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The role of the left frontal lobe in action naming: rTMS evidence
S F Cappa1, M Sandrini, P M Rossini
1IRCCS S. Giovanni di Dio, Brescia, Italy. cappa.stefano@hsr.it
Background:
Neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies suggest that whereas the left temporal neocortex plays a crucial role in all tasks involving lexical-semantic processing, some regions of the left prefrontal convexity are selectively recruited during verb processing.
Objective:
To determine if there are different neural correlates for noun and verb processing in the human brain.
Methods:
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), 20 Hz at 90% of the motor threshold, was applied to left or right prefrontal brain during object- and action-naming tasks in nine healthy subjects.
Results:
A shortening of naming latency for actions was observed only after stimulation of left prefrontal cortex.
Conclusion:
The involvement of the left dorsolateral frontal cortex in action naming was demonstrated using rTMS.