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Abstract The Boston Naming Test is a well-known neuropsychological test widely used to evaluate linguistic abilities, encompassing object naming and word retrieval in subjects representing various clinical pathologies. Our study has two main stages: (1) a pilot study aimed at adapting the BNT to the linguistic and cultural particularities of Lebanese society and (2) norm determination for the Lebanese version of the BNT through the analysis of participants’ responses. The primary goal of this study is to develop a Lebanese version of the BNT comprising 60 images adapted to the Lebanese language and culture. This version is based on normative data derived from healthy Lebanese adults aged between 50 and 88 years. The study seeks to assess the influence of age, gender, and education level on the naming performance of participants. In the pilot study, 103 Lebanese volunteers participated, while the normative study involved 280 healthy volunteers aged between 50 and 88 years. Three screening tests—Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA), Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q), and Geriatric Depression Scale 15-item (GDS)—were administered to select participants meeting inclusion criteria. The findings revealed a statistically significant effect of age and education level on the BNT (Lebanese version) total score. The total score decreased with age and increased with education. However, the effect of gender was not significant, a result confirmed by the generalized linear model. This study successfully produced a Lebanese version of the BNT comparable to the original English version. Additionally, it provided normative data crucial for evaluating naming ability, word retrieval, and detecting potential disorders associated with aging.

The current study tested object drawing, object naming, and object-in-scene perception. We tested older people with Alzheimer's dementia (AD) because their object drawings have often lost their typical contours. We investigated whether intensive practice could improve or recover deteriorated graphic object representations in three tasks, object naming, object-in-scene, and object drawing. Ten older participants with AD and 10 healthy controls practiced for 5 consecutive days always involving the same 10 objects (item-based learning). Patients with AD closed the gap to healthy controls as reaction time decreased and accuracy increased. Performance level and task difficulty were dependent on age, education, and length of retirement duration, but interactions between practice and task difficulty were not. In accuracy, the group difference disappeared earlier in object naming < object-in-scene < object drawing. During the 5 days of practice, lost graphic object concepts could reemerge. Multiple regressions testing synergistic effects between tasks showed that rapid object-in-scene judgment and drawing time relatively consistently and reliably predicted object drawing accuracy. However, when testing day-to-day progress of the drawing score, after the first repetition, only the object drawing score of the previous session significantly predicted the graphic object representation. Thus, while perceptual judgment of an object in an appropriate visual scene predicts object drawing—just as in previous research using the Witkin Embedded Figures Test—the fine motor skills involved in visually realistic drawing are likely to be the most important factor to generate a recognizable graphic object representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Boston Naming Test is a well-known neuropsychological test widely used to evaluate linguistic abilities, encompassing object naming and word retrieval in subjects representing various clinical pathologies. Our study has two main stages: (1) a pilot study aimed at adapting the BNT to the linguistic and cultural particularities of Lebanese society and (2) norm determination for the Lebanese version of the BNT through the analysis of participants' responses. The primary goal of this study is to develop a Lebanese version of the BNT comprising 60 images adapted to the Lebanese language and culture. This version is based on normative data derived from healthy Lebanese adults aged between 50 and 88 years. The study seeks to assess the influence of age, gender, and education level on the naming performance of participants. In the pilot study, 103 Lebanese volunteers participated, while the normative study involved 280 healthy volunteers aged between 50 and 88 years. Three screening tests—Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA), Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q), and Geriatric Depression Scale 15-item (GDS)—were administered to select participants meeting inclusion criteria. The findings revealed a statistically significant effect of age and education level on the BNT (Lebanese version) total score. The total score decreased with age and increased with education. However, the effect of gender was not significant, a result confirmed by the generalized linear model. This study successfully produced a Lebanese version of the BNT comparable to the original English version. Additionally, it provided normative data crucial for evaluating naming ability, word retrieval, and detecting potential disorders associated with aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a robust positive relationship between reading skills and the time to name aloud an array of letters, digits, objects, or colors as quickly as possible. A convincing and complete explanation for the direction and locus of this association remains, however, elusive. In this study, we investigated rapid automatized naming (RAN) of everyday objects and basic color patches in neurotypical illiterate and literate adults. Literacy acquisition and education enhanced RAN performance for both conceptual categories but this advantage was much larger for (abstract) colors than everyday objects. This result suggests that (a) literacy/education may be causal for serial rapid naming ability of non-alphanumeric items and (b) differences in the lexical quality of conceptual representations can underlie the reading-related differential RAN performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we present the first database of pictures and their corresponding psycholinguistic norms for Polish: the CLT database. In this norming study, we used the pictures from Cross-Linguistic Lexical Tasks (CLT): a set of colored drawings of 168 object and 146 actions. The CLT pictures were carefully created to provide a valid tool for multicultural comparisons. The pictures are accompanied by norms for Naming latencies, Name agreement, Goodness of depiction, Image agreement, Concept familiarity, Age of acquisition, Imageability, Lexical frequency, and Word complexity. We also report analyses of predictors of Naming latencies for pictures of objects and actions. Our results show that Name agreement, Concept familiarity, and Lexical frequency are significant predictors of Naming latencies for pictures of both objects and actions. Additionally, Age of acquisition significantly predicts Naming latencies of pictures of objects. The CLT database is freely available at osf.io/gp9qd. The full set of CLT pictures, including additional variants of pictures, is available on request at osf.io/y2cwr. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To maximize tumor resection and minimize postoperative neurological sequelae, intraoperative Direct Electrical Stimulation (DES) coupled with preoperative Navigated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (nTMS) is adopted as a more valid procedure when a tumor is located in or near language-positive cortical and subcortical brain areas/networks. To map language functions peri- and intraoperatively, naming tasks are usually administered given their sensitivity and practicality in mapping language networks and their association with positive postoperative outcomes. Linguistic protocols designed for stimulation under nTMS are relatively scarce, and non-existent in the Arabic language. The present study attempts to fill these gaps by presenting the processes of development, piloting, and standardization of the first (Moroccan) Arabic object and action naming protocol for use preoperatively under nTMS, and intraoperatively under DES. The MAVNT-LP was developed in accordance with both DES and nTMS time requirements and was balanced for relevant psycholinguistic as well as intrinsic factors. The test underwent piloting on a population of 10 Moroccan Arabic (MA)-speaking individuals and was validated on a population of 50 participants. The