Cited by 87Neurobiology of Language and BilingualismAdvanced Neuroimaging Techniques and ApplicationsHemispheric Asymmetry in Neuroscience

Damage to white matter bottlenecks contributes to language impairments after left hemispheric stroke

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Griffis, Joseph C., Nenert, Rodolphe, Allendorfer, Jane B., Szaflarski, Jerzy P.·2017·NeuroImage Clinical

Abstract

Damage to the white matter underlying the left posterior temporal lobe leads to deficits in multiple language functions. The posterior temporal white matter may correspond to a bottleneck where both dorsal and ventral language pathways are vulnerable to simultaneous damage. Damage to a second putative white matter bottleneck in the left deep prefrontal white matter involving projections associated with ventral language pathways and thalamo-cortical projections has recently been proposed as a source of semantic deficits after stroke. Here, we first used white matter atlases to identify the previously described white matter bottlenecks in the posterior temporal and deep prefrontal white matter. We then assessed the effects of damage to each region on measures of verbal fluency, picture naming, and auditory semantic decision-making in 43 chronic left hemispheric stroke patients. Damage to the posterior temporal bottleneck predicted deficits on all tasks, while damage to the anterior bottleneck only significantly predicted deficits in verbal fluency. Importantly, the effects of damage to the bottleneck regions were not attributable to lesion volume, lesion loads on the tracts traversing the bottlenecks, or damage to nearby cortical language areas. Multivariate lesion-symptom mapping revealed additional lesion predictors of deficits. Post-hoc fiber tracking of the peak white matter lesion predictors using a publicly available tractography atlas revealed evidence consistent with the results of the bottleneck analyses. Together, our results provide support for the proposal that spatially specific white matter damage affecting bottleneck regions, particularly in the posterior temporal lobe, contributes to chronic language deficits after left hemispheric stroke. This may reflect the simultaneous disruption of signaling in dorsal and ventral language processing streams.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.nicl.2017.02.019

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  • One explanation for the constraint is that white matter can act as a bottleneck for multiple processing tracts from multiple neural networks, all of which are affected when the bottleneck is damaged, thereby limiting resources for recovery.

    “One explanation for this is that white matter can act as a bottle neck for multiple processing tracts from multiple neural networks, all of which are affected when the bottle neck is damaged, thereby limiting resources for recovery (Griffis et al., 2017).”

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Authors
Griffis, J. C., Nenert, R., Allendorfer, J. B., & Szaflarski, J. P.
Affiliations
University of Alabama at Birmingham (US)
Corresponding author
Griffis, Joseph C.
Venue
NeuroImage Clinical
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2017
Volume
14
Pages
552-565
ISSN
2213-1582 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2519305849
Cited by
87
References
97
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 4
FWCI
6.12
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • NeuroImage Clinical (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • arXiv (Cornell University)
Funders
National Institutes of Health (NIH R01 HD068488, NIH R01 NS048281)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Hemispheric Asymmetry in Neuroscience
Keywords
left hemispheric stroke, language deficits, posterior temporal lobe, semantic deficits, verbal fluency, picture naming, thalamocortical connections, lesion-symptom mapping, tractography, chronic stroke
MeSH terms
Adult, Aged, Brain Mapping, Decision Making, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Language Disorders, Language Tests, Functional Laterality, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Regression Analysis, Semantics, Verbal Behavior, Stroke, White Matter

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