Cortex RSS feed: Articles in Press. CORTEX is an international journal devoted to the study of cognition and of the relationship between the nervous system and mental processes, particularly as these are reflected in the behaviour of patients with acquired brain lesions, normal volunteers, children with typical and atypical development, and in the activation of brain regions and systems as recorded by functional neuroimaging techniques. It was founded in 1964 by Ennio De Renzi. http://www.cortexjournal.net//inpress?rss=yesElsevier Inc.en © 2012 Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Cortex0010-94522012-02-01 © 2012 Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. healthpermissions@elsevier.comhttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945212000299/abstract?rss=yesLuigi A. Vignolo, M.D. passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by his family, on December 21st, 2011. Luigi has been a leading figure of Italian neurology and one of the founders of the world-renowned Milan center of neuropsychology. He is internationally recognized as one of the most influential students of aphasia of all times. As fully appropriate for someone who would make of language his primary, lifelong interest, Luigi’s early background was multilingual. He came from a Genoese family, but was born in French-speaking Montecarlo, and was educated in Italy, in the United States and in Brazil. He graduated in Medicine in 1959 with a thesis on aphasia at the University of Milan, under the supervision of Ennio De Renzi, and went on to study neurology there. From then on Milan remained his home, with some intermissions in Paris, where he worked with Francois Lhermitte at the Centre du Langage of La Salpetriere, and in Boston, where he started a lifelong collaboration and friendship with Norman Geschwind and Deepak Pandya. He was one of the first oversea members of the Academy of Aphasia, and one of the original driving forces behind the International Neuropsychological Symposium. In the eighties he became Director of the Neurological Department of the University of Brescia Medical School, a position he held until his retirement. If one has to choose among Luigi’s scientific achievements, the first mention is probably deserved by the Token test. The principles of the test and some early findings were communicated in the first post-war joint meeting of the British and Italian neurological societies, and were then published with Ennio de Renzi in a paper in Brain (1962), which has been cited more than 1200 times. Additional, fundamental contributions are the language rehabilitation studies, the fruits of a long standing collaboration with Anna Basso and Erminio Capitani, and the anatomical papers reporting his work in Deepak Pandya’s Lab in Boston. Luigi was very amused by the introduction of the eponym Vignolo’s syndrome by one of his mentors, Arthur Benton, to designate the presence of two Gerstmann’s syndrome deficits (agraphia and acalculia) in combination with anomia and constructional apraxia (1992).Luigi A. Vignolo - Corrected ProofStefano F. Cappa10.1016/j.cortex.2012.01.006Cortex (2012)2012-02-01Cortex2012-02-01OBITUARYhttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211003327/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Systematic biases in spatial attention are a common finding. In the general population, a systematic leftward bias is typically observed (pseudoneglect), possibly as a consequence of right hemisphere dominance for visuospatial attention. However, this leftward bias can cross-over to a systematic rightward bias with changes in stimulus and state factors (such as line length and arousal). The processes governing these changes are still unknown. Here we tested models of spatial attention as to their ability to account for these effects. To this end, we experimentally manipulated both stimulus and state factors, while healthy participants performed a computerized version of a landmark task. State was manipulated by time-on-task (>1 h) leading to increased fatigue and a reliable left- to rightward shift in spatial bias. Stimulus was manipulated by presenting either long or short lines which was associated with a shift of subjective midpoint from a reliable leftward bias for long to a more rightward bias for short lines. Importantly, we found time-on-task and line length effects to be additive suggesting a common denominator for line bisection across all conditions, which is in disagreement with models that assume that bisection decisions in long and short lines are governed by distinct processes (Magnitude estimation vs Global/local distinction). Our findings emphasize the dynamic rather than static nature of spatial biases in midline judgement. They are best captured by theories of spatial attention positing that spatial bias is flexibly modulated, and subject to inter-hemispheric balance which can change over time or conditions to accommodate task demands or reflect fatigue.Stimulus- and state-dependence of systematic bias in spatial attention: Additive effects of stimulus-size and time-on-task - Corrected ProofChristopher S.Y. Benwell, Monika Harvey, Stephanie Gardner, Gregor Thut10.1016/j.cortex.2011.12.007Cortex (2012)2012-01-24Cortex2012-01-24RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211003339/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Introduction: Gestures are important for nonverbal communication and were shown to be impaired in schizophrenia. Two categories of gestures can be differentiated: pantomime on verbal command and imitation of seen gestures. There is evidence that the neural basis of these domains may be distinct, pantomime being critically dependent on prefrontal cortex function. The aim of the study was to investigate gestural deficits in schizophrenia and their association with frontal lobe function and motor performance.Methods: In 30 schizophrenia patients, gesture performance was assessed by the comprehensive Test of Upper Limb Apraxia (TULIA) using previously determined cut-off scores. The ratings of videotaped gesture performance were blinded. In addition, a battery of rating scales on frontal lobe function, parkinsonism, dyskinesia, catatonia and instrumental measures of gross and fine motor performance were assessed.Results: Pantomime deficits were found in 40% and imitation deficits in 23% of the patients. Patients with gestural deficits had poorer frontal cortex function, more catatonic symptoms, and more severe psychopathology. Furthermore, trends indicated an association with a more chronic course of the illness. Pantomime was linked to frontal lobe function whereas imitation was associated with catatonic symptoms and gross motor performance.Conclusions: Pantomime is frequently impaired in chronic schizophrenia and may critically depend on motor planning, reflecting a further example of brain disconnectivity in schizophrenia.Impaired pantomime in schizophrenia: Association with frontal lobe function - Corrected ProofSebastian Walther, Tim Vanbellingen, René Müri, Werner Strik, Stephan Bohlhalter10.1016/j.cortex.2011.12.008Cortex (2012)2012-01-20Cortex2012-01-20RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211003212/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Memories are not always as reliable as they may appear. The occurrence of false memories can be reduced, however, by enhancing the cooperation between the two brain hemispheres. Yet is the communication from left to right hemisphere as helpful as the information transfer from right to left? To address this question, 72 participants were asked to learn 16 word lists. Applying the Deese–Roediger–McDermott paradigm, the words in each list were associated with an unpresented prototype word. In the test condition, learned words and corresponding prototypes were presented along with non-associated new words, and participants were asked to indicate which of the words they recognized. Crucially, both study and test words were projected to only one hemisphere in order to stimulate each hemisphere separately. It was found that false recognitions occurred significantly less often when the right hemisphere studied and the left hemisphere recognized the stimuli. Moreover, only the right-to-left direction of interhemispheric communication reduced false memories significantly, whereas left-to-right exchange did not. Further analyses revealed that the observed reduction of false memories was not due to an enhanced discrimination sensitivity, but to a stricter response bias. Hence, the data suggest that interhemispheric cooperation does not improve the ability to tell old and new apart, but rather evokes a conservative response tendency. Future studies may narrow down in which cognitive processing steps interhemispheric interaction can change the response criterion.How do our brain hemispheres cooperate to avoid false memories? - Corrected ProofSusanne Bergert10.1016/j.cortex.2011.12.004Cortex (2012)2012-01-16Cortex2012-01-16RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211003224/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Performance of voluntary behavior requires the selection of appropriate movements to attain a desired goal. We propose that the selection of voluntary movements is often contingent on the formation of a movement heuristic or set of internal rules governing movement selection. We used event-related potentials (ERPs) to identify the electrophysiological correlates of the formation of movement heuristics during movement-outcome learning. In two experiments, ERPs from non-learning control tasks were compared to a movement-learning task in which a movement heuristic was formed. We found that novelty P3 amplitude was negatively correlated with improved performance in the movement-learning task. Additionally, enhancement of novelty P3 amplitude was observed during learning even after controlling for memory, attentional and inter-stimulus interval parameters. The feedback correct-related positivity (fCRP) was only elicited by sensory effects following intentional movements. These findings extend previous studies demonstrating the role of the fCRP in performance monitoring and the role of the P3 in learning. In particular, the present study highlights an integrative role of the fCRP and the novelty P3 for the acquisition of movement heuristics. While the fCRP indicates that the goal of intentional movements has been attained, the novelty P3 engages stimulus-driven attentional mechanisms to determine the primary aspects of movement and context required to elicit the sensory effect.Creating a movement heuristic for voluntary action: Electrophysiological correlates of movement-outcome learning - Corrected ProofJeffery G. Bednark, John N.J. Reynolds, Tom Stafford, Peter Redgrave, Elizabeth A. Franz10.1016/j.cortex.2011.12.005Cortex (2012)2012-01-16Cortex2012-01-16RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211003236/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: We set out to test the hypothesis of right-hemisphere superiority for the implicit detection of a rule. Forty healthy men provided speeded manual responses to randomly presented digits from 1 to 6 (left hand to 1–3, right hand to 4–6). Red digits on trial n signaled that the response on trial n+1 should be made with one hand, blue digits with the other hand. White digits gave no signal (control trials). Half the participants were told that the stimulus color conveyed a rule that could be exploited to improve performance, the other half were not. After completing the first run, participants' awareness of the presence and nature of the rule was assessed and all were