standardized version of the test consisted of 61 nouns and 61 verbs. The 122 items included in the test were named accurately by at least 80% of the participants and had a high naming agreement. Correlations between psycholinguistic factors and lexical retrieval are reported and discussed. The MAVNT-LP was found to be a valid instrument for use in a clinical setting either as a planning tool or as a protocol used to stimulate eloquent brain areas under awake brain surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Language function test-specific neural substrates in Korean patients with primary progressive aphasia (PPA) might differ from those in other causes of dementia and English-speaking PPA patients. We investigated the correlation between language performance tests and cortical thickness to determine neural substrates in Korean patients with PPA. Materials and methods: Ninety-six patients with PPA were recruited from the memory clinic. To acquire neural substrates, we performed linear regression using the scores of each language test as a predictor, cortical thickness as an outcome and age, sex, years of education, and intracranial volume as confounders. Results: Poor performance in each language function test was associated with lower cortical thickness in specific cortical regions: (1) object naming and the bilateral anterior to mid-portion of the lateral temporal and basal temporal regions; (2) semantic generative naming and the bilateral anterior to mid-portion of the lateral temporal and basal temporal regions; (3) phonemic generative naming and the left prefrontal and inferior parietal regions; and (4) comprehension and the left posterior portion of the superior and middle temporal regions. In particular, the neural substrates of the semantic generative naming test in PPA patients, left anterior to mid-portion of the lateral and basal temporal regions, quite differed from those in patients with other causes of dementia. Conclusion: Our findings provide a better understanding of the different pathomechanisms for language impairments among PPA patients from those with other causes of dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Naming impairment is commonly noted in individuals with aphasia. However, object naming receives more attention than action naming. Furthermore, most studies include participants with aphasia due to only one aetiology, commonly stroke. We developed a new assessment, the Hopkins Action Naming Assessment (HANA), to evaluate action naming impairments. Our aims were to show that the HANA is a useful tool that can (1) identify action naming impairments and (2) be used to investigate the neural substrates underlying naming. We paired the HANA with the Boston Naming Test (BNT) to compare action and object naming. We considered participants with aphasia due to primary progressive aphasia (PPA) or acute left hemisphere stroke to provide a more comprehensive picture of brain–behaviour relationships critical for naming. Behaviourally, we hypothesised that there would be a double dissociation between object and action naming performance. Neuroanatomically, we hypothesised that different neural substrates would be implicated in object vs. action naming and that different lesion-deficit associations would be identified in participants with PPA vs. acute stroke. Participants (N = 138 PPA, N = 37 acute stroke) completed the BNT and HANA. Behavioural performance was compared. A subset of participants (N = 31 PPA, N = 37 acute stroke) provided neuroimaging data. The whole brain was automatically segmented into regions of interest (ROIs). For participants with PPA, the image variables were the ROI volumes, normalised by brain volume. For participants with acute stroke, the image variables were the percentage of each ROI that was lesioned. The relationship between ROIs likely to be involved in naming performance was modelled with LASSO regression. Behavioural results showed a double dissociation in performance: in each group, some participants displayed intact performance relative to healthy controls on actions but not objects and/or significantly better performance on actions than objects, while others showed the opposite pattern. These results support the need to assess both objects and actions when evaluating naming deficits. Neuroimaging results identified different regions associated with object vs. action naming, implicating overlapping but distinct networks of regions. Furthermore, results differed for participants with PPA vs. acute stroke, indicating that critical information may be missed when only one aetiology is considered. Overall, the study provides a more comprehensive picture of the neural bases of naming, underscoring the importance of assessing both objects and actions and considering different aetiologies of damage. It demonstrates the HANA's utility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Perioperative assessment of language function in brain tumor patients commonly relies on administration of object naming during stimulation mapping. Ample research, however, points to the benefit of adding verb tasks to the testing paradigm in order to delineate and preserve postoperative language function more comprehensively. This research uses a case series approach to explore the feasibility and added value of a dual-task protocol that includes both a noun task (object naming) and a verb task (action naming) in perioperative delineation of language functions. Materials and Methods: Seven neurosurgical cases underwent perioperative language assessment with both object and action naming. This entailed preoperative baseline testing, preoperative stimulation mapping with navigated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (nTMS) with subsequent white matter visualization, intraoperative mapping with Direct Electrical Stimulation (DES) in 4 cases, and postoperative imaging and examination of language change. Results: We observed a divergent pattern of language organization and decline between cases who showed lesions close to the delineated language network and hence underwent DES mapping, and those that did not. The latter displayed no new impairment postoperatively consistent with an unharmed network for the neural circuits of both object and action naming. For the cases who underwent DES, on the other hand, a higher sensitivity was found for action naming over object naming. Firstly, action naming preferentially predicted the overall language state compared to aphasia batteries. Secondly, it more accurately predicted intraoperative positive language areas as revealed by DES. Thirdly, double dissociations between postoperatively unimpaired object naming and impaired action naming and vice versa indicate segregated skills and neural representation for noun versus verb processing, especially in the ventral stream. Overlaying postoperative imaging with object and action naming networks revealed that dual-task nTMS mapping can explain the drop in performance in those cases where the network appeared in proximity to the resection cavity. Conclusion: Using a dual-task protocol for visualization of cortical and subcortical language areas through nTMS mapping proved to be able to capture network-to-deficit relations in our case series. Ultimately, adding action naming to clinical nTMS and DES mapping may help prevent postoperative deficits of this seemingly segregated skill. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background It is difficult to set up a balanced higher-order full-factorial experiment that can capture multiple intricate interactions between cognitive and psycholinguistic factors underlying bilingual speech production. To capture interactions more fully in one study, we analyzed object-naming reaction times (RTs) by using mixed-effects multiple regression. Methods Ten healthy bilinguals (median age: 23 years, seven females) were asked to name 131 colored pictures of common objects in each of their languages. RTs were analyzed based on language status, proficiency, word choice, word frequency, word duration, initial phoneme, time series, and participant’s gender. Results Among five significant interactions, new findings include a facilitating effect of a cross-language shared initial phoneme (mean RT for shared phoneme: 974 ms vs. mean RT for different phoneme: 1020 ms), which profited males less (mean profit: 10 ms) than females (mean profit: 47 ms). Conclusions Our data support language-independent phonological activation and a gender difference in inhibitory cognitive language control. Single word production process in healthy adult bilinguals is affected by interactions among cognitive, phonological, and semantic factors.

