0.004±0.27 vs. 0.09±0.44, p=0.64). Accordingly, left-handers present a comparatively equal language distribution across both hemispheres with language dominance being nearly equally distributed between hemispheres in contrast to right-handers.

Picture Naming Error Patterns in Aging and Aphasia

Picture Naming Error Patterns in Aging and Aphasia

Retrieval Practice and Spacing Effects in Naming Rehabilitation: A Theory of Learning

Retrieval Practice and Spacing Effects in Naming Rehabilitation: A Theory of Learning

Correlating subcortical interhemispheric connectivity and cortical hemispheric dominance in brain tumor patients: A repetitive navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation study

ObjectiveThe present study aims to investigate the relationship between transcallosal interhemispheric connectivity (IC) and hemispheric language lateralization by using a novel approach including repetitive navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), hemispheric dominance ratio (HDR) calculation, and rTMS-based diffusion tensor imaging fiber tracking (DTI FT). Methods31 patients with left-sided perisylvian brain lesions underwent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and rTMS language mapping. Cortical language-positive rTMS spots were used to calculate HDRs (HDR: quotient of the left-sided divided by right-sided naming error rates for corresponding left- and right-sided cortical regions) and to create regions of interest (ROIs) for DTI FT. Then, fibers connecting the rTMS-based ROIs of both hemispheres were tracked, and the correlation of IC to HDRs was calculated via Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient (rs). ResultsFibers connecting rTMS-based ROIs of both hemispheres were detected in 12 patients (38.7%). Within the patients in which IC was detected, the mean number of subcortical IC fibers±standard deviation (SD) was 138.0±346.5 (median: 7.5; range: 1–1,217 fibers). Regarding rs for the correlation of HDRs and fiber numbers of patients that showed IC, only moderate correlation was revealed. ConclusionOur approach might be beneficial and technically feasible for further investigation of the relationship between IC and language lateralization. However, only moderate correlation was revealed in the present study.

Grammatical Class Effects Across Impaired Child and Adult Populations.

The aims of this study are to compare quantitative and qualitative differences for noun/verb retrieval across language-impaired groups, examine naming errors with reference to psycholinguistic models of word processing, and shed light on the nature of the naming deficit as well as determine relevant group commonalities and differences. This includes an attempt to establish whether error types differentiate language-impaired children from adults, to determine effects of psycholinguistic variables on naming accuracies, and to link the results to genetic mechanisms and/or neural circuitry in the brain. A total of 89 (language-)impaired participants took part in this report: 24 adults with acquired aphasia, 20 adults with schizophrenia-spectrum disorder, 31 adults with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, and 14 children with specific language impairment. The results of simultaneous multiple regression analyses for the errors in verb naming compared to the psycholinguistic variables for all language-impaired groups are reported and discussed in relation to models of lexical processing.This discussion will lead to considerations of genetic and/or neurobiological underpinnings: Presence of the noun–verb dissociation in focal and non-focal brain impairment make localization theories redundant, but support for wider neural network involvement.The patterns reported cannot be reduced to any one level of language processing, suggesting multiple interactions at different levels (e.g., receptive vs. expressive language abilities).Semantic-conceptual properties constrain syntactic properties with implications for phonological word form retrieval.Competition needs to be resolved at both conceptual and phonological levels of representation.Moreover, this study may provide a cross-pathological baseline that can be probed further with respect to recent suggestions concerning a reconsideration of open- vs. closed-class items, according to which verbs may actually fall into the latter rather than the standardly received former class.

Similarities between the target and the intruder in naturally occurring repeated person naming errors.

The present study investigated an intriguing phenomenon that did not receive much attention so far: repeatedly calling a familiar person with someone else’s name. From participants’ responses to a questionnaire, these repeated naming errors were characterized with respect to a number of properties (e.g., type of names being substituted, error frequency, error longevity) and different features of similarity (e.g., age, gender, type of relationship with the participant, face resemblance and similarity of the contexts of encounter) between the bearer of the target name and the bearer of the wrong name. Moreover, it was evaluated whether the phonological similarity between names, the participants’ age, the difference of age between the two persons whose names were substituted, and face resemblance between the two persons predicted the frequency of error. Regression analyses indicated that phonological similarity between the target name and the wrong name predicted the frequency of repeated person naming errors. The age of the participant was also a significant predictor of error frequency: the older the participant the higher the frequency of errors. Consistent with previous research stressing the importance of the age of acquisition of words on lexical access in speech production, results indicated that bearer of the wrong name was on average known for longer than the bearer of the target name.

Erratum to: The impact of repetitive navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation coil positioning and stimulation parameters on human language function

Repetitive navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in combination with object naming is able to elicit naming errors by stimulating language-related brain regions. However, stimulation results mainly depend on coil positioning and stimulation parameters, which have not been investigated since the implementation of neuronavigation to transcranial magnetic stimulation. Therefore, the following three parameters were systematically examined in the present study: coil angulation, stimulation frequency, and stimulation intensity. Five healthy, right-handed subjects underwent rTMS language mapping of Broca’s as well as Wernicke’s areas of the left hemisphere. During mapping sessions, coil angulation was changed clockwise in 45° steps, and the stimulation frequency and intensity were varied within a considerably wide range. For angulation, the anterior-posterior (ap) coil orientation was used as reference position. An angulation of 90° to ap coil orientation led to the highest rate of naming errors within Broca’s area, whereas an inhomogeneous distribution of angulations was observed during stimulation of Wernicke’s area. Therefore, ap coil orientation, which is regarded as standard in rTMS language mapping, could not be approved as the optimal position. With regard to stimulation parameters, 20 Hz and 120% of the resting motor threshold (RMT) were defined as optimal. Coil angulation, stimulation frequency, and stimulation intensity have significant impacts on language impairment during rTMS mapping. The variation of only one of these parameters already leads to a clearer disruption of language performance. Therefore, individually adapted stimulation protocols have to be determined prior to language mapping in order to improve mapping results.

