Sound naming in neurodegenerative disease

Abstract

Modern cognitive neuroscientific theories and empirical evidence suggest that brain structures involved in movement may be related to action-related semantic knowledge. To test this hypothesis, we examined the naming of environmental sounds in patients with corticobasal degeneration (CBD) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), two neurodegenerative diseases associated with cognitive and motor deficits. Subjects were presented with 56 environmental sounds: 28 of objects that required manipulation when producing the sound, and 28 that required no manipulation. Subjects were asked to provide the name of the object that produced the sound and also complete a sound-picture matching condition. Subjects included 33 individuals from four groups: CBD/PSP, Alzheimer disease, frontotemporal dementia, and normal controls. We hypothesized that CBD/PSP patients would exhibit impaired naming performance compared with controls, but the impairment would be most apparent when naming sounds associated with actions. We also explored neural correlates of naming environmental sounds using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) of brain MRI. As expected, CBD/ PSP patients scored lower on environmental sounds naming (p<0.007) compared with the controls. In particular, the CBD/PSP patients scored the lowest when naming sounds of manipulable objects (p<0.05), but did not show deficits in naming sounds of non-manipulable objects. VBM analysis across all groups showed that performance in naming sounds of manipulable objects correlated with atrophy in the left premotor region, extending from area 6 to the middle and superior frontal gyrus. These results indicate an association between impairment in the retrieval of action-related names and the motor system, and suggest that difficulty in naming manipulable sounds may be related to atrophy in the premotor cortex. Our results support the hypothesis that retrieval of action-related semantic knowledge involves motor regions in the brain.

Voxel-based morphometry in Alzheimers disease and mild cognitive impairment: Systematic review of studies addressing the frontal lobe

“…Atrophy was found in the right frontal pole 13 , 27 , 35 and precentral gyrus 18, 28,34 in three studies each. Finally, GM decreases were also observed in a few studies in cortical pre-motor regions, 28 , 36 the left frontal pole 27 , 35 and left orbitofrontal cortex. 21 The left 21 , 32 and right 32 dorsolateral prefrontal cortices were cited in two studies.…”

“…Regarding location, a subtotal of 28 VBM studies of AD noted specific frontal sub-portions involved in the findings of GMV atrophy in AD patients relative to controls, ranked as follows: twelve studies found GMV loss in the right 10 - 21 and ten in the left inferior frontal gyri, 10 , 11 , 13 - 15 , 18 , 20 - 23 respectively; seven studies reported GMV reduction in the left middle frontal gyrus, 11,12, 22-26 left superior frontal gyrus 10 - 12 , 16 , 17 , 27 , 28 and left anterior cingulate gyrus. 14 , 20 , 21 , 29 - 32 The right superior frontal 10 , 12 , 16 - 18 , 28 and anterior cingulate 14 , 20 , 21 , 25 , 29 , 31 gyri were each noted six times. The right orbitofrontal cortex was mentioned five times; 11, 18,21,26,30 and there were four mentions of the left 10 , 20 , 21 , 29 and right medial frontal gyri 10 , 20 , 29 , 30 as well as the right middle frontal 11 , 20 , 26 , 33 and left precentral 18 , 28 , 30 , 34 gyri.…”

“… 14 , 20 , 21 , 29 - 32 The right superior frontal 10 , 12 , 16 - 18 , 28 and anterior cingulate 14 , 20 , 21 , 25 , 29 , 31 gyri were each noted six times. The right orbitofrontal cortex was mentioned five times; 11, 18,21,26,30 and there were four mentions of the left 10 , 20 , 21 , 29 and right medial frontal gyri 10 , 20 , 29 , 30 as well as the right middle frontal 11 , 20 , 26 , 33 and left precentral 18 , 28 , 30 , 34 gyri. Atrophy was found in the right frontal pole 13 , 27 , 35 and precentral gyrus 18, 28,34 in three studies each.…”

Hearing and music in dementia

“…These findings suggest that the ability to physically manipulate an object is related to the ability to name an object and suggest a link between the auditory system, cognition, and the motor system. Chow and colleagues (2010) also found a correlation between performance on naming sounds of manipulable objects and gray-matter volume on MRI in the left, premotor areas and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.…”

“…In another study involving patients with two atypical parkinsonian disorders (corticobasal degeneration, progressive supranuclear palsy), AD, and FTD, Chow and colleagues (2010) examined the naming sounds generated from both manipulable (e.g., hammer) and non-manipulable objects (e.g., train). An item was considered manipulable if the action required to make the sound required manual manipulation by the hand.…”