BackgroundPerioperative assessment of language function in brain tumor patients commonly relies on administration of object naming during stimulation mapping. Ample research, however, points to the benefit of adding verb tasks to the testing paradigm in order to delineate and preserve postoperative language function more comprehensively. This research uses a case series approach to explore the feasibility and added value of a dual-task protocol that includes both a noun task (object naming) and a verb task (action naming) in perioperative delineation of language functions.Materials and MethodsSeven neurosurgical cases underwent perioperative language assessment with both object and action naming. This entailed preoperative baseline testing, preoperative stimulation mapping with navigated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (nTMS) with subsequent white matter visualization, intraoperative mapping with Direct Electrical Stimulation (DES) in 4 cases, and postoperative imaging and examination of language change.ResultsWe observed a divergent pattern of language organization and decline between cases who showed lesions close to the delineated language network and hence underwent DES mapping, and those that did not. The latter displayed no new impairment postoperatively consistent with an unharmed network for the neural circuits of both object and action naming. For the cases who underwent DES, on the other hand, a higher sensitivity was found for action naming over object naming. Firstly, action naming preferentially predicted the overall language state compared to aphasia batteries. Secondly, it more accurately predicted intraoperative positive language areas as revealed by DES. Thirdly, double dissociations between postoperatively unimpaired object naming and impaired action naming and vice versa indicate segregated skills and neural representation for noun versus verb processing, especially in the ventral stream. Overlaying postoperative imaging with object and action naming networks revealed that dual-task nTMS mapping can explain the drop in performance in those cases where the network appeared in proximity to the resection cavity.ConclusionUsing a dual-task protocol for visualization of cortical and subcortical language areas through nTMS mapping proved to be able to capture network-to-deficit relations in our case series. Ultimately, adding action naming to clinical nTMS and DES mapping may help prevent postoperative deficits of this seemingly segregated skill.

Background: Pre- and intra-operative language mapping in neurosurgery patients frequently involves an object naming task. The choice of the optimal object naming paradigm remains challenging due to lack of normative data and standardization in mapping practices. The aim of this study was to identify object naming paradigms that robustly and consistently activate classical language regions and could therefore be used to improve the sensitivity of language mapping in brain tumor and epilepsy patients. Methods: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from two independent groups of healthy controls (total = 79) were used to generate threshold-weighted voxel-based consistency maps. This novel approach allowed us to compare inter-subject consistency of activation for naming single objects in the visual and auditory modality and naming two objects in a phrase or a sentence. Results: We found that the consistency of activation in language regions was greater for naming two objects per picture than one object per picture, even when controlling for the number of names produced in 5 s. Conclusion: More consistent activation in language areas for naming two objects compared to one object suggests that two-object naming tasks may be more suitable for delimiting language eloquent regions with pre- and intra-operative language testing. More broadly, we propose that the functional specificity of brain mapping paradigms for a whole range of different linguistic and non-linguistic functions could be enhanced by referring to databased models of inter-subject consistency and variability in typical and atypical brain responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visualization of functionally significant subcortical white matter fibers is needed in neurosurgical procedures in order to avoid damage to the language network during resection. In an effort to achieve this, positive cortical points revealed during preoperative language mapping with navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (nTMS) can be employed as regions of interest (ROIs) for diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) fiber tracking. However, the effect that the use of different language tasks has on nTMS mapping and subsequent DTI-fiber tracking remains unexplored. The visualization of ventral stream tracts with an assumed lexico-semantic role may especially benefit from ROIs delivered by the lexico-semantically demanding verb task, Action Naming. In a first step, bihemispheric nTMS language mapping was administered in 18 healthy participants using the standard task Object Naming and the novel task Action Naming to trigger verbs in a small sentence context. Cortical areas in which nTMS induced language errors were identified as language-positive cortical sites. In a second step, nTMS-based DTI-fiber tracking was conducted using solely these language-positive points as ROIs. The ability of the two tasks' ROIs to visualize the dorsal tracts Arcuate Fascicle and Superior Longitudinal Fascicle , the ventral tracts Inferior Longitudinal Fascicle, Uncinate Fascicle , and Inferior Fronto-Occipital Fascicle , the speech-articulatory Cortico-Nuclear Tract , and interhemispheric commissural fibers was compared in both hemispheres. In the left hemisphere, ROIs of Action Naming led to a significantly higher fraction of overall visualized tracts, specifically in the ventral stream's Inferior Fronto-Occipital and Inferior Longitudinal Fascicle. No difference was found between tracking with Action Naming vs. Object Naming seeds for dorsal stream tracts, neither for the speech-articulatory tract nor the inter-hemispheric connections. While the two tasks appeared equally demanding for phonological-articulatory processes, ROI seeding through the task Action Naming seemed to better visualize lexico-semantic tracts in the ventral stream. This distinction was not evident in the right hemisphere. However, the distribution of tracts exposed was, overall, mirrored relative to those in the left hemisphere network. In presurgical practice, mapping and tracking of language pathways may profit from these findings and should consider inclusion of the Action Naming task, particularly for lesions in ventral subcortical regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patterns of object naming often differ between languages, butbilingual speakers develop convergent naming patterns intheir two languages that are distinct from those ofmonolingual speakers of each language. This convergenceappears to reflect dynamic interactions between lexicalrepresentations for the two languages. In this study, wepresent a self-organizing neural network model to simulatesemantic convergence in the bilingual lexicon and investigatemechanisms underlying semantic convergence. Our resultsdemonstrate that connections between two languages can beestablished through the simultaneous activations of relatedwords in both languages, and these connections between twolanguages pull the two lexicons toward each other. Theseresults suggest that connections between words in thebilingual lexicon play a major role in bilinguals’ semanticconvergence. The model provides a foundation for exploringhow various input variables will affect bilingual patterns ofoutput.

