Specific disruption of the ventral anterior temporo-frontal network reveals key implications for language comprehension and cognition

This study investigates the role of the anterior lateral temporal cortex in language processing by examining a rare male patient with a lesion restricted to the anterior temporal cortex and its connections with Broca's region. The patient's performance is compared to two patients with damage to the dorsal posterior temporo-parietal language system. Results show that the patient with the anterior temporo-frontal lesion exhibits fluent speech but selective impairment in accessing lexico-semantic information, contrasting with impairments in speech and comprehension seen in patients with dorsal system damage. This highlights the ventral language stream's contribution to lexico-semantic processing and higher cognitive functions.

Evie Kourtidou, Dimitrios Kasselimis, Georgia Angelopoulou, Efstratios Karavasilis, Georgios Velonakis, Nikolaos Kelekis, Ioannis Zalonis, Ioannis Evdokimidis, Constantin Potagas, Michael Petrides