An investigation of aphasic naming error evolution following phonomotor treatment

Background: Though treatments for anomia in aphasia typically use accuracy of trained and untrained targets to determine treatment efficacy, researchers have begun to employ error analyses in order to more closely delineate the mechanisms involved in anomia recovery.Aims: The aim of this study was to examine changes in naming errors of 24 individuals with aphasia after phonomotor treatment (14 new individuals and 10 individuals whose word retrieval error data were previously reported in a separate manuscript).Methods & Procedures: Twenty-four individuals with aphasia received phonomotor treatment. Confrontation naming was assessed pre-treatment, immediately post-treatment, and 3 months post-treatment. Responses were scored for accuracy and error type. Paired-samples t tests comparing pre-treatment versus immediately post-treatment and 3 months post-treatment accuracy and error-type proportions were conducted. Additionally, the role of language severity in error-type proportion shifts was examined through analyses of subgroups and correlational analyses between language measures and error-type change scores.Outcomes & Results: Trained and untrained naming accuracy improved significantly immediately post-treatment, and gains were maintained 3 months post-treatment. No significant changes in error-type proportions were noted; however, trends towards decreases in proportions of omissions were noted immediately post-treatment (trained items) and 3 months post-treatment (trained and untrained items). In a post hoc subgroup analysis, a significant decrease in the proportion of omissions on trained items was noted 3 months post-treatment for the subgroup of individuals with lower lexical retrieval ability.Conclusions: Results are indicative of a shift in linguistic processing in which the linguistic network was holistically altered as a result of phonomotor treatment.

Target/error overlap in jargonaphasia: The case for a one-source model, lexical and non-lexical summation, and the special status of correct responses

We present three jargonaphasic patients who made phonological errors in naming, repetition and reading. We analyse target/response overlap using statistical models to answer three questions: 1) Is there a single phonological source for errors or two sources, one for target-related errors and a separate source for abstruse errors? 2) Can correct responses be predicted by the same distribution used to predict errors or do they show a completion boost (CB)? 3) Is non-lexical and lexical information summed during reading and repetition? The answers were clear. 1) Abstruse errors did not require a separate distribution created by failure to access word forms. Abstruse and target-related errors were the endpoints of a single overlap distribution. 2) Correct responses required a special factor, e.g., a CB or lexical/phonological feedback, to preserve their integrity. 3) Reading and repetition required separate lexical and non-lexical contributions that were combined at output.

The neural network associated with lexical-semantic knowledge about social groups

A person can be appraised as an individual or as a member of a social group. In the present study we tested whether the knowledge about social groups is represented independently of the living and non-living things. Patients with frontal and temporal lobe tumors involving either the left or the right hemisphere performed three tasks – picture naming, word-to-picture matching and picture sorting – tapping the lexical semantic knowledge of living things, non-living things and social groups. Both behavioral and voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping (VLSM) analyses suggested that social groups might be represented differently from other categories. VLSM analysis carried out on naming errors revealed that left–lateralized lesions in the inferior frontal gyrus, amygdala, insula and basal ganglia were associated with the lexical-semantic processing of social groups. These findings indicate that the social group representation may rely on areas associated with affective processing.

P63. Cortical time course of object naming investigated by repetitive navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation

Objective Various studies already explored cortical language function. However, language organization models and time course patterns are still derived from meta-analyses of numerous single publications, which only investigated scattered cortical regions. Yet, there is no systematic investigation on the distinct role and time course of the perisylvian cortex in language processing. Methods Ten right-handed volunteers (7 females & 3 males, mean age 27.2 ± 2.3 years) underwent rTMS language mapping of 12 predefined, left-hemispheric cortical regions known to be involved in language function. During investigation of each subject, rTMS pulses were applied with different picture-to-trigger intervals (PTIs) (0 ms, 100 ms, 200 ms, 300 ms, 400 ms, and 500 ms) in combination with an object naming task. Naming errors elicited by rTMS were categorized into six different error types (no-response error, performance error, hesitation, neologism, semantic error, and phonological error), and error rates (= number of errors/number of stimulations) and ratios (= number of errors of one category/total number of errors) for each category were calculated. Then, a predominant error type was defined, which represents the category with the highest error ratio per cortical region. Results The distribution of rTMS-induced naming errors changed according to the time point of naming disruption by varying PTIs: Immediate rTMS onset (PTI = 0 ms) led to a widespread cortical distribution of no responses, whereas performance and hesitation errors increased with PTIs, reaching their peak at 400 ms (performance errors) and 300 ms (hesitations). Conclusion In general, we were able to provide a time course of language processing by rTMS. Furthermore, the present study showed that the occurrence of different naming errors is significantly linked to the onset time of rTMS, and the time points of language subfunctions could be demonstrated.