Visualization of functionally significant subcortical white matter fibers is needed in neurosurgical procedures in order to avoid damage to the language network during resection. In an effort to achieve this, positive cortical points revealed during preoperative language mapping with navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (nTMS) can be employed as regions of interest (ROIs) for diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) fiber tracking. However, the effect that the use of different language tasks has on nTMS mapping and subsequent DTI-fiber tracking remains unexplored. The visualization of ventral stream tracts with an assumed lexico-semantic role may especially benefit from ROIs delivered by the lexico-semantically demanding verb task, Action Naming. In a first step, bihemispheric nTMS language mapping was administered in 18 healthy participants using the standard task Object Naming and the novel task Action Naming to trigger verbs in a small sentence context. Cortical areas in which nTMS induced language errors were identified as language-positive cortical sites. In a second step, nTMS-based DTI-fiber tracking was conducted using solely these language-positive points as ROIs. The ability of the two tasks’ ROIs to visualize the dorsal tracts Arcuate Fascicle and Superior Longitudinal Fascicle, the ventral tracts Inferior Longitudinal Fascicle, Uncinate Fascicle, and Inferior Fronto-Occipital Fascicle, the speech-articulatory Cortico-Nuclear Tract, and interhemispheric commissural fibers was compared in both hemispheres. In the left hemisphere, ROIs of Action Naming led to a significantly higher fraction of overall visualized tracts, specifically in the ventral stream’s Inferior Fronto-Occipital and Inferior Longitudinal Fascicle. No difference was found between tracking with Action Naming vs. Object Naming seeds for dorsal stream tracts, neither for the speech-articulatory tract nor the inter-hemispheric connections. While the two tasks appeared equally demanding for phonological-articulatory processes, ROI seeding through the task Action Naming seemed to better visualize lexico-semantic tracts in the ventral stream. This distinction was not evident in the right hemisphere. However, the distribution of tracts exposed was, overall, mirrored relative to those in the left hemisphere network. In presurgical practice, mapping and tracking of language pathways may profit from these findings and should consider inclusion of the Action Naming task, particularly for lesions in ventral subcortical regions.

Background: Pre- and intra-operative language mapping in neurosurgery patients frequently involves an object naming task. The choice of the optimal object naming paradigm remains challenging due to lack of normative data and standardization in mapping practices. The aim of this study was to identify object naming paradigms that robustly and consistently activate classical language regions and could therefore be used to improve the sensitivity of language mapping in brain tumor and epilepsy patients.Methods: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from two independent groups of healthy controls (total = 79) were used to generate threshold-weighted voxel-based consistency maps. This novel approach allowed us to compare inter-subject consistency of activation for naming single objects in the visual and auditory modality and naming two objects in a phrase or a sentence.Results: We found that the consistency of activation in language regions was greater for naming two objects per picture than one object per picture, even when controlling for the number of names produced in 5 s.Conclusion: More consistent activation in language areas for naming two objects compared to one object suggests that two-object naming tasks may be more suitable for delimiting language eloquent regions with pre- and intra-operative language testing. More broadly, we propose that the functional specificity of brain mapping paradigms for a whole range of different linguistic and non-linguistic functions could be enhanced by referring to databased models of inter-subject consistency and variability in typical and atypical brain responses.

Picture-naming latency differs across languages in bilingual speakers. We compared the effects of key psycholinguistic variables on picture naming among two groups of Chinese bilingual speakers and Mandarin monolingual speakers. First, we asked bilingual and monolingual speakers to estimate the age of acquisition, familiarity, visual complexity, name agreement, and imageability of a set of object and action pictures in Mandarin and Cantonese. Next, we recruited 60 Cantonese-English speakers, 50 Mandarin-Cantonese bilingual speakers, and 30 monolingual speakers who named the object and action pictures in Cantonese and Mandarin, respectively. We observed variability in the effects of item-level characteristics among groups, suggesting an interaction between item-level and individual-level characteristics as predicted. This variability was higher in bilingual speakers who spoke similar languages (Mandarin-Cantonese) in comparison to those speaking more distant languages (Cantonese-English). Our results suggest that monolingual norms and bilingual norms capture the same amount of variability; however, grammatical class interactions with other variables are explained differentially by the bilingual and monolingual norms. We discuss the implications of our findings in terms of norming studies for timed picture naming and effects of bilingualism on language processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Based on recent studies, verb naming is more impaired than noun naming in patients with Parkinson Disease (PD). Noun and verb retrieval problems has been well documented in patients with cortical damage. To explore the possible contribution of cortex and subcortex areas in word finding test performance, we studied verb and object naming in patients with cortical and subcortical lesions. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, object and verb naming were examined in two patient groups, including patients with PD and patients with cortical stroke. The healthy control group was also matched on age and education with the patients. The non-parametric tests were performed to investigate the obtained data. Results: Both the PD patients and patients with cortical stroke presented a significant impairment in their capacity to name objects and verbs, compared to the healthy controls (P0.05). There was also a significant difference between verb naming and object naming in both patient groups (P

This study investigated whether a short training (8 weeks) in the second-language (English) has any facilitative effect on components of executive functions in young adults. A pre-post design was used with two groups of participants: one group (experimental group) of students received English language training for eight weeks, and another group (control group) matched on age and background did not. Executive function tasks (Flanker, Stroop, and color-shape switching task) along with the object naming and working memory tasks were administered before and after the training. We observed that the experimental group demonstrated significant improvement in task switching, working memory capacity, and language skills. Findings from the study provide evidence that short training in second-language can enhance some components of executive functions besides improving language skills in young adult students. This finding contributes to a better understanding of language training and executive function among young adult bilinguals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Graded Naming Test (GNT) is commonly used in clinical and research settings to assess nominal functions. However, normative data for the GNT is over 20 years old and norms for the older adult population are rather limited. Hence, confounding factors such as generational familiarity due to cultural changes need to be considered when applying the currently available norms. Moreover, normative data for the older population (80–97) are virtually absent. Such factors can be powerful confounds that can lead to incorrect interpretation of test scores. We gathered data for the GNT from 326 healthy controls aged between 18 and 97 years. Surprisingly, we found no decline in performance for older adults, even for the cohort aged 80–97 years (N = 40). In contrast, the youngest cohort (aged 18–29 years) performed unexpectedly below the whole sample mean. An item‐by‐item analysis revealed that five test items were unfamiliar to the youngest age cohort. To account for this generational familiarity effect, we created a revised 25‐item GNT. The performance of the youngest cohort on the 25‐item GNT was no longer below the whole sample mean. The performance of the oldest cohort (80–97 years old) on the revised GNT was characterized by a significant decline in performance for the oldest cohort with an average NART IQ. By contrast, those with a NART IQ above the average range did not show a decline. This suggests that factors such cognitive reserve arrested the decline in performance in the oldest age cohort with higher premorbid IQ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