debriefed. Participants then performed a second run with identical stimulus conditions. In Run 1, none of the participants reported being aware of the nature of the rule. Reaction times (RTs) were longer after signal than no-signal trials, but only for the left hand. Participants informed about the presence of a rule tended to have longer RTs, irrespective of hand. In Run 2, RTs were shorter after signal than no-signal trials, and there were no differences between hands. The observed RT effect for the left-hand points to a right-hemisphere superiority for the detection and application of a rule in the absence of verbal awareness. Longer (instead of shorter) RTs in the signal trials are discussed in the framework of interhemispheric inhibition.A left-hand superiority for the implicit detection of a rule - Corrected ProofAlexia Anagnostopoulos, Rainer Spiegel, John Palmer, Peter Brugger10.1016/j.cortex.2011.12.006Cortex (2012)2012-01-16Cortex2012-01-16RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211003200/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Patients with Huntington's disease (HD), a neurodegenerative disorder that causes major motor impairments, also show cognitive and emotional deficits. While their deficit in recognising emotions has been explored in depth, little is known about their ability to express emotions and understand their feelings. If these faculties were impaired, patients might not only mis-read emotion expressions in others but their own emotions might be mis-interpreted by others as well, or thirdly, they might have difficulties understanding and describing their feelings. We compared the performance of recognition and expression of facial emotions in 13 HD patients with mild motor impairments but without significant bucco-facial abnormalities, and 13 controls matched for age and education. Emotion recognition was investigated in a forced-choice recognition test (FCR), and emotion expression by filming participants while they mimed the six basic emotional facial expressions (anger, disgust, fear, surprise, sadness and joy) to the experimenter. The films were then segmented into 60 stimuli per participant and four external raters performed a FCR on this material. Further, we tested understanding of feelings in self (alexithymia) and others (empathy) using questionnaires. Both recognition and expression were impaired across different emotions in HD compared to controls and recognition and expression scores were correlated. By contrast, alexithymia and empathy scores were very similar in HD and controls. This might suggest that emotion deficits in HD might be tied to the expression itself. Because similar emotion recognition–expression deficits are also found in Parkinson's Disease and vascular lesions of the striatum, our results further confirm the importance of the striatum for emotion recognition and expression, while access to the meaning of feelings relies on a different brain network, and is spared in HD.Joint recognition–expression impairment of facial emotions in Huntington's disease despite intact understanding of feelings - Corrected ProofIris Trinkler, Laurent Cleret de Langavant, Anne-Catherine Bachoud-Lévi10.1016/j.cortex.2011.12.003Cortex (2012)2012-01-13Cortex2012-01-13RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211003182/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Introduction: Developmental stuttering (DS) is viewed as a motor speech-specific disorder, although several lines of research suggest that DS is a symptom of a broader motor disorder. We investigated corticospinal excitability in adult DS and normal speakers.Methods: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was administered over left/right hand representation of the motor cortex while recording motor evoked potentials (MEPs) from the contralateral first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle. Resting, active motor thresholds, silent period threshold and duration were measured. A stimulus–response curve at resting was also obtained to evaluate MEP amplitudes.Results: Lower corticospinal responses in the left hemisphere of DS were found, as indicated by a reduction of peak-to-peak MEP amplitudes compared to normal speakers.Conclusions: This provides further evidence that DS may be a general motor deficit that also involves motor non-speech-related structures. Moreover, our results confirm that DS may be related to left hemisphere hypoactivation and/or lower left hemisphere dominance. The present data and protocol may be useful for diagnosis of subtypes of DS that may benefit from pharmacological treatment by targeting the general level of cortical excitability.Motor excitability evaluation in developmental stuttering: A transcranial magnetic stimulation study - Corrected ProofPierpaolo Busan, Alessandro D'Ausilio, Massimo Borelli, Fabrizio Monti, Giovanna Pelamatti, Gilberto Pizzolato, Luciano Fadiga10.1016/j.cortex.2011.12.002Cortex (2012)2012-01-09Cortex2012-01-09RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211003194/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Introduction: The ability to navigate in a familiar environment mainly relies on route knowledge, that is, a mental representation of relevant locations along a way, sequenced according to a navigational goal. Despite the clear ecological validity of this issue, route navigation and route knowledge have been scarcely investigated and little is known about the neural and cognitive bases of this navigational strategy. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) we tested the validity of the predictions based on the main cognitive models of spatial knowledge acquisition about route-based navigation.Methods: An order judgment task was used with two conditions (route and activity). Subjects were required to detect potential mismatches between a current sensory input and expectations deriving from route and activity knowledge.Results: A medial occipto-temporal (e.g., lingual gyrus, calcarine cortex, fusiform gyrus, parahippocampal cortex) network was found activated during the route task, whereas a temporo-parietal (temporo-parietal junction) and frontal (e.g., Broca's area) network was related to the activity task.Conclusions: Functional data are congruent with cognitive models of route-based navigation. The route task activated areas related to both landmark identity and landmark order. Data are discussed in view of route-based navigation models.Landmark sequencing and route knowledge: An fMRI study - Corrected ProofFederico Nemmi, Federica Piras, Patrice Péran, Chiara Incoccia, Umberto Sabatini, Cecilia Guariglia10.1016/j.cortex.2011.11.016Cortex (2012)2012-01-09Cortex2012-01-09RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002978/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Individuals with no history of neurological or psychiatric illness can report hallucinatory Out-of-Body Experiences (OBEs) and display elevated scores on measures of temporal-lobe dysfunction (). However, all previous investigations of such biases in non-clinical populations are based on indirect questionnaire measures. Here we present the first empirical investigation that a non-clinical OBE group is subject to pattern-glare, possibly as a result of cortical hyperexcitability (). Fifty-nine students at the University of Birmingham viewed a series of square-wave gratings with spatial frequencies of approximately .7, 3 and 11 cycles-per-degree, both black/white and of contrasting colours. The illusions and discomfort reported when viewing gratings with mid-range spatial frequency have been hypothesized to reflect cortical hyperexcitability (). Participants also completed the Cardiff Anomalous Perception Scale (CAPS: ) which included experiential measures of disruptions in ‘Temporal-lobe Experience’. Participants who reported OBEs also reported significantly more visual illusions/distortions and significantly greater discomfort as a result of viewing the mid-frequency gratings. There were no such differences with respect to gratings with relatively lower or higher spatial frequency. The OBE group also produced significantly elevated scores on the CAPS measures of Temporal-lobe Experience, relative to controls. Collectively, the results are consistent with there being a neural ‘vulnerability’ in the cortices of individuals pre-disposed to some hallucinations, even in the non-clinical population.Evidence for elevated cortical hyperexcitability and its association with out-of-body experiences in the non-clinical population: New findings from a pattern-glare task - Corrected ProofJason J. Braithwaite, Emma Broglia, Andrew P. Bagshaw, Arnold J. Wilkins10.1016/j.cortex.2011.11.013Cortex (2012)2012-01-03Cortex2012-01-03RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002954/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: A study is reported of mathematical vocabulary and factual mathematical knowledge in PQ, a 22 year old with Down’s syndrome (DS) who has a verbal mental age (MA) of 9 years 2 months and ST, a 15 year old with Williams syndrome (WS) who has a verbal MA of 9 years 6 months, matched to typically developing controls. The number of mathematical words contained within PQ’s lexical stores was significantly reduced as reflected by performance on lexical decision. PQ was also impaired at both naming from descriptions and describing mathematical words. These results contrast with normal lexical decision and item descriptions for concrete words reported recently for PQ (). PQ’s recall of mathematical facts was also impaired, whilst his recall of general knowledge facts was normal. This performance in DS indicates a deficit in both lexical representation and semantic knowledge for mathematical words and mathematical facts.In contrast, ST, the teenager with WS had good accuracy on lexical decision, naming and generating definitions for mathematical words. This contrasted with the atypical performance with concrete words recently reported for ST (). Knowledge of addition facts and general knowledge facts was also unimpaired for ST, though knowledge of multiplication facts was weak.Together the cases form a double dissociation and provide support for the distinct representation of mathematical and concrete items within the lexical–semantic system during development. The dissociations between mathematical and general factual knowledge also indicate that different types of factual knowledge may be selectively impaired during development. There is further support for a modular structure within which mathematical vocabulary and mathematical knowledge have distinct representations. This supports the case for the independent representation of factual and language-based knowledge within the semantic system during development.Dissociations in mathematical knowledge: Case studies in Down’s syndrome and Williams syndrome - Corrected ProofSally J. Robinson, Christine M. Temple10.1016/j.cortex.2011.11.011Cortex (2011)2011-12-30Cortex2011-12-30RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002942/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Processing of temporal information may require the use of spatial attention to represent time along a mental time line. We used prismatic adaptation (PA) to explore the contribution of spatial attention to the spatial representation of time in right brain damaged patients with and without neglect of left space and in age-matched healthy controls.Right brain damaged patients presented time underestimation deficits, that were significantly greater in patients with neglect than in patients without neglect. PA inducing leftward attentional deviation reduced time