A systematic review and quantitative appraisal of fMRI studies of verbal fluency: role of the left inferior frontal gyrus
Open accessAbstract
The left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) has consistently been associated with both phonologic and semantic operations in functional neuroimaging studies. Two main theories have proposed a different functional organization in the LIFG for these processes. One theory suggests an anatomic parcellation of phonologic and semantic operations within the LIFG. An alternative theory proposes that both processes are encompassed within a supramodal executive function in a single region in the LIFG. To test these theories, we carried out a systematic review of functional magnetic resonance imaging studies employing phonologic and semantic verbal fluency tasks. Seventeen articles meeting our pre‐established criteria were found, consisting of 22 relevant experiments with 197 healthy subjects and a total of 41 peak activations in the LIFG. We determined 95% confidence intervals of the mean location ( x , y , and z coordinates) of peaks of blood oxygenation level‐dependent (BOLD) responses from published phonologic and semantic verbal fluency studies using the nonparametric technique of bootstrap analysis. Significant differences were revealed in dorsal–ventral ( z ‐coordinate) localizations of the peak BOLD response: phonologic verbal fluency peak BOLD response was significantly more dorsal to the peak associated with semantic verbal fluency (confidence interval of difference: 1.9–17.4 mm). No significant differences were evident in antero–posterior ( x ‐coordinate) or medial–lateral ( y ‐coordinate) positions. The results support distinct dorsal–ventral locations for phonologic and semantic processes within the LIFG. Current limitations to meta‐analytic integration of published functional neuroimaging studies are discussed. Hum Brain Mapp, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
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The left inferior frontal gyrus has been implicated in fMRI studies of divergent thinking and controlled memory retrieval.
“The left IFG has been implicated in fMRI studies of divergent thinking (Benedek et al., 2014, Benedek et al., 2014, Fink et al., 2009) and controlled memory retrieval (Costafreda et al., 2006, Hirshorn and Thompson-Schill, 2006).”
From Creativity and the default network: A functional connectivity analysis of the creative brain at rest (2014) · cites this paper as Costafreda et al., 2006
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- Authors
- Costafreda, S. G., Fu, C. H. Y., Lee, L., Everitt, B., Brammer, M. J., & David, A. S.
- Affiliations
- King's College London (GB)
- UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology (GB)
- Venue
- Human Brain Mapping
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2006-09-22
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 799-810
- ISSN
- 1065-9471 (ISSN-L)
- 1097-0193
- PMC
- PMC6871344
- OpenAlex
- W2127495504
- Cited by
- 496
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 32 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 36 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 30 · 2016: 26 · 2015: 31 · 2014: 28 · 2013: 29 · 2012: 28
- FWCI
- 1.53
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Human Brain Mapping (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust
- Research Councils UK
- Medical Research Council
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Reading and Literacy Development
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Keywords
- verbal fluency, left inferior frontal gyrus, semantic fluency, executive function, functional parcellation, bootstrap analysis
- MeSH terms
- Brain Mapping, Frontal Lobe, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Verbal Behavior
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