First language (L1) and second language (L2) processing in bilinguals is not yet fully understood, especially not when considering the non-dominant hemisphere. Ten healthy, right-handed volunteers underwent language mapping of the right hemisphere by repetitive navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation and an object-naming task in their L1 and L2. All elicited naming errors together, no responses, and all errors without hesitation were analyzed separately for cortical distributions of error rates (ERs: number of errors divided by the number of applied stimulations). No significant differences (p > 0.05) were found in ERs between the L1 and L2 for all errors (L1 20.6 ± 14.8%, L2 15.4 ± 11.2%), no responses (L1 13.5 ± 10.9%, L2 9.2 ± 10.8%), and all errors without hesitation (L1 14.4 ± 11.2%, L2 10.8 ± 10.0%). The areas that showed high ERs for the L1 included the dorsal precentral and middle precentral gyrus, whereas the triangular inferior frontal gyrus showed high ERs for the L2. When focusing on error distributions per single stimulation points, differences in ERs between the L1 and L2 were initially observed for stimulation within the angular and middle middle frontal gyrus, but did not withstand correction for the false discovery rate (FDR-corrected p > 0.05). In conclusion, this exploratory study shows the feasibility of rTMS to the right hemisphere for language mapping and reveals cortical areas involved in L1 and L2 processing, but has to be followed up by larger studies enrolling more homogeneous cohorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Findings from several studies have indicated that participants with nfvPPA and participants with svPPA exhibit different patterns on action and object naming tasks, while other recent studies have found that neither participants with nfvPPA nor participants with svPPA show a significant difference in accuracy between object naming and action naming. Aims: The goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that relative action naming impairment is associated with grammatical ability in PPA, rather than a specific subtype of PPA. Methods & Procedures: Thirty-four participants with PPA completed the Boston Naming Test, the Action Naming subtest of the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination, and the Northwestern Anagram Test, which was used to measure grammatical ability. Z-scores for the two naming tasks were calculated based on normative data from unimpaired controls. For each participant with PPA, the relative action naming impairment was calculated by subtracting the object naming z-score from the action naming z-score. Linear regression analysis was then used to evaluate the role of grammatical ability as a predictor of relative action naming impairment, while controlling for age, education, cognitive ability (as measured by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment), and semantic ability (as measured by the Pyramids and Palm Trees test). The interaction between grammatical ability and each control variable was also examined. Outcomes & Results: The main effect of grammatical ability was a significant predictor of relative action naming impairment, while none of the control variables was a significant predictor. However, the interaction between grammatical ability and semantic ability was also significant. Conclusions: Individuals who have both grammatical impairment and semantic impairment have the largest relative action naming impairment. These individuals may benefit from a treatment that focuses on the retrieval of verbs and their arguments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Protocols for intraoperative language mapping with direct electrical stimulation (DES) often include various language tasks triggering both nouns and verbs in sentences. Such protocols are not readily available for navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (nTMS), where only single word object naming is generally used. Here, we present the development, norming, and standardization of the verb and noun test for peri-operative testing (VAN-POP) that measures language skills more extensively. Methods: The VAN-POP tests noun and verb retrieval in sentence context. Items are marked and balanced for several linguistic factors known to influence word retrieval. The VAN-POP was administered in English, German, and Dutch under conditions that are used for nTMS and DES paradigms. For each language, 30 speakers were tested. Results: At least 50 items per task per language were named fluently and reached a high naming agreement. Conclusion: The protocol proved to be suitable for pre- and intraoperative language mapping with nTMS and DES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It is difficult to set up a balanced higher-order full-factorial experiment that can capture multiple intricate interactions between cognitive and psycholinguistic factors underlying bilingual speech production. To capture interactions more fully in one study, we analyzed object-naming reaction times (RTs) by using mixed-effects multiple regression.Methods: Ten healthy bilinguals (median age: 23 years, seven females) were asked to name 131 colored pictures of common objects in each of their languages. RTs were analyzed based on language status, proficiency, word choice, word frequency, word duration, initial phoneme, time series, and participant's gender.Results: Among five significant interactions, new findings include a facilitating effect of a cross-language shared initial phoneme (mean RT for shared phoneme: 974 ms vs. mean RT for different phoneme: 1020 ms), which profited males less (mean profit: 10 ms) than females (mean profit: 47 ms).Conclusions: Our data support language-independent phonological activation and a gender difference in inhibitory cognitive language control. Single word production process in healthy adult bilinguals is affected by interactions among cognitive, phonological, and semantic factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different speakers often use different names to refer to the same entity (e.g., "woman" vs. "tennis player" for a given woman playing tennis). We study how visual typicality affects variation in naming behavior. We use a novel computational approach to estimate visual typicality from images, and analyze a large dataset containing naming data for realistic images. In contrast to previous work, we take into account the visual properties of both the object and the scene in which it appears; and factor in multiple candidate names. We show that visual typicality mediates competition between candidate names: high competition, induced by the relationship between the visual properties of the object and the visual representations associated to names, predicts higher naming variation. On a methodological level, we demonstrate the potential of using large-scale datasets with realistic images in conjunction with computational methods to shed light on how people name objects. • Visual typicality influences variation in how different people call the same object. • Higher lexical competition between object names results in higher naming variation. • The properties of both the object and the scene in which it appears affect naming. • We model visual typicality and lexical competition using computational methods. • Questions about language and cognition can be addressed with deep-learning models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preoperative language mapping with navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (nTMS) is currently based on the disruption of performance during object naming. The resulting cortical language maps, however, lack accuracy when compared to intraoperative mapping. The question arises whether nTMS results can be improved, when another language task is considered, involving verb retrieval in sentence context. Twenty healthy German speakers were tested with object naming and a novel action naming task during nTMS language mapping. Error rates and categories in both hemispheres were compared. Action naming showed a significantly higher error rate than object naming in both hemispheres. Error category comparison revealed that this discrepancy stems from more lexico-semantic errors during action naming, indicating lexico-semantic retrieval of the verb being more affected than noun retrieval. In an area-wise comparison, higher error rates surfaced in multiple right-hemisphere areas, but only trends in the left ventral postcentral gyrus and middle superior temporal gyrus. Hesitation errors contributed significantly to the error count, but did not dull the mapping results. Inclusion of action naming coupled with a detailed error analysis may be favorable for nTMS mapping and ultimately improve accuracy in preoperative planning. Moreover, the results stress the recruitment of both left- and right-hemispheric areas during naming.

