Abstracts

Subjective memory complaints typically correlate at least as well with degree of mood disturbance as they do with objective memory test performance. In addition to memory deficits, temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) patients often show mild object naming impairment. The relationship between self-reported word finding difficulty and standardized objective naming test performance has not been well examined in this group. The goal of this study was to examine the association between TLE patients[apos] perception of word finding problems and objective naming test performance, other neuropsychological measures and mood. The participants in this study were 31 individuals with TLE. They had a mean age of 38.4 (11.2) and the mean educational level was 13.9 (2.5) years. The mean age of seizure onset was 11.1 (6.3) years. All participants were administered a battery of neuropsychological tests and self report questionnaires. The measures of interest in this study were the Boston Naming Test (BNT), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Naming Self-Report Questionnaire.
The Naming Self-Report Questionnaire constructed for this study consisted of eight items rated on a seven-point scale, with low scores representing the minimal level of subjective complaint. The Naming Self-Report variables that correlated best with the BNT were a subtotal score consisting of four items (everyday ability to name objects, places, famous people and friends/relatives) and the score from a single item rating distress related to word finding difficulty. Thus, analyses for this study were restricted to these two variables. The composite score of word finding difficulty correlated significantly with the BDI (r = .53, p [lt] .05), but not the BNT. Naming Self-Report rating of distress correlated significantly with the BNT (r = -.37, p [lt] .05), but not with the BDI. Both Naming Self-Report variables also correlated with other cognitive variables, including verbal memory, IQ and reading level. Self-reported level of the distress related to word finding problems correlated significantly with objective visual naming ability, as measured by the BNT. In addition, this particular naming self-report variable did not correlate with mood, as measured by the BDI. This finding suggests that patients[apos] dissatisfaction with their everyday word finding ability can be a relatively accurate measure of objective visual naming test performance. A possible limitation of the data is that the Naming Self-Report rating of distress correlated not only with the BNT, but also with other cognitive measures. (Supported by NIH K23 NS42251, NS R0137738 and MO1 RR03186 (GCRC).)