underestimation deficit in patients with neglect.The results support the hypothesis that a right hemispheric network has a role, per se, in time perception. Moreover, they suggest that right hemisphere is important in time perception for its control of spatial attention, engaged in spatial representation of time. Procedures that ameliorate left spatial deficits could also be useful for modulating temporal deficits in right brain damaged patients with neglect.Prismatic adaptation effects on spatial representation of time in neglect patients - Corrected ProofMassimiliano Oliveri, Barbara Magnani, Alessandra Filipelli, Stefano Avanzi, Francesca Frassinetti10.1016/j.cortex.2011.11.010Cortex (2011)2011-12-26Cortex2011-12-26RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS001094521100298X/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Destination memory refers to remembering the destination of information that people output. This present paper establishes a new distinction between external and internal processes within this memory system for both normal aging and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Young adults, older adults, and mild AD patients were asked either to tell facts (i.e., external destination memory condition) or to imagine telling facts (i.e., internal destination memory condition) to pictures of famous people. The experiment established three major findings. First, the destination memory performance of the AD patients was significantly poorer than that of older adults, which in turn was poorer than that of the young adults. Furthermore, internal destination processes were more prone to being forgotten than external destination memory processes. In other words, participants had more difficulty in remembering whether they had previously imagined telling the facts to the pictures or not (i.e., imagined condition) than in remembering whether they had previously told the facts to the pictures or not (i.e., enacted condition). Second, significant correlations were detected between performances on destination memory and several executive measures such as the Stroop, the Plus–Minus and the Binding tasks. Third, among the executive measures, regression analyses showed that performance on the Stroop task was a main factor in explaining variance in destination memory performance. Our findings reflect the difficulty in remembering the destination of internally generated information. They also demonstrate the involvement of inhibitory processes in destination memory.Destination memory in Alzheimer’s Disease: When I imagine telling Ronald Reagan about Paris - Corrected ProofMohamad El Haj, Virginie Postal, Philippe Allain10.1016/j.cortex.2011.11.014Cortex (2011)2011-12-26Cortex2011-12-26RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002929/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: The present study examined the relations between the lesions linked to visual and tactile extinction (VE and TE), and those related to visual field defects and spatial neglect. Continuous variations in patients’ performance were used to assess the link between behavioural scores and integrity of both grey and white matter (GM and WM). We found both common and distinct neural substrates associated with extinction and neglect. Damage to angular and middle occipital gyri, superior temporal sulcus (STS) and insula were linked to VE. Lesions involving the supramarginal gyrus (SMG), intraparietal sulcus, middle frontal and superior temporal gyri (MFG and STG) were associated exclusively with spatial neglect. Lesions affecting the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), the middle temporal region, middle frontal area (BA46) as well as the insula and putamen were linked to both spatial neglect and VE. Analysis of the relations between VE and TE highlighted the TPJ as the common site for both modalities. These findings suggest that the TPJ plays a general role in identifying salient events in the sensory environment across multiple modalities. Furthermore, WM analyses pointed to superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) as critical for interconnecting components of the visuospatial attention network. We demonstrated that functional disconnections resulting from SLF damage contribute to altered performance on attention tasks measuring not only neglect but also VE and TE. We propose that the SLF supports interactions between functionally specialized regions involved in attentional control across multiple sensory modalities.The central role of the temporo-parietal junction and the superior longitudinal fasciculus in supporting multi-item competition: Evidence from lesion-symptom mapping of extinction - Corrected ProofMagdalena Chechlacz, Pia Rotshtein, Peter C. Hansen, Shoumitro Deb, M. Jane Riddoch, Glyn W. Humphreys10.1016/j.cortex.2011.11.008Cortex (2011)2011-12-22Cortex2011-12-22RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002851/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Studying the characteristics of movements performed under different action conditions may foster the understanding of disturbed tool use in apraxia and may enhance the knowledge about the links between states of action representations.We registered hand and arm movements during a hammering action executed under three task conditions: pantomime, demonstration with the hammer only, and actual execution with hammer and nail. Various movement parameters were calculated to characterize the kinematic aspects of the hammering movements. An apraxia score that reflects conceptual errors was derived from video-evaluation of pantomiming. Twenty-three patients with left brain damage (LBD), 10 patients with right brain damage (RBD), and 19 control subjects were tested. Patients performed with the non-paretic ipsilesional hand.Four apraxic LBD patients failed to perform the task due to severe conceptual errors. The remaining LBD patients frequently produced movements that were slower, shorter, and less vertical than those of control subjects in all task conditions. Lesion analyses for the LBD patients suggested that inferior frontal areas were particularly responsible for impaired performance. RBD patients performed normally in most kinematic task aspects. Although the conditions differed characteristically in geometry and kinematics, correlations of performance measures indicated that individual patterns in patients as well as in control subjects were stable across the conditions.Performance stability across conditions and the overlapping neural network both support the concept of a general action prototype that is adapted flexibly to environmental constraints. Findings in patients show that LBD can affect the execution of an actual hammering action also in the absence of conceptual errors. It remains to be shown however whether conceptual errors and abnormalities of movement kinematics have a common cause or are two independent manifestations of damage to the motor-dominant brain.Tool use kinematics across different modes of execution. Implications for action representation and apraxia - Corrected ProofJoachim Hermsdörfer, Yong Li, Jennifer Randerath, Agnès Roby-Brami, Georg Goldenberg10.1016/j.cortex.2011.10.010Cortex (2011)2011-12-19Cortex2011-12-19RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002905/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: The strong association between numbers and space is found in the well-documented SNARC effect (Spatial Numerical Association of Response Codes), where responses on small/large numbers are faster in the left/right side of space, respectively. However, little is known about the developmental process through which numbers are mapped onto external physical space. Here we show that early blind individuals, but not late blind or sighted, demonstrate a reversed SNARC effect when performing a numerical comparison task with hands crossed over the body midline. Importantly, this reversed SNARC effect was not observed in any group of participants in a control parity judgment task. The present study therefore demonstrates that early visual experience drives the development of an external coordinate system for the visuo-spatial representation of numbers and further supports the idea that different types of spatial information are engaged in specific numerical tasks.Embodied numbers: The role of vision in the development of number–space interactions - Corrected ProofVirginie Crollen, Giulia Dormal, Xavier Seron, Franco Lepore, Olivier Collignon10.1016/j.cortex.2011.11.006Cortex (2011)2011-12-19Cortex2011-12-19RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002863/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Hemispheric asymmetry represents a cardinal feature of cerebral organization, but the nature of structural and functional differences between the hemispheres is far from fully understood. Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging morphometry, we identified several volumetric differences between the two hemispheres of the human brain. Heteromodal inferoparietal and lateral prefrontal cortices are more extensive in the right than left hemisphere, as is visual cortex. Heteromodal mesial and orbital prefrontal and cingulate cortices are more extensive in the left than right hemisphere, as are somatosensory, parts of motor, and auditory cortices. Thus, heteromodal association cortices are more extensively represented on the lateral aspect of the right than in the left hemisphere, and modality-specific cortices are more extensively represented on the lateral aspect of the left than in the right hemisphere. On the mesial aspect heteromodal association cortices are more extensively represented in the left than right hemisphere.Hemispheric asymmetries of cortical volume in the human brain - Corrected ProofElkhonon Goldberg, Donovan Roediger, N. Erkut Kucukboyaci, Chad Carlson, Orrin Devinsky, Ruben Kuzniecky, Eric Halgren, Thomas Thesen10.1016/j.cortex.2011.11.002Cortex (2011)2011-12-16Cortex2011-12-16RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002887/abstract?rss=yesWe would like to thank Yuko Yotsumoto as well as Karsten Rauss and Sophie Schwartz for their constructive comments on our paper (). We agree with many of the points made by Yotsumoto, but would like to address the claim that did not make claims regarding the locus of learning. The key finding of this study was that the blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) signal in V1 changed as a function of texture discrimination task (TDT) practice, and on our reading, the authors linked the BOLD signal to learning within V1 in a number of passages. For example, wrote: “It should be noted that the activated region size did not expand in the trained V1 as learning proceeded. The absence of expansion in the activated region suggests that the learning and reorganization were localized.” (p. 830) and: “If the degree of BOLD activation is indicative of the degree of synaptic activity () the reduced BOLD activation that we observed is in accord with synaptic downscaling” (p. 830). We would also question the claim that previous psychophysical and imaging studies have indicated an involvement of V1 in TDT learning (). The psychophysical studies do provide evidence for learning within V1 (or at least retinotopic cortex), but previous imaging studies are ambiguous for the reasons we have outlined. The insights from the psychophysical studies do not allow researchers to draw further conclusions from BOLD signal (e.g., that the number of synapses in V1 is upscaled/downscaled as a function of practice).More on fMRI and the locus of perceptual learning - Corrected