We evaluated whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in two different montages could improve picture naming abilities in participants with anomic Alzheimer Disease or Frontotemporal dementia.MethodsUtilizing a double-blind cross-over design, twelve participants were trained on picture naming over a series of 10 sessions with 30 min of anodal (2 mA) tDCS stimulation to either the left inferior parietotemporal region (P3), the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (F3), or sham stimulation. We evaluated performance on a trained picture naming list, an equivalent novel untrained list, and additional neuropsychological tasks.ResultsFor trained item picture naming, significantly larger improvement was seen for real stimulation vs. sham stimulation for both the DLPFC and left inferior parieto-temporal stimulation montages at the end of the stimulation sessions. The parieto-temporal montage remained superior to sham 2 weeks poststimulation. Significant improvement vs. sham was also seen for novel “untrained” item picture naming 2 weeks post-stimulation when the parieto-temporal montage was given, whereas no change was observed when the DLPFC montage was given. Finally, comparing groups when they received the parieto-temporal montage, participants with semantic variant Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) showed the least improvement for untrained items after their sessions. Scores on the additional neuropsychological tasks were unchanged.ConclusiontDCS stimulation has promise as a treatment for individuals with anomia arising from neurodegenerative disease, but its effectiveness can vary depending on the training given, the montage location used, as well as a participants’ diagnosis.

We evaluated whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in two different montages could improve picture naming abilities in participants with anomic Alzheimer Disease or Frontotemporal dementia. Methods: Utilizing a double-blind cross-over design, twelve participants were trained on picture naming over a series of 10 sessions with 30 min of anodal (2 mA) tDCS stimulation to either the left inferior parietotemporal region (P3), the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (F3), or sham stimulation. We evaluated performance on a trained picture naming list, an equivalent novel untrained list, and additional neuropsychological tasks. Results: For trained item picture naming, significantly larger improvement was seen for real stimulation vs. sham stimulation for both the DLPFC and left inferior parieto-temporal stimulation montages at the end of the stimulation sessions. The parieto-temporal montage remained superior to sham 2 weeks poststimulation. Significant improvement vs. sham was also seen for novel "untrained" item picture naming 2 weeks post-stimulation when the parieto-temporal montage was given, whereas no change was observed when the DLPFC montage was given. Finally, comparing groups when they received the parieto-temporal montage, participants with semantic variant Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) showed the least improvement for untrained items after their sessions. Scores on the additional neuropsychological tasks were unchanged. Conclusion: tDCS stimulation has promise as a treatment for individuals with anomia arising from neurodegenerative disease, but its effectiveness can vary depending on the training given, the montage location used, as well as a participants' diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Critical decisions regarding resection boundaries for epilepsy surgery are often based on results of electrical stimulation mapping (ESM). Despite the potentially serious implications for postoperative functioning, age‐referenced data that might facilitate the procedure are lacking. Age might be particularly relevant, as pediatric ESM studies have shown a paucity of language sites in young children followed by a rapid increase at approximately 8‐10 years. Beyond adolescence, it has generally been assumed that the language system remains stable, and therefore, potential age‐related changes across the adult age span have not been examined. However, increasing age during adulthood is associated with both positive and negative language‐related changes, such as a broadening vocabulary and increased word finding difficulty. Because most patients who undergo ESM are adults, we aimed to determine the potential impact of age on the incidence of ESM‐identified naming sites across the adult age span in patients with refractory epilepsy. Methods: We analyzed clinical language ESM results from 47 patients, ages 17‐64 years, with refractory dominant‐hemisphere epilepsy. Patients had comparable location and number of cortical sites tested. The incidence of naming sites was examined as a function of age, and compared between younger and older adults. Results: Significantly more naming sites were found in older than younger adults, and age was found to be a significant predictor of number of naming sites identified. Significance: Unlike the developmental changes that coincide with increased naming sites in children, increased naming sites in older adults might signify greater vulnerability of the language system to disruption. Because preservation of language sites can limit the extent of the resection, and thereby reduce the likelihood of seizure freedom, further work should aim to determine the clinical relevance of increased naming sites in older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In preoperative planning, fMRI and repetitive navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) repeatedly revealed differences in the detected language sites, which can be attributed to tumor-induced oxygenation changes impairing the accuracy of fMRI. We therefore compared the accordance of those techniques in healthy subjects using exactly the same tasks in both investigations. 19 healthy right-handed subjects performed object naming, pseudoword reading, verb generation, and action naming during fMRI at 3 T and rTMS. For rTMS language mapping, we stimulated 46 cortical spots over the left hemisphere; each site was stimulated for three times. Language positive points during rTMS for one, two, or three errors out the three stimulations per spot (1/3, 2/3, 3/3) were exported via DICOM, and compared to the positive fMRI clusters. As a result of this comparison, the best correlation was observed between 3/3 errors and fMRI for pseudoword reading and verb generation with t-values of pu < 0.001, uncorrected for multiple comparisons, on average across the whole rTMS-spot map. We found a close spatial agreement between several rTMS-spots (2/3 and 3/3 errors) and fMRI clusters accentuated in the frontal lobe, followed by the parietal lobe and less in the temporal lobe. Compared to the fMRI clusters, there was a higher congruence for 2/3 and 3/3 errors than for 1/3 errors. Overall, results of language mapping in healthy subjects by fMRI and rTMS correspond well yet depending on the used language task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The main purpose of this research is develop the Turkish version of the BNT long form (consist of 60 items) [BNT-60 (TR)] and to determine the normative data for Turkish healthy geriatric population. BNT is a neuropsychological test which was widely used to measure naming disorders associated with a variety of neuropathological events. This research consists of two stages. In the stage of pilot study, adaptation of test was completed and BNT-60 (TR) version was developed; and in the stage of normative study, normative data was collected and norm determination was completed. Methods: Ninety healthy and volunteer elderly were participated in pilot study and 317 were in normative study. Three screening tests called Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA), Functional Activities Questionnaire (FAQ) and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) were administered for participant selection. BNT-60 (TR) was applied to participants who meet the inclusion criteria. Results: According to 5 (age) x 2 (gender) x 3 (education) factorial ANOVA results, main effects of age and education level on BNT-60 (TR) total score were found statistically significant. Then according to MANOVA results, main effects of age and education level on BNT-60 (TR) sub-scores were found statistically significant. On the other hand, main effect of gender was not significant on BNT-60 (TR) scores. The age and BNT-60 (TR) total score were negatively correlated. This results consistent with other normative studies of BNT in the literature. Conclusion: Finally, BNT-60 (TR) is adopted for Turkish culture, determined normative data and a test which is evaluating naming ability of the older adults was put into use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the common assumption that atrophy in a certain brain area would compromise the function that it subserves, this is not always the case, especially in complex clinical syndromes such as primary progressive aphasia (PPA). Clinical and demographic information may contribute to PPA phenotypes and explain the manifested impairments better than atrophy. In the present study, we asked how much variance of the object and action naming impairments observed in PPA may be attributed to atrophy in the language network alone vs. additional clinical and demographic factors including language severity and education. Thirty-nine participants with PPA underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for volumetric analysis and a complete neuropsychological examination, including standardized tests of object and action naming. We used stepwise regression models to compare atrophy (volumetric model) to clinical/demographic variables (clinical-demographic model) for naming objects and actions. The clinical-demographic model was the best-fit model that explained the largest amount of variance in both object and action naming. Brain volume measurements alone explained little variance in both object and action naming. Clinical factors, particularly language severity, and demographic factors, particularly education, need to be considered in conjunction with brain volumes in PPA. The present study emphasizes the complexity of PPA as a syndrome and provides an example of how volumetric, clinical and demographic factors may interact in determining naming performance/deterioration.

Navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (nTMS) is increasingly applied to map human language functions. However, studies on protocol comparisons are mostly lacking. In this study, 20 healthy volunteers (25.7 ± 3.8 years, 12 females) underwent left-hemispheric language mapping by nTMS, combined with an object-naming task, over a cortical spot with reproducible naming errors within the triangular or opercular part of the inferior frontal gyrus (trIFG, opIFG: anterior stimulation) and the angular gyrus or posterior part of the superior temporal gyrus (anG, pSTG: posterior stimulation), respectively. Various stimulation intensities [80, 100, and 120% of the resting motor threshold (rMT)], frequencies (2, 5, 10, and 20 Hz), and coil orientations (in steps of 45°) were evaluated, and the adjustments leading to the highest error rates (ERs), combined with low occurrences of errors due to muscle stimulation, were considered optimal. Regarding anterior stimulation, 100% rMT, 5 Hz, and a coil orientation of 90° or 270° in relation to the respective stimulated gyrus resulted in optimal results. For posterior stimulation, 100% rMT, 10 Hz, and coil orientations of 90° or 270° were considered optimal. Errors due to facial muscle stimulation only played a considerable role during analyses of high-intensity (120% rMT) or high-frequency stimulation (20 Hz). In conclusion, this is one of the first studies to systematically investigate different stimulation protocols for nTMS language mapping, including detailed analyses of the distribution of ERs in relation to various coil orientations considered during neuronavigated stimulation. Mapping with 100% rMT, combined with 5 Hz (anterior stimulation) or 10 Hz (posterior stimulation) and a coil orientation perpendicular to the respective stimulated gyrus can be recommended as optimal adjustments.

Seeing objects triggers activation of motor areas. The implications of this motor activation in tasks that do not require object-use is still a matter of debate in cognitive sciences. Here we test whether motor activation percolates into the linguistic system by exploring the effect of object manipulability in a speech production task. Italian native speakers name the set of photographs provided by Guérard, Lagacè and Brodeur (Beh Res Meth, 2015). Photographs varied on four motor dimensions concerning on how easily the represented objects can be grasped, moved, or pantomimed, and the number of actions that can be performed with them. The results show classical psycholinguistic phenomena such as the effect of age of acquisition and name agreement in naming latencies. Critically, linear mixed-effects models show an effect of three motor predictors over and above the psycholinguistic effects (replicating, in part, previous findings, Guérard et al., 2015). Further research is needed to address how, and at which level, the manipulability effect emerges in the course of word production.

Storms, Ameel, and Malt [2015. "Development of Cross-language Lexical Influence." International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 18: 529–547] compared the development of naming patterns in monolingual and bilingual children. They concluded that bilinguals' naming patterns in their two languages become increasingly similar with age and are thus converging. In this commentary, we argue that taking into account younger participants' smaller vocabulary and greater variability in names for individual objects changes the paper's conclusions: bilingual naming patterns are found to diverge with age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (nTMS) is increasingly applied to map human language functions. However, studies on protocol comparisons are mostly lacking. In this study, 20 healthy volunteers (25.7 ± 3.8 years, 12 females) underwent left-hemispheric language mapping by nTMS, combined with an object-naming task, over a cortical spot with reproducible naming errors within the triangular or opercular part of the inferior frontal gyrus (trIFG, opIFG: anterior stimulation) and the angular gyrus or posterior part of the superior temporal gyrus (anG, pSTG: posterior stimulation), respectively. Various stimulation intensities [80, 100, and 120% of the resting motor threshold (rMT)], frequencies (2, 5, 10, and 20 Hz), and coil orientations (in steps of 45°) were evaluated, and the adjustments leading to the highest error rates (ERs), combined with low occurrences of errors due to muscle stimulation, were considered optimal. Regarding anterior stimulation, 100% rMT, 5 Hz, and a coil orientation of 90° or 270° in relation to the respective stimulated gyrus resulted in optimal results. For posterior stimulation, 100% rMT, 10 Hz, and coil orientations of 90° or 270° were considered optimal. Errors due to facial muscle stimulation only played a considerable role during analyses of high-intensity (120% rMT) or high-frequency stimulation (20 Hz). In conclusion, this is one of the first studies to systematically investigate different stimulation protocols for nTMS language mapping, including detailed analyses of the distribution of ERs in relation to various coil orientations considered during neuronavigated stimulation. Mapping with 100% rMT, combined with 5 Hz (anterior stimulation) or 10 Hz (posterior stimulation) and a coil orientation perpendicular to the respective stimulated gyrus can be recommended as optimal adjustments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Awake craniotomy pursues a balance between extensive tumor resection and preservation of postoperative language function. A dilemma exists in patients whose tumor resection is restricted due to signs of language impairment observed during awake craniotomy. In order to determine the degree to which recovery of language function caused by tumor resection can be achieved by spontaneous neuroplasticity, the change in postoperative language function was compared to quantified intraoperative linguistic performance.Methods: The modified, short-form Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination (sfBDAE) was used to assess pre- and postoperative language functions; visual object naming (DO 80) and semantic-association (Pyramid and Palm Tree Test, PPTT) tests assessed intraoperative linguistic performance. DO 80 and PPTT were performed alternatively during subcortical functional monitoring while performing tumor resection and sfBDAE was assessed 1-week postoperatively.Results: Most patients with observed language impairment during awake surgery showed improved language function postoperatively. Both intraoperative DO 80 and PPTT showed significant correlation to postoperative sfBDAE domain scores (p < 0.05), with a higher correlation observed with PPTT. A linear regression model showed that only PPTT predicted the postoperative sfBDAE domain scores with the adjusted R2 ranging from 0.51 to 0.89 (all p < 0.01). Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed a cutoff value of PPTT that yielded a sensitivity of 80% and specificity of 100%.Conclusion: PPTT may be a feasible tool for intraoperative linguistic evaluation that can predict postoperative language outcomes. Further studies are needed to determine the extent of tumor resection that optimizes the postoperative language following neuroplasticity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent advances in behavioural and computational neuroscience, cognitive robotics, and in the hardware implementation of large-scale neural networks, provide the opportunity for an accelerated understanding of brain functions and for the design of interactive robotic systems based on brain-inspired control systems. This is especially the case in the domain of action and language learning, given the significant scientific and technological developments in this field. In this work we describe how a neuroanatomically grounded spiking neural network for visual attention has been extended with a word learning capability and integrated with the iCub humanoid robot to demonstrate attention-led object naming. Experiments were carried out with both a simulated and a real iCub robot platform with successful results. The iCub robot is capable of associating a label to an object with a ‘preferred’ orientation when visual and word stimuli are presented concurrently in the scene, as well as attending to said object, thus naming it. After learning is complete, the name of the object can be recalled successfully when only the visual input is present, even when the object has been moved from its original position or when other objects are present as distractors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though it may seem simple, object naming is a complex multistage process that can be impaired by lesions at various sites of the language network. Individuals with neurodegenerative disorders of language, known as primary progressive aphasias (PPA), have difficulty with naming objects, and instead frequently say "I don't know" or fail to give a vocal response at all, known as an omission. Whereas other types of naming errors (paraphasias) give clues as to which aspects of the language network have been compromised, the mechanisms underlying omissions remain largely unknown. In this study, we used a novel eye tracking approach to probe the cognitive mechanisms of omissions in the logopenic and semantic variants of PPA (PPA-L and PPA-S). For each participant, we identified pictures of common objects (e.g., animals, tools) that they could name aloud correctly, as well as pictures that elicited an omission. In a separate word-to-picture matching task, those pictures appeared as targets embedded among an array with 15 foils. Participants were given a verbal cue and tasked with pointing to the target, while eye movements were monitored. On trials with correctly-named targets, controls and both PPA groups ceased visual search soon after foveating the target. On omission trials, however, the PPA-S group failed to stop searching, and went on to view many foils "post-target". As further indication of impaired word knowledge, gaze of the PPA-S group was subject to excessive "taxonomic capture", such that they spent less time viewing the target and more time viewing related foils on omission trials. In contrast, viewing behavior of the PPA-L group was similar to controls on both correctly-named and omission trials. These results indicate that the mechanisms of omission in PPA differ by variant. In PPA-S, anterior temporal lobe degeneration causes taxonomic blurring, such that words from the same category can no longer be reliably distinguished. In PPA-L, word knowledge remains relatively intact, and omissions instead appear to be caused by downstream factors (e.g., lexical access, phonological encoding). These findings demonstrate that when words fail, eye movements can be particularly informative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustained attention has previously been shown as a requirement for language production. However, this is mostly evident for difficult conditions, such as a dual-task situation. The current study provides corroborating evidence that this relationship holds even for simple picture naming. Sustained attention ability, indexed both by participants’ reaction times and individuals’ hit rate (the proportion of correctly detected targets) on a digit discrimination task, correlated with picture naming latencies. Individuals with poor sustained attention were consistently slower and their RT distributions were more positively skewed when naming pictures compared to individuals with better sustained attention. Additionally, the need to sustain attention was manipulated by changing the speed of stimulus presentation. Research has suggested that fast event rates tax sustained attention resources to a larger degree than slow event rates. However, in this study the fast event rate did not result in increased difficulty, neither for the picture naming task nor for the sustained attention task. Instead, the results point to a speed-accuracy trade-off in the sustained attention task (lower accuracy but faster responses in the fast than in the slow event rate), and to a benefit for faster rates in the picture naming task (shorter naming latencies with no difference in accuracy). Performance on both tasks was largely comparable, supporting previous findings that sustained attention is called upon during language production.

Although older adults exhibit normal accuracy in performing word retrieval and generation (lexical production; e.g., object naming), they are generally slower in responding than younger adults. To maintain accuracy, older adults recruit compensatory mechanisms and strategies. We focused on two such possible compensatory mechanisms, one semantic and one executive. These mechanisms are reflected at inter- and intra-hemispheric levels by various patterns of reorganization of lexical production cerebral networks. Hemispheric reorganization (HR) changes were also evaluated in relation to increase naming latencies. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we examined 27 healthy participants (from 30 years to 85 years) during an object naming task, exploring and identifying task-related patterns of cerebral reorganization. We report two main results. First, we observed a left intra-hemispheric pattern of reorganization, the left anterior-posterior aging (LAPA) effect, consisting of supplementary activation of left posterior (temporo-parietal) regions in older adults and asymmetric activation along the left fronto-temporal axis. This pattern suggests that older adults recruit posterior semantic regions to perform object naming. The second finding consisted of bilateral recruitment of frontal regions to maintain appropriate response times, especially in older adults who were faster performers. This pattern is discussed in terms of compensatory mechanism. We suggest that aging is associated with multiple, co-existing compensation and reorganization mechanisms and patterns associated with lexical production.