ABSTRACTS
An Imaging Guide to Cognitive Brain Functions Taber, K.H.; Ardaman, M.A.; Charletta, D.A.; Hayman, L.A.; Warrington, E.K. Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas Purpose
The purpose of this poster is to organize the current clinical information concerning the anatomic location of cognitive brain functions in right-handed individuals. A large unified body of clinical neuropsychological data has been summarized and referenced. Methods
Published cases with well defined cognitive or emotive deficits and anatomic brain lesions were collected. Selected data from 188 of these references was organized into a user-friendly chart format. The framework was modeled after the British system that uses 15 categories. These are: (I) Visual object recognition, (II)Face recognition, (Ill) Spatial perception, (IV) Voluntary action, (V) Auditory word comprehension, (VI) Word retrieval, (VII) Sentence processing, (VIII) Speech production, (X) Spelling, (XI) Writing, (XII) Calculation, (XIII) Short term memory, (XIV) Long term memory, and (XV)Problem solving. Subdivisions within these categories were utilized as necessary. In addition, the clinical deficits and relevant comments are provided for each category. Res ul ts
The a n a t o ~ c loci of the smallest area of brain damage needed to produce a defect is illustrated on a standardized set of sagittal and axial schematics of the cortical brain surface. The orientation of these brain drawings was
specifically chosen to match the radiographic orientations, rather than the traditional anatomic and neuropsychological orientations. Each category is color-coded to facilitate use. )
Cognitive or Emotive Subeategor24_ Lesion Location Clinical signs Right Hemisphere Left Hemis here , .
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1
Comments Bilateral posterior cerebral lesions, especially of infraealcarine cortex, produce the most severe defect. Partial defects after lesser lesions occur in a retinotopic fashion. Brodmann's areas 17 and 18 are affected. [ 1-8] Bilateral lesions of middle third of lingual gyrus or lesions of white matter immediately behind posterior tip of lateral ventricles (not shown) may produce a full-field defect [9], and partial defects when lesser lesions occur in a retinotopic fashion. [8-1 1]
Dysm orphopsia-select ive
impairment of shape discrimination with relatively preserved visual acuity. Central achrom atopsia-select ive
impairment of color discrimination with relatively preserved visual acuity.
Figure 1. SamlJie of Chart
A portion o f one category is shown to illustrate the organization and range ofinforrnation included. Conclus ion
This chart format allows rapid access to information reported in a wide range of sources. A working knowledge of the cognitive brain functions can be useful in the clinical and research settings. The information provided can be used to determine which areas require scrutiny in patients with known cognitive or emotive defects, thus improving radiographic detection of subtle cognitive deficits. In addition, they can serve as a framework for planning functional M R studies.
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