TMS interferes with lexical-semantic retrieval in left inferior frontal gyrus and posterior middle temporal gyrus: Evidence from cyclical picture naming

TY - JOUR

T1 - TMS interferes with lexical-semantic retrieval in left inferior frontal gyrus and posterior middle temporal gyrus

T2 - Evidence from cyclical picture naming

AU - Krieger-Redwood, Katya

AU - Jefferies, Elizabeth

N1 - Date of Acceptance: 05/09/2014 © 2014 Elsevier. This is an author produced version of a paper accepted for publication in Neuropsychologia. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy.

PY - 2014/11

Y1 - 2014/11

N2 - We used TMS to investigate the contribution of left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) and posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG) to lexical/semantic selection and retrieval processes using a cyclical naming paradigm. Participants named pictures that were presented repeatedly across six cycles, either in semantically related or unrelated sets. Previous research has suggested that selection demands are higher for related sets, especially after repetition, since participants experience competition from the activation of semantic neighbours. In contrast, retrieval demands are greater for unrelated sets in the absence of semantic priming, particularly on the first cycle when the target names have not been previously activated. Therefore, this paradigm can reveal independent effects of (i) retrieval demands (i.e., the ease of accessing picture names from visual input) and (ii) selection/competition. We found that rTMS to LIFG and pMTG produced similar behavioural effects: stimulation of both sites disrupted picture naming performance on early cycles (when participants were less practised at producing the picture names) and for semantically-related sets (when there was the potential for increased competition and yet also facilitation from semantic neighbours). There were no effects of TMS when either retrieval or selection requirements were maximal on their own. The data therefore support the view that both LIFG and pMTG contribute to picture name retrieval, with both sites playing a critical role in mediating the semantic facilitation of naming when retrieval demands are high.

AB - We used TMS to investigate the contribution of left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) and posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG) to lexical/semantic selection and retrieval processes using a cyclical naming paradigm. Participants named pictures that were presented repeatedly across six cycles, either in semantically related or unrelated sets. Previous research has suggested that selection demands are higher for related sets, especially after repetition, since participants experience competition from the activation of semantic neighbours. In contrast, retrieval demands are greater for unrelated sets in the absence of semantic priming, particularly on the first cycle when the target names have not been previously activated. Therefore, this paradigm can reveal independent effects of (i) retrieval demands (i.e., the ease of accessing picture names from visual input) and (ii) selection/competition. We found that rTMS to LIFG and pMTG produced similar behavioural effects: stimulation of both sites disrupted picture naming performance on early cycles (when participants were less practised at producing the picture names) and for semantically-related sets (when there was the potential for increased competition and yet also facilitation from semantic neighbours). There were no effects of TMS when either retrieval or selection requirements were maximal on their own. The data therefore support the view that both LIFG and pMTG contribute to picture name retrieval, with both sites playing a critical role in mediating the semantic facilitation of naming when retrieval demands are high.

KW - Naming

KW - Retrieval

KW - Selection

KW - Semantic

KW - TMS

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84907511688&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.09.014

DO - 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.09.014

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84907511688

SN - 0028-3932

VL - 64

SP - 24

EP - 32

JO - Neuropsychologia

JF - Neuropsychologia

ER -