Object naming in epilepsy and epilepsy surgery

The ability to express oneself verbally is critical for success in academic, occupational, and social domains. Unfortunately, word-finding or "naming" difficulty is the most common cognitive complaint among individuals with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), and a substantial body of work over the past several decades has documented naming impairment in left (language-dominant) TLE, with further risk to naming ability following left temporal lobe resection for seizure control. With these findings well established, this paper reviews more recent work that has aimed to identify the neuroanatomical substrates of naming, understand how adverse structural and functional effects of TLE might impinge upon these brain regions, predict and potentially reduce the risk of postoperative naming decline, and begin to understand naming difficulty in TLE from a developmental perspective. Factors that have confounded interpretation and hindrances to progress are discussed, and suggestions are provided for improved empirical investigation and directions for future research.