ProofDusana Dorjee, Jeffrey S. Bowers10.1016/j.cortex.2011.11.004Cortex (2011)2011-12-16Cortex2011-12-16COMMENTARYhttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002875/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: We determined the neural correlates of word generation and tool use pantomiming in healthy subjects with typical (n=10) or atypical (n=10) language dominance to investigate similarities in response pattern and hemispheric specialization between language and praxis. All typical language dominant volunteers also revealed left hemisphere changes during tool use pantomiming in prefrontal, premotor, and posterior parietal regions. All atypical language dominant participants displayed right hemisphere engagement for tool use. Co-lateralization of the language and praxis networks was observed on group and individual level, regardless of the participant’s handedness. Activation maps of the word generation and tool use pantomiming contrasts displayed overlap in five cortical regions: supplementary motor area, dorsal and ventral premotor cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and posterior parietal cortex. Individual lateralization indices were calculated for each region and revealed significant positive group correlations between .51 and .95 with every other region within the paradigms. Positive cross-task correlations ranged between .72 (supplementary motor complex) and .97 (dorsal premotor cortex) and illustrate that the strength of hemispheric specialization of one task significantly predicts the side and degree of lateralization of the other task, suggesting a functional and topographic link between language and praxis. These findings support models that link gestures and speech to explain the evolution of human language. We argue that the existence of a common and co-lateralized network underlying the production of complex learned movement, whether it be speech or tool use, may represent the evolutionary remnant of a neural system out of which proto-sign and proto-speech co-evolved.Praxis and language are linked: Evidence from co-lateralization in individuals with atypical language dominance - Corrected ProofGuy Vingerhoets, Ann-Sofie Alderweireldt, Pieter Vandemaele, Qing Cai, Lise Van der Haegen, Marc Brysbaert, Eric Achten10.1016/j.cortex.2011.11.003Cortex (2011)2011-12-15Cortex2011-12-15RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002899/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Thalamic stroke is associated with neurological and cognitive sequelae. Resulting neuropsychological deficits vary with the vascular territory involved. Whereas sensory, motor and memory deficits following thalamic stroke are comparatively well characterized, the exact relationship between executive dysfunction and thalamic damage remains more ambiguous.To assess the pattern of executive-cognitive deficits following thalamic stroke and its possible association with distinct thalamic nuclei, 19 patients with focal thalamic lesions were examined with high-resolution structural imaging and neuropsychological testing. Twenty healthy individuals served as controls. Patient MRIs were co-registered to an atlas of the human thalamus. Lesion overlap and subtraction analyses were used for lesion-to-symptom mapping.In eight patients (42.1%), neuropsychological assessment demonstrated a disproportionate deficit in the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), while other executive and memory functions were much less affected. Subtraction analysis revealed an area in the left medial thalamus, mainly consisting of the centromedian and parafascicular nuclei (CM–Pf complex) that was damaged in these patients and spared in patients with normal WCST performance. Thus, damage to the CM–Pf complex may yield a distinct dysexecutive syndrome in which deficient maintenance and shifting between cognitive sets predominates. We hypothesize that the CM–Pf complex may contribute to maintenance and shifting of cognitive sets by virtue of its dense connections with the striatum. The pattern of executive dysfunction following thalamic stroke may vary considerably with lesion location.A dysexecutive syndrome of the medial thalamus - Corrected ProofDaniela Liebermann, Christoph J. Ploner, Antje Kraft, Ute A. Kopp, Florian Ostendorf10.1016/j.cortex.2011.11.005Cortex (2011)2011-12-15Cortex2011-12-15RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002930/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Introduction: Left frontal brain lesions are known to give rise to aphasia and impaired word associations. These associations have previously been difficult to analyze. We used a semantic space method to investigate associations to cue words. The degree of abstractness of the generated words and semantic similarity to the cue words were measured.Method: Three subjects diagnosed with Broca’s aphasia and twelve control subjects associated freely to cue words. Results were evaluated with latent semantic analysis (LSA) applied to the Swedish Parole corpus.Results: The aphasic subjects could be clearly distinguished from controls by a lower degree of abstractness in the words they generated. The aphasic group’s associations showed a negative correlation between semantic similarity to cue word and abstractness of cue word.Conclusions: By developing novel semantic measures, we showed that Broca’s aphasic subjects’ word production was characterized by a low degree of abstractness and low degree of coherence in associations to abstract cue words. The results support models where meanings of concrete words are represented in neural networks involving perceptual and motor areas, whereas the meaning of abstract words is more dependent on connections to other word forms in the left frontal region. Semantic spaces can be used in future developments of evaluative tools for both diagnosis and research purposes.Atypical associations to abstract words in Broca’s aphasia - Corrected ProofMikael Roll, Frida Mårtensson, Sverker Sikström, Pia Apt, Rasmus Arnling-Bååth, Merle Horne10.1016/j.cortex.2011.11.009Cortex (2011)2011-12-15Cortex2011-12-15NOTEhttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS001094521100284X/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Unilateral spatial neglect involves a failure to report or orient to stimuli in the contralesional (left) space due to right brain damage, with severe handicap in everyday activities and poor rehabilitation outcome. Because behavioral studies suggest that prism adaptation may reduce spatial neglect, we investigated the neural mechanisms underlying prism effects on visuo-spatial processing in neglect patients. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the effect of (right-deviating) prisms on seven patients with left neglect, by comparing brain activity while they performed three different spatial tasks on the same visual stimuli (bisection, search, and memory), before and after a single prism-adaptation session. Following prism adaptation, fMRI data showed increased activation in bilateral parietal, frontal, and occipital cortex during bisection and visual search, but not during the memory task. These increases were associated with significant behavioral improvement in the same two tasks. Changes in neural activity and behavior were seen only after prism adaptation, but not attributable to mere task repetition. These results show for the first time the neural substrates underlying the therapeutic benefits of prism adaptation, and demonstrate that visuo-motor adaptation induced by prism exposure can restore activation in bilateral brain networks controlling spatial attention and awareness. This bilateral recruitment of fronto-parietal networks may counteract the pathological biases produced by unilateral right hemisphere damage, consistent with recent proposals that neglect may reflect lateralized deficits induced by bilateral hemispheric dysfunction.Prism adaptation enhances activity of intact fronto-parietal areas in both hemispheres in neglect patients - Corrected ProofArnaud Saj, Yann Cojan, Roland Vocat, Jacques Luauté, Patrik Vuilleumier10.1016/j.cortex.2011.10.009Cortex (2011)2011-12-12Cortex2011-12-12RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002784/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Von Economo neurons (VENs) are projection neurons located in layer V of the anterior cingulate and frontoinsular cortex that are increasingly attracting the interest of the scientific community as many studies point to their involvement in neuropsychiatric conditions. In this review we provide a critical appraisal of both historic and recent literature on VENs that highlights the importance of clinicopathological studies in areas of research where animal models are not available. Current data suggest that VENs represent a specialized neuronal type with a characteristic morphology that evolved only in a restricted number of species most likely from a population of pyramidal neurons present in ancestral mammals in the context of specific adaptive pressures. VENs, which evolved among primates only in the hominoid lineage, are particularly vulnerable in neuropsychiatric conditions characterized by deficits in social skills and emotional function. Moreover, recent evidence on the neurochemical profile, morphologic features, and laminar and regional distribution of VENs suggests that this intriguing neuronal population could be critically involved in autonomic regulation.Von Economo neurons: Clinical and evolutionary perspectives - Corrected ProofCamilla Butti, Micaela Santos, Neha Uppal, Patrick R. Hof10.1016/j.cortex.2011.10.004Cortex (2011)2011-11-30Cortex2011-11-30HISTORICAL PAPERhttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002814/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: The present study explored the functional neuroanatomy of Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS) in an Italian native speaker who developed an altered speech rhythm and melody following a circumscribed tumour to the left precentral gyrus. Structural, functional, fibre tracking and intraoperative findings were combined. No signs of dysarthria, apraxia of speech, or aphasia nor other cognitive deficits were detected, except for the fact that the patient was perceived as a non-native speaker. The patient fMRI maps were compared with a control group of 12 healthy controls. During counting, sentences and pseudoword pronunciation the patient showed an additional increased sparse activation in areas around the pre/postcentral gyrus corresponding to those involved in phonation (i.e., larynx motor area). The intraoperative cortical stimulation mapping evidenced a mouth motor representation close to the tumour, a motor type of speech arrest site just below it, and anteriorly a proper speech arrest site. Our results are discussed within the current neurolinguistic models of speech production, and emphasize the importance of the primary motor cortex. We argue that this FAS case should be thought of as a disorder of the feedforward control commands, in particular of the articulator velocity and position maps which are hypothesized to lie along the caudoventral portion of the precentral gyrus.Foreign accent syndrome: A multimodal mapping study - Corrected ProofBarbara Tomasino, Dario Marin, Marta Maieron, Tamara Ius, Riccardo Budai, Franco Fabbro, Miran Skrap10.1016/j.cortex.2011.10.007Cortex (2011)2011-11-30Cortex2011-11-30RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002772/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: To explore the idea of a perceptual distortion of space in spatial neglect, neglect patients, age-matched