Brain Structure and Function

, Volume 221, Issue 1, pp 687–694 | Cite as

Long-term proper name anomia after removal of the uncinate fasciculus

  • Costanza Papagno
  • Alessandra Casarotti
  • Alessandro Comi
  • Alberto Pisoni
  • Federica Lucchelli
  • Alberto Bizzi
  • Marco Riva
  • Lorenzo Bello
Short Communication
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

A previous study reporting on 44 patients who underwent awake surgery for a left frontal or temporal glioma resection demonstrated the removal of the uncinate fasciculus to have consequences on language 3 months post-surgery. At this time-point, patients with a temporal glioma who had undergone uncinate removal showed the worst overall performance with a significant impairment in naming of famous faces and objects compared to patients without removal. Also, verbal fluency was mildly impaired. We report a longer-term follow-up (9–12 months) in a selected group of 17 patients (six female, age range 27–64) who did not suffer any tumour recurrence in this timeframe. MRI and DTI were performed before and after surgery. While verbal fluency on categorical cue and object naming recovered to the same level as before surgery, proper naming remained significantly impaired even after 12 months (P = 0.032) in patients with uncinate removal, demonstrating this structure to be crucial for that function and supporting the hypothesis that subcortical connectivity is relevant to allow plasticity. We thus argued that the left frontal and temporal poles connected by means of the uncinate fasciculus constitute a dedicated circuit for naming of unique entities.

Keywords

Uncinate fasciculus Proper names Glioma Anterior temporal lobe 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

The authors are indebt to Kesshie Marin Jordan, UC Berkeley, for revising the English of the manuscript. They are also grateful to Antonella Castellano and Andrea Falini who provided the DTI of most of the patients.

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  • Costanza Papagno
    • 1
  • Alessandra Casarotti
    • 2
  • Alessandro Comi
    • 1
    • 2
  • Alberto Pisoni
    • 1
  • Federica Lucchelli
    • 3
  • Alberto Bizzi
    • 4
  • Marco Riva
    • 2
  • Lorenzo Bello
    • 2
  1. 1.Dipartimento di PsicologiaUniversità di Milano-BicoccaMilanItaly
  2. 2.Unit of Oncological Neurosurgery, Humanitas Research HospitalUniversità degli Studi di MilanoMilanItaly
  3. 3.Riabilitazione NeuropsicologicaMilanItaly
  4. 4.Neuroradiologia, Humanitas Clinical and Research Hospital IRCCSMilanItaly

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