Abstracts

Rationale: Deficits in confrontation naming have been well documented in patients with language dominant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), and there is often a risk for naming decline following dominant temporal lobe resection. Most naming research has focused on visual naming tasks, such as the Boston Naming Test (BNT); however, there is recent evidence to suggest that auditory naming measures may be more sensitive to temporal lobe dysfunction. Little is known about auditory naming outcome following temporal lobectomy. The goal of the current study was to examine differences in auditory and visual naming performance in a large sample of adults who underwent temporal lobe resections for treatment of intractable epilepsy. Methods: Ninety-seven adults (M_age= 41.85; 63% female) underwent temporal lobe resection (dominant=55, nondominant=42) for treatment of their epilepsy. All patients completed comprehensive neuropsychological testing before and approximately 7 months after surgery. Testing included the BNT, a measure of visual naming, and the Auditory Naming Test (ANT), a measure of auditory naming. Independent sample t-tests and chi-squares were used to assess group (dominant vs. nondominant) differences in demographic and disease variables. Pre-operative group differences in BNT total correct (TC), ANT TC, and ANT number of tip-of-the-tongues (TOT) were assessed with independent samples t-tests. Repeated measures ANOVA examined group differences in postoperative naming outcome. Results: Dominant and nondominant groups were well matched on demographic and seizure variables. Pre-operatively, there were no significant difference between groups on any naming measure. Results of repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant group x time interactions for all three naming measures: BNT TC (F=47.88, p<.001), ANT TC (F=21.13, p<.001), ANT TOT (F=6.528, p=.012). Specifically, patients who underwent dominant-sided temporal lobe resections showed postoperative declines on these measures whereas those who underwent non-dominant resections remained relatively stable.  Conclusions: While there were no baseline differences in naming performance as a function of seizure laterality, clear differences emerged following epilepsy surgery. Patients who underwent language-dominant temporal resections demonstrated declines on both visual and auditory naming measures. Findings are discussed in the context of existing literature. Funding: The Epilepsy Center, Cleveland Clinic