healthy controls and right hemisphere control patients judged the vanishing point of horizontally and vertically-moving stimuli. Hemifield of presentation and movement direction of the stimulus presentation was manipulated. The results suggest that neglect patients show a stronger response bias in the direction of the moving stimuli (“representational momentum”) than healthy and right hemisphere controls. Furthermore, neglect patients, but not the control groups, showed a direction-specific response whereby the presence of neglect was associated with a larger representational momentum for leftward-moving stimuli. The one left-hemisphere patient with right-sided neglect showed the opposite effect. Thus, neglect patients showed a relative overextension into their neglected side of space. While these findings are in line with the idea of an extension in the representation of contralesional space, other explanations such as deficient spatial remapping, impairments in smooth pursuit and distortions in memorized visuo-motor movements are considered.Paradoxical extension into the contralesional hemispace in spatial neglect - Corrected ProofBigna Lenggenhager, Tobias Loetscher, Nicole Kavan, Gianandrea Pallich, Amy Brodtmann, Michael E.R. Nicholls, Peter Brugger10.1016/j.cortex.2011.10.003Cortex (2011)2011-11-24Cortex2011-11-24RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002796/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Language and action systems of the human brain are functionally interwoven. Speaking about actions and understanding action-related speech sparks the motor system of the human brain and, conversely, motor system activation has an influence on the comprehension of action words and sentences. Although previous research has shown that motor systems become active when we understand language, a major question still remains whether these motor system activations are necessary for processing action words. We here report that rhythmic movements of either the hands or the feet lead to a differential impairment of working memory for concordant arm- and leg-related action words, with hand/arm movements predominantly impairing working memory for words used to speak about arm actions and foot/leg movements primarily impairing leg-related word memory. The resulting cross-over double dissociation demonstrates that body part specific and meaning-related processing resources in specific cortical motor systems are shared between overt movements and working memory for action-related words, thus documenting a genuine motor locus of semantic meaning.Moving the hands and feet specifically impairs working memory for arm- and leg-related action words - Corrected ProofZubaida Shebani, Friedemann Pulvermüller10.1016/j.cortex.2011.10.005Cortex (2011)2011-11-23Cortex2011-11-23RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002802/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: We evaluated the contribution of four structural dimensions (object parts, internal details, objects contours and variability of the representation), as a possible source of categorical processing differences and category-specific deficits. Importantly, these dimensions aggregate 22 different structural measures that have been proposed to describe the picture set. Study 1 analysed the differences between the four dimensions across domains and categories. Study 2 investigated how these dimensions may contribute to the performance of two patients with category-specific deficits that have been reported previously in the literature (). The results showed that living things were structurally more complex than non-living things, scoring higher in object parts and object contours. Regarding the variability of the representation, living things did not show much within-item diversity but did show more contour overlap and less visual similarity, the latter two qualities of living things being detrimental to object processing in a naming task. Parts, contours and variability of the representation also differentiated animals, fruits and vegetables and, to a certain degree, non-living things: animals had more parts, fruits had more object contours and non-living things had a lower variability of the representation (which was especially related to higher within-item diversity and lower contour overlap). The same three dimensions predicted patient performance. However, when structural dimensions were considered together with domain (living/non-living) and concept familiarity, only variability of the representation contributed significantly to patient performance.Structural processing and category-specific deficits - Corrected ProofJ. Frederico Marques, Ana Raposo, Jorge Almeida10.1016/j.cortex.2011.10.006Cortex (2011)2011-11-23Cortex2011-11-23RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002760/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) is rare neurodegenerative dementia, clinically characterized by a progressive decline in higher-visual object and space processing. After a brief review of the literature on the neuroimaging in PCA, here we present a study of the brain structural connectivity in a patient with PCA and progressive isolated visual and visuo-motor signs. Clinical and cognitive data were acquired in a 58-years-old patient (woman, right-handed, disease duration 18 months). Brain structural and diffusion tensor (DT) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) were obtained. A voxel-based morphometry (VBM) study was performed to explore the pattern of gray matter (GM) atrophy, and a fully automatic segmentation was assessed to obtain the hippocampal volumes. DT MRI-based tractography was used to assess the integrity of long-range white matter (WM) pathways in the patient and in six sex- and age-matched healthy subjects. This PCA patient had a clinical syndrome characterized by left visual neglect, optic ataxia, and left limb apraxia, as well as mild visuo-spatial episodic memory impairment. VBM study showed bilateral posterior GM atrophy with right predominance; DT MRI tractography demonstrated WM damage to the right hemisphere only, including the superior and inferior longitudinal fasciculi and the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, as compared to age-matched controls. The homologous left-hemisphere tracts were spared. No difference was found between left and right hippocampal volumes. These data suggest that selective visuo-spatial deficits typical of PCA might not result from cortical damage alone, but by a right-lateralized network-level dysfunction including WM damage along the major visual pathways.Brain networks in posterior cortical atrophy: A single case tractography study and literature review - Corrected ProofRaffaella Migliaccio, Federica Agosta, Monica N. Toba, Dalila Samri, Fabian Corlier, Leonardo C. de Souza, Marie Chupin, Michael Sharman, Maria L. Gorno-Tempini, Bruno Dubois, Massimo Filippi, Paolo Bartolomeo10.1016/j.cortex.2011.10.002Cortex (2011)2011-11-18Cortex2011-11-18RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002693/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: We evaluated sentence comprehension of variety of sentence constructions and components of short-term memory (STM) in 53 individuals with acute ischemic stroke, to test some current hypotheses about the role of Broca’s area in these tasks. We found that some patients show structure-specific, task-independent deficits in sentence comprehension, with chance level of accuracy on passive reversible sentences, more impaired comprehension of object-cleft than subject-cleft sentences, and more impaired comprehension of reversible than irreversible sentences in both sentence-picture matching and enactment tasks. In a dichotomous analysis, this pattern of “asyntactic comprehension” was associated with dysfunctional tissue in left angular gyrus, rather than dysfunctional tissue in Broca’s area as previously proposed. Tissue dysfunction in left Brodmann area (BA) 44, part of Broca’s area, was associated with phonological STM impairment defined by forward digit span≤4. Verbal working memory (VWM) defined by backward digit span≤2 was associated with tissue dysfunction left premotor cortex (BA 6). In a continuous analysis, patients with acute ischemia in left BA 44 were impaired in phonological STM. Patients with ischemia in left BA 45 and BA 6 were impaired in passive, reversible sentences, STM, and VWM. Patients with ischemia in left BA 39 were impaired in passive reversible sentences, object-cleft sentences, STM, and VWM. Therefore, various components of working memory seem to depend on a network of brain regions that include left angular gyrus and posterior frontal cortex (BA 6, 44, 45); left BA 45 and angular gyrus (BA 39) may have additional roles in comprehension of syntax such as thematic role checking.Asyntactic comprehension, working memory, and acute ischemia in Broca’s area versus angular gyrus - Corrected ProofMelissa Newhart, Lydia A. Trupe, Yessenia Gomez, Lauren Cloutman, J. Jarred Molitoris, Cameron Davis, Richard Leigh, Rebecca F. Gottesman, David Race, Argye E. Hillis10.1016/j.cortex.2011.09.009Cortex (2011)2011-11-14Cortex2011-11-14RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS001094521100270X/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Faces have both shape and skin texture, but the relative importance of the two in face representations is unclear. Our goals were first, to determine the contribution of shape versus texture to aftereffects for facial age and identity and second, to assess whether adaptation transferred between shape and texture, suggesting integration in a single representation. In our first experiment we examined age aftereffects. We obtained young and old images of two celebrities and created hybrid images, one combining the structure of the old face with the skin texture of the young face, the other combining the young structure with the old skin texture. This allowed us to create adaptation contrasts where the two adapting faces had the same facial structure but different skin texture, and vice versa. In the second experiment, we performed a similar study but this time examining identity aftereffects between two people of a similar age. We found that both skin texture and facial shape generated significant age aftereffects, but the contribution was greater from texture than from shape. Both texture and shape also generated significant identity aftereffects, but the contribution was greater from shape than from texture. In the last experiment, we used the normal and hybrid images to determine if adaptation to one property (i.e., texture) could create aftereffects in the perception of age in the other property (i.e., shape). While there was significant within-component adaptation for texture and shape, there was no evidence of cross-component adaptation. We conclude that shape and texture contribute differently to different face representations, with texture dominating for age. The lack of cross-component adaptation transfer suggests independent encoding of shape and texture, at least for age representations.The role of skin texture and facial shape in representations of age and identity - Corrected ProofMichelle Lai, Ipek Oruç, Jason J.S. Barton10.1016/j.cortex.2011.09.010Cortex (2011)2011-11-04Cortex2011-11-04RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002735/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Introduction: The present pilot study investigated cortical processes during automatic and regulated approach–avoidance reactions for the first time.Methods 1: In 15 healthy volunteers, prefrontal activity was measured