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Abstract:
Specific Goals: This study investigated the
neuropsychological effects of intracranial tumors on visual and
verbal semantic memory recognition with The Picture Retrieval Test
(PR) and The Word Retrieval Test (WR), respectively, in a low-grade
brain tumor population. It was hypothesized that left hemispheric
(LH) patients would exhibit worse recognition and reaction times
than right hemispheric (RH) patients on the WR and there would be
no significant hemispheric recognition or reaction time differences
on the PR. Methods: Nineteen subjects (X age=43) with singular
intracranial tumors were compared to 23 normal control subjects
(NCs) (X age=35). Subjects were initially categorized into a LH or
RH group and administered both recognition tests. Summary:
Significant differences between the NCs and the LH patients were
found on PR reaction time with a trend by the LH group to perform
worse on the PR and WR recognition. The LH group performed
significantly worse than the NCs and worse than the RH group,
although not significantly. Conclusions: The LH WR effects are
consistent with prior research that implicates impaired recall of
word lists with temporal lobe lesions. Although prior research
suggests that visual semantic memory involves bilateral processing,
an intra-subject analysis revealed that a greater proportion of the
LH patients had tumors infiltrating the temporal lobe, which may
account for the greater degree of impairment on verbal and visual
semantic memory by this group.
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