Interictal Language Fluency in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

Interictal Discourse Production in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

“…Similarly, in a previous study we were unable to demonstrate a reliable difference in fluency (measured as pause duration) between patients with TLE and those with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (Howell et al, 1994). The fluency measure in the present study was related to BNT and COWAT performance, paralleling our finding in relation to pause duration (Howell et al, 1994).…”

“…To date those interested in TLE language function have concentrated their efforts on single-word processing (for a brief review see Howell et al, 1994) driven by the conceptual approach of neocortical aphasiology. We would suggest that this body of research does not fully characterize the nature of TLE neurolinguistic dysfunction, where microlinguistic impairments are far less evident than they are in populations traditionally regarded as aphasic.…”

Functional connectivity networks are disrupted in left temporal lobe epilepsy

“…[42][43][44][45][46] Confrontation naming in TLE is related to poor semantic function rather than word access per se, suggesting that a more widely distributed system than would be expected in pure lexical retrieval disorders. 23 Experimental studies have shown that TLE is associated with subtle language disturbances at a discourse level, including longer and more variable pause durations, 44 failure to produce increasingly compact forms of a narrative with repetition, 43 and reduced speech rate, inadequate descriptive detail, and excessive mistakes and repairs. 47 Macrolinguistic dysfunctions of this type have been linked to capacity limitations affecting the multilevel planning of language output.…”

Narrative and procedural discourse in temporal lobe epilepsy

“…These include deficits in object naming, word fluency, and word recognition (Chelune et al, 1991;Davies et al, 1995;Field et al, 2000;Hermann et al, 1997;Hermann & Wyler, 1988;Howell et al, 1994;Langfitt & Rausch, 1996;Mayeux et al, 1980;Saykin et al 1995;Schwartz et al, 1998). However, the effect of these impairments on naturally occurring speech has not been fully determined, because there have been very few neuropsychological analyses of discourse in TLE patients (Caplan et al, 1993(Caplan et al, , 2001Field et al, 2000;Hoeppner et al, 1987;Howell et al, 1994).…”