with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) during performance of a joystick version of the Approach–Avoidance Task (AAT). In experiment 1, participants approached (pulled towards their body) and avoided (pushed away from their body) positive and negative pictures.Results 1: Incompatible, regulated reactions (avoid positive, approach negative) compared to compatible, automatic reactions (approach positive, avoid negative) caused stronger activation in terms of a decrease of deoxygenated haemoglobin (HHb) in right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) (i.e., in one of the main instances for behavioural control in humans).Methods 2: In the context of pathologically enhanced approach tendencies in addiction disorders and of planned future studies, we presented alcohol and non-alcohol pictures in experiment 2.Results 2: Here, left anterior lateral orbitofrontal cortex as part of the general reward system processing secondary rewards showed stronger activation in terms of increased oxygenated haemoglobin (O2Hb) during approaching compared to avoiding alcohol pictures. This difference was positively correlated with participants’ expectation about beneficial effects of alcohol in terms of emotional regulation.Discussion: Despite some limitations due to the pilot character of the study, our results suggest that further combinations of the AAT and functional imaging methods will reveal detailed insight into neuronal mechanisms constituting approach–avoidance as basic behavioural principles and into specifically altered sub-processes in alcohol dependence.Prefrontal activation patterns of automatic and regulated approach–avoidance reactions – A functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) study - Corrected ProofLena H. Ernst, Michael M. Plichta, Elisabeth Lutz, Anna K. Zesewitz, Sara V. Tupak, Thomas Dresler, Ann-Christine Ehlis, Andreas J. Fallgatter10.1016/j.cortex.2011.09.013Cortex (2011)2011-10-31Cortex2011-10-31RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002723/abstract?rss=yesIn a recent commentary, raise several issues concerning the interpretation of functional MRI (fMRI) studies that examine learning in general and perceptual learning in particular. The authors rightly criticize an implicit assumption that differences in blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) levels before and after training can be used to exhaustively determine the brain areas where learning leads to structural changes associated with information retention. However, there are several problematic aspects in Dorjee and Bowers’ line of reasoning. Here we would like to underline the importance of the issues raised by Dorjee and Bowers and at the same time prevent misunderstandings about the actual scope of the problem.Dissociating learning-induced changes in fMRI signal from structural modifications: A comment on Dorjee and Bowers (2011) - Corrected ProofKarsten Rauss, Sophie Schwartz10.1016/j.cortex.2011.09.012Cortex (2011)2011-10-28Cortex2011-10-28DISCUSSION FORUMhttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002681/abstract?rss=yes“There is more to reality that meets a normal eye. Behind the curtain of everyday consciousness there is hidden another unutterably strange mental universe”. This is how a documentary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), titled “The Beyond Within”, started. The chemist Albert Hoffman describes how he felt, after having tested a small dosage of the powerful hallucinogen he discovered by accident, the lysergic acid (LSD). “A kind of dream world appeared” and normal reality seemed to disintegrate. Also our sober daily lives are inextricably intertwined with a sort of dream world, that might frequently appear to our mind’s eye. For most people, switching attention from the external environment (that reaches the “normal eye”) to a mental, internal universe is a common experience. Voluntarily or by accident, we can get lost behind the curtain of the eyes, daydreaming of a different, completely distorted, reality. That is, we can play with our mental images.Picture yourself in a boat on a riverwith tangerine trees and marmalade skies.Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowlya girl with kaleidoscope eyes.(“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”, Beatles, 1967)The beyond within - Corrected ProofStefania de Vito10.1016/j.cortex.2011.09.008Cortex (2011)2011-10-26Cortex2011-10-26QUOTES AND TITBITShttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002711/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Introduction: Recent neuropsychological studies show substantial cognitive deficits in patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Schizophrenia (SC) overlaps in terms of neurobehavioural symptoms with FTD. Probabilistic association learning, which is thought to assay fronto-striatal function, is well documented to elicit impairment in SC and has not been investigated in FTD to date; this study compared FTD, SC and a healthy comparison group on probabilistic association learning to determine the extent to which FTD patients were similar in performance to SC patients.Methods: Twenty FTD patients, 24 SC patients and 26 healthy controls were assessed using the probabilistic association learning weather prediction test. FTD patients were also divided into behavioural and language variants for comparison to the healthy group.Results: FTD patients were impaired during probabilistic association learning in comparison to healthy controls. There was no difference in performance between the FTD and SC groups. FTD behavioural variants performed significantly worse than the healthy comparison group, while FTD language variants did not differ from the healthy comparison group.Conclusions: This study provides the first evidence for impaired probabilistic association learning in FTD which is of an equivalent degree to that seen in SC. These results support recent structural neuroimaging studies showing fronto-striatal abnormalities in FTD and suggest that fronto-striatal dysfunction may contribute to cognitive deficits in a significant proportion of people with FTD.Probabilistic association learning in frontotemporal dementia and schizophrenia - Corrected ProofThomas W. Weickert, Felicity Leslie, Jacqueline A. Rushby, John R. Hodges, Michael Hornberger10.1016/j.cortex.2011.09.011Cortex (2011)2011-10-26Cortex2011-10-26RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002486/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Introduction: The role of the left planum temporale (PT) in auditory language processing has been a central theme in cognitive neuroscience since the first descriptions of its leftward neuroanatomical asymmetry. While it is clear that PT contributes to auditory language processing there is still some uncertainty about its role in spoken language production.Methods: Here we examine activation patterns of the PT for speech production, speech perception and single word reading to address potential hemispheric and regional functional specialization in the human PT. To this aim, we manually segmented the left and right PT in three non-overlapping regions (medial, lateral and caudal PT) and examined, in two complementary experiments, the contribution of exogenous and endogenous auditory input on PT activation under different speech processing and production conditions.Results: Our results demonstrate that different speech tasks are associated with different regional functional activation patterns of the medial, lateral and caudal PT. These patterns are similar across hemispheres, suggesting bilateral processing of the auditory signal for speech at the level of PT.Conclusions: Results of the present studies stress the importance of considering the anatomical complexity of the PT in interpreting fMRI data.Regional heterogeneity in the processing and the production of speech in the human planum temporale - Corrected ProofPascale Tremblay, Isabelle Deschamps, Vincent L. Gracco10.1016/j.cortex.2011.09.004Cortex (2011)2011-10-24Cortex2011-10-24RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002516/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: The goal of this study was to determine how handedness and lifting hand influence the way in which we lift objects and perceive their weights. To this end, we examined the fingertip forces and perceptual judgements of 30 left-handers and 30 right-handers during lifts of specially constructed ‘size-weight illusion’ (SWI) cubes with their left and right hands. All participants completed a series of lifts first with one hand and then the other, so we could additionally examine asymmetries in the retention and transfer of force information between the limbs. Right-handers experienced a larger illusion with their left hand than they did with their right hand, whereas left-handers showed no such asymmetry in their illusions. The perceptual illusion’s independence from the application of fingertip force was highlighted by an unexpected lack of asymmetry in terms of fingertip force scaling. Left- and right-handers showed no dominant hand advantage in this task – they were no more skilled at correcting their fingertip force errors with their preferred hand than they were with their non-preferred hand. In addition, although no asymmetries were observed with regard to the most efficient direction of intermanual transfer, the right-handed individuals transferred force information between the hands more effectively than the left-handers. Overall, these findings indicate that hand dominance does not affect the control of the fingertip forces, suggesting that existing models of cerebral laterality must be re-visited to consider kinetic (i.e., related to forces), as well as kinematic (i.e., related to movement) variables.Handedness, laterality and the size-weight illusion - Corrected ProofGavin Buckingham, Nathalie S. Ranger, Melvyn A. Goodale10.1016/j.cortex.2011.09.007Cortex (2011)2011-10-24Cortex2011-10-24RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002504/abstract?rss=yesSpatial neglect is the failure to attend, explore, and act upon the contralesional hemispace after unilateral brain lesion. Lesions associated with neglect are most commonly localised in the territory of the right middle cerebral artery (MCA), but neglect may also occur after left MCA stroke (). A previous report described unilateral neglect remission after two sequential MCA strokes involving the right parietal cortex and the left frontal eye field within 10days (). Here we describe the case of a patient displaying bilateral neglect for the excentric space after a right MCA stroke involving subcortical structures with the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus and a subsequent left MCA stroke involving the posterior parietal cortex within 24h. These observations are consistent with animal models of neglect and underline the importance of both chronological factors and lesion location for the behavioural outcome after subsequent, bilateral brain lesions within an extended attentional network.Bilateral neglect after bihemispheric strokes - Corrected ProofDario Cazzoli, Rahel Schumacher, Uli Baas, René M. Müri, Roland Wiest, Stephan Bohlhalter, Christian W. Hess, Thomas Nyffeler10.1016/j.cortex.2011.09.006Cortex (2011)2011-10-14Cortex2011-10-14LETTER TO THE EDITORhttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002437/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Even when focused on an effortful task we retain the ability to detect salient environmental information, and even irrelevant visual stimuli can be automatically detected. However, to which extent unattended information affects attentional control is not fully understood. Here we provide evidences of how the brain spontaneously organizes its cognitive resources by shifting attention between a selective-attending and a stimulus-driven modality within a single task. Using a spatial cueing paradigm we investigated the effect of cue-target asynchronies as a function of their probabilities of occurrence (i.e., relative frequency). Results show that this accessory information modulates attentional shifts. A valid spatial cue improved participants’ performance as compared to an invalid one only in trials in which target onset was highly predictable because of its more robust occurrence. Conversely, cuing proved ineffective when spatial cue and target were associated according to a less frequent asynchrony. These patterns of response depended on asynchronies’ probability and not on their duration.Our findings clearly demonstrate that through a fine decision-making, performed trial-by-trial, the brain utilizes implicit information to decide whether or not voluntarily shifting spatial attention. As if according to a cost-planning strategy, the cognitive effort of shifting attention depending on the cue is performed only when the expected advantages are higher. In a trade-off competition for cognitive resources, voluntary/automatic attending may thus be a more complex process than expected.Cueing spatial attention through timing and probability - Corrected ProofGiovanna Girardi, Gabriella Antonucci, Daniele Nico10.1016/j.cortex.2011.08.010Cortex (2011)2011-10-10Cortex2011-10-10RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002450/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: The goal of the present study was to investigate whether spontaneous functional recovery following insult to the language-dominant hemisphere continues in the so-called “chronic stage,” and if so, to examine its neuro-functional correlates. We used a longitudinal functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) block design, where each young patient served as his/her own control. Specifically, we examined whether language functions differed significantly in two monitoring sessions conducted years apart, both in the chronic stage, where almost no functional changes are expected. We focused on a unique cohort of young brain damaged patients with aphasiogenic lesions occurring after normal language acquisition, in order to maximize the potential of plasticity for language reorganization following brain damage. The most striking finding was that the linguistic recovery of our patients was significant not just relative to their linguistic scores on initial testing (T1), but also in absolute terms, relative to the respective age-matched normal population. Such improvement, therefore, cannot be simply attributed to the natural process of development. Overall, we found that right hemisphere (RH) activation was associated with better recovery in the chronic stage. Our longitudinal findings may challenge the view of recovery as ending within the first year following onset, suggesting that the RH may provide the substrate for ongoing plasticity in the damaged brain.Cerebral language reorganization in the chronic stage of recovery: A longitudinal fMRI study - Corrected ProofOdelia Elkana, Ram Frost, Uri Kramer, Dafna Ben-Bashat, Avraham Schweiger10.1016/j.cortex.2011.09.001Cortex (2011)2011-10-10Cortex2011-10-10RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002474/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: The visual attention (VA) span deficit hypothesis of dyslexia posits that letter string deficits are a consequence of impaired visual processing. Alternatively, some have interpreted this deficit as resulting from a visual-to-phonology code mapping impairment. This study aims to disambiguate between the two interpretations by investigating performance in a non-verbal character string visual categorization task with verbal and non-verbal stimuli. Results show that VA span ability predicts performance for the non-verbal visual processing task in normal reading children. Furthermore, VA span impaired dyslexic children are also impaired for the categorization task independently of stimuli type. This supports the hypothesis that the underlying impairment responsible for the VA span deficit is visual, not verbal.The visual attention span deficit in dyslexia is visual and not verbal - Corrected ProofMuriel Lobier, Rachel Zoubrinetzky, Sylviane Valdois10.1016/j.cortex.2011.09.003Cortex (2011)2011-10-10Cortex2011-10-10NOTEhttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS001094521100236X/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Comprehension of insincere communication is an important aspect of social cognition requiring visual perspective taking, emotion reading, and understanding others’ thoughts, opinions, and intentions. Someone who is lying intends to hide their insincerity from the listener, while a sarcastic speaker wants the listener to recognize they are speaking insincerely. We investigated whether face-to-face testing of comprehending insincere communication would effectively discriminate among neurodegenerative disease patients with different patterns of real-life social deficits. We examined ability to comprehend lies and sarcasm from a third-person perspective, using contextual cues, in 102 patients with one of four neurodegenerative diseases (behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia [bvFTD], Alzheimer’s disease [AD], progressive supranuclear palsy [PSP], and vascular cognitive impairment) and 77 healthy older adults (normal controls – NCs). Participants answered questions about videos depicting social interactions involving deceptive, sarcastic, or sincere speech using The Awareness of Social Inference Test. All subjects equally understood sincere remarks, but bvFTD patients displayed impaired comprehension of lies and sarcasm compared with NCs. In other groups, impairment was not disease-specific but was proportionate to general cognitive impairment. Analysis of the task components revealed that only bvFTD patients were impaired on perspective taking and emotion reading elements and that both bvFTD and PSP patients had impaired ability to represent others’ opinions and intentions (i.e., theory of mind). Test performance correlated with informants’ ratings of subjects’ empathy, perspective taking and neuropsychiatric symptoms in everyday life. Comprehending insincere communication is complex and requires multiple cognitive and emotional processes vulnerable across neurodegenerative diseases. However, bvFTD patients show uniquely focal and severe impairments at every level of theory of mind and emotion reading, leading to an inability to identify obvious examples of deception and sarcasm. This is consistent with studies suggesting this disease targets a specific neural network necessary for perceiving social salience and predicting negative social outcomes.Comprehension of insincere communication in neurodegenerative disease: Lies, sarcasm, and theory of mind - Corrected ProofTal Shany-Ur, Pardis Poorzand, Scott N. Grossman, Matthew E. Growdon, Jung Y. Jang, Robin S. Ketelle, Bruce L. Miller, Katherine P. Rankin10.1016/j.cortex.2011.08.003Cortex (2011)2011-10-05Cortex2011-10-05RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002462/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: The concept of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) concerns a population of older individuals at high risk of developing probable Alzheimer’s disease. Although anterograde memory deficits have been largely documented in patients with aMCI, little is known about the integrity of their autobiographical memory (AuM). This study aimed at evaluating AuM in aMCI individuals and at investigating whether their ability to retrieve AuMs varied as a function of whether the tests used required recognition or effortful retrieval processes.Fourteen aMCI patients and 14 matched controls underwent a standard neuropsychological evaluation and an extensive autobiographical assessment. AuM was explored using verbal material, the Autobiographical Memory Interview, and a visual task of personal photographs. Together, these tests tapped the semantic and episodic components of AuM and different cognitive processes involved in retrieval (recall and recognition).Results indicate that AuM is altered in aMCI patients. This impairment affects both episodic and semantic components of AuM, and is characterized by a general difficulty in recollecting personal episodes covering the entire lifespan, along with a loss of recognition of recently experienced episodes. Furthermore, recollection of personal episodes was correlated with scores on tests requiring retrieval abilities, while recognition of familiar photographs was correlated with scores on tests assessing encoding/storage of new information.Results suggest that the AuM deficit in aMCI patients may result from the combination of two mechanisms, an anterograde memory impairment impeding the storage of newly experienced events, and a global alteration of recollection affecting the recall of AuM covering all periods of life. Alteration of these processes may possibly be related to the progression and distribution of the neuropathological lesions in medial temporal and frontal lobe structures found in Alzheimer’s disease.Alteration of autobiographical memory in amnestic mild cognitive impairment - Corrected ProofEve Tramoni, Olivier Felician, Lejla Koric, Michele Balzamo, Sven Joubert, Mathieu Ceccaldi10.1016/j.cortex.2011.09.002Cortex (2011)2011-10-04Cortex2011-10-04RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002498/abstract?rss=yesIn recent years, a large and growing number of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have revealed the neural mechanisms behind human perception and cognition. The neural changes associated with perceptual learning have been studied by comparing blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signals before and after the learning, or by comparing the BOLD signals associated with trained tasks/features and with untrained tasks/features. In their commentary, delivered a criticism of the use of fMRI in studies of perceptual learning and interpretation of the results. They introduced a study by as an example of misinterpretation of fMRI results in specifying loci of neural plasticity. In the first half of this response letter, I will clarify the purpose of the study by and its role in investigating neural plasticity. In the second half of this letter, I will argue the limitations of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), which was suggested by Dorjee and Bowers as a better alternative to fMRI, and I will explain how such limitations might or might not overlook the cellular changes induced by perceptual learning.Why we should integrate behavioral and neuroimaging studies to examine neural plasticity in perceptual learning - Corrected ProofYuko Yotsumoto10.1016/j.cortex.2011.09.005Cortex (2011)2011-10-04Cortex2011-10-04DISCUSSION FORUMhttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002371/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Introduction: Impulsive behaviors are frequently described in brain-damaged patients, including patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, few studies have examined impulsivity changes and associated cognitive impairments in AD and healthy controls. Consequently, the first aim of this study was to compare patients with mild AD and matched controls on four dimensions of impulsivity (urgency, lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance, and sensation seeking) recently highlighted in the literature. The second objective was to examine the association between impulsivity changes and cognitive performances on executive/attentional tasks in mild AD and healthy controls.Methods: Thirty patients with mild AD and 30 matched controls were administered a battery of tests that assessed executive and attention processes. In addition, informants of each patient and control completed a short questionnaire designed to assess the changes on the four dimensions of impulsivity ().Results: Patients with mild AD had higher scores than controls on lack of premeditation and lack of perseverance dimensions of impulsivity, whereas the two groups did not differ on urgency and sensation seeking. Furthermore, patients showed significant decreased performances on measures of inhibition of prepotent responses, set-shifting, and working memory, as well as higher variability of reaction times (RTs) than matched controls. Regression analyses computed on the whole sample emphasized that difficulties in inhibition of prepotent responses significantly predicted higher lack of premeditation, and larger variability of RTs and set-shifting difficulties significantly predicted higher lack of perseverance, even when global cognitive functioning, general processing speed, working memory, and age were controlled for. Urgency and sensation seeking were not associated with any variables.Conclusions: These results provide valuable insight into the nature of brain systems and cognitive processes underlying impulsive behaviors. In addition, they open up interesting prospects for better comprehension of behavioral and psychological symptoms of AD.A multidimensional approach to impulsivity changes in mild Alzheimer’s disease and control participants: Cognitive correlates - Corrected ProofLucien Rochat, Joël Billieux, Anne-Claude Juillerat Van der Linden, Jean-Marie Annoni, Dina Zekry, Gabriel Gold, Martial Van der Linden10.1016/j.cortex.2011.08.004Cortex (2011)2011-09-26Cortex2011-09-26RESEARCH REPORThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002395/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: We describe the case of girl who was born prematurely and diagnosed periventricular leukomalacia, a condition characterized by severe injury to the white matter tracts primarily surrounding the ventricles. At 12 years of age, we obtained diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data on this child as part of a research protocol. Multiple analyses of DTI data, including tractography, showed that the left and right arcuate and superior longitudinal fasciculi were missing in the child though all other major white matter tracts were present. Standardized psychometric tests at age 12 years revealed that despite early language delays, she had average scores on expressive language, sentence repetition, and reading, functions that have been hypothesized to depend on signals carried by the arcuate fasciculus. We identified intact ventral connections between the temporal and frontal lobes through the extreme capsule fiber system and uncinate fasciculus. Preserved language and reading function after serious injury to the arcuate fasciculus highlights the plasticity of the developing brain after severe white matter injury early in life.Neural plasticity after pre-linguistic injury to the arcuate and superior longitudinal fasciculi - Corrected ProofJason D. Yeatman, Heidi M. Feldman10.1016/j.cortex.2011.08.006Cortex (2011)2011-09-22Cortex2011-09-22CLINICAL NEUROANATOMYhttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002449/abstract?rss=yesNumerous studies have established that movement observation activates motor areas of the observer in a similar way as movement execution (). According to the embodied simulation theory, the observed behavior automatically activates an associated motor representation in the observer, a process called “direct matching” (). Evidence for direct matching has been revealed by motor priming paradigms showing that reaction times become faster when the observed stimulus is congruent with the associated response (), or by spatial interference paradigms revealing that movement trajectories are biased when an action along an incongruent trajectory is observed during execution (). Here we investigated whether another movement parameter, i.e., grip force (GF) can be influenced by movement observation. The motivation for our experiment was twofold: First, physiological findings have evidenced that the primary motor cortex (M1) reflects dynamic as well as isometric force requirements of observed actions (). Second, when subjects perform a strong pinch prior to lifting a well-known object, a significant increase of GF is observed even when lifts are separated by several seconds, an effect called “sensorimotor memory” (). This effect appears to emerge at least partly within M1 (), i.e., the same neural substrate as activated by movement observation. Here we tested whether movement observation can induce a sensorimotor memory effect such that GF used to lift a familiar object would be higher when preceded by observation of a strong pinch than a light touch. Twenty-two naïve subjects [8 males, 14 females, mean age 27.9, all right-handed ()] gave informed consent and participated in the study which was approved by the local Ethics Committee for Biomedical Research at KU Leuven.Movement observation affects sensorimotor memory when lifting a familiar object - Corrected ProofEce Uçar, Nicole Wenderoth10.1016/j.cortex.2011.08.011Cortex (2011)2011-09-22Cortex2011-09-22LETTER TO THE EDITORhttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002334/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: For more than a century the research on Motor Neuron Disease (MND) has been dominated by a tension between the concept of a selective, purely motor degeneration and a growing realisation of the high frequency and importance of cognitive symptoms that can culminate in dementia.The present paper aims at integrating these two, seemingly mutually exclusive interpretations of the disease. It is proposed that the cognitive and motor symptoms in MND are due to the same selective neurodegenerative process, spreading along the lines of functional connections in the nervous system. Accordingly, the most impaired aspects of cognitive function are those with the closest functional links to the motor system, a pattern explaining a disproportionate impairment of verb and action processing in this disease.The dementia associated with MND can be interpreted as the fifth major clinical presentation of MND, alongside bulbar, thoracic, upper and lower limb presentation. It follows the same rules of disease progression as other presentations, spreading contiguously from region to region, with a predominantly caudal direction. Accordingly, dementia tends to precede other presentations and is often followed by bulbar symptoms.We believe that the presented model contributes to a more accurate concept of MND, integrating cognitive and motor features within the same disease mechanism. At the same time it highlights the importance of MND for cognitive neuroscience and, in particular, for theories of embodied cognition.What wires together dies together: Verbs, actions and neurodegeneration in motor neuron disease - Corrected ProofThomas H. Bak, Siddharthan Chandran10.1016/j.cortex.2011.07.008Cortex (2011)2011-09-19Cortex2011-09-19SPECIAL ISSUE: VIEWPOINThttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002358/abstract?rss=yesThe invention of the electric battery, communicated to the Royal Society of London by Alessandro Volta (1745–1827) on 20th March 1800, had a tremendous historical impact in putting electricity at the centre stage of nineteenth century science and society. Volta’s invention had been stimulated by previous research on animal electricity performed by Luigi Galvani (1737–1798) in Bologna, in the second half of the eighteenth century. It had been inspired particularly by a reflection on the structure of the electric organ of some fishes, like the torpedo and the eel of Guyana, which accounts for the phrase organe électrique artificiel first used by Volta to describe his invention (see ).Carlo Matteucci (1811–1868), the “frogs pile”, and the Risorgimento of electrophysiology - Corrected ProofMarco Piccolino, Nicholas J. Wade10.1016/j.cortex.2011.08.002Cortex (2011)2011-09-19Cortex2011-09-19COVER ILLUSTRATIONhttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002413/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Somatoparaphrenia consists in abnormal or bizarre verbal reports about some parts of the body. Such a pathological condition usually lasts for days or weeks and is variably associated with other cognitive defects. In the present paper we describe exceptionally long-lasting somatoparaphrenia in two focal brain-damaged patients: GA who had a right hemorrhagic fronto-parieto-temporal stroke and AC who developed a left ischemic parieto-occipital lesion. The presence and severity of somatoparaphrenia did not change in either patient during a 2-year follow-up, whereas the two patients showed different evolution of anosognosia for motor disorders, severity of extrapersonal neglect and cognitive impairments. Moreover, impairment of position sense was associated with somatoparaphrenia in one patient only; neither patient showed personal neglect. The reported clinical observations suggest that somatoparaphrenia can be observed as a body-related chronic disorder and can outlast other cognitive defects, even if it arose in conjunction with them.Chronic somatoparaphrenia: A follow-up study on two clinical cases - Corrected ProofRossella Cogliano, Claudio Crisci, Massimiliano Conson, Dario Grossi, Luigi Trojano10.1016/j.cortex.2011.08.008Cortex (2011)2011-09-19Cortex2011-09-19NOTEhttp://www.cortexjournal.net/article/PIIS0010945211002322/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: The early history of developmental language impairment in late 19th century Britain is considered through the critical examination of three papers appearing in 1891 by Hadden, Golding-Bird and Hale White, and Taylor. They represent innovative investigations of child language disorders whose themes and concerns are resonant today. The term ‘idioglossia’ was coined to identify this new impairment and reflected the belief by some that these children spoke an invented language. Rather than viewing these children as having some constitutional deficiency, these 19th century physicians were novel in insisting that children with language impairments merited extensive clinical investigation and treatment. Their case descriptions and the subsequent debates regarding classification and prognosis are reviewed. Further consideration is given to how these cases led to questioning the relation between language and speech and other aspects of child development and disorder. Reflection on the early sources of clinical categories provides a new perspective on our current formulations for variation in developmental language trajectories.Highlights: ► In 1891, three papers described children with developmental language impairment. ► The term ‘idioglossia’ was coined to identify this new disorder. ► The children were given long term hospital treatment. ► This early work provides a new perspective on developmental language trajectories.The ‘idioglossia’ cases of the 1890s and the clinical investigation and treatment of developmental language impairment - Corrected ProofMarjorie Lorch, Paula Hellal10.1016/j.cortex.2011.07.007Cortex (2011)2011-09-12Cortex2011-09-12HISTORICAL PAPER