Affiliations: Psychology Department, Brigham Young University,
Provo, UT, USA | Neuroscience Center, Brigham Young University, Provo,
UT, USA
Note: [] Corresponding author: Mark D. Allen, Department of Psychology,
1022 SWKT, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA. Tel.: +1 801 422
6481; Fax: +1 801 422 0602; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: In this study, we describe an fMRI version of the verbal fluency
test. This is the second in a series of fMRI adaptations of classical
neuropsychological tests, for which normative samples of functional activation
have been collected from unimpaired control subjects and structured in a manner
that makes individual patient evaluation possible in terms of familiar
z-score distributions. This fMRI protocol is shown to have
strong convergent validity with the FAS phonemic fluency test and to elicit
activation patterns highly consistent with a large body of previous
neuroimaging studies of verbal fluency. We also present a case study, in which
we report concurrent data from a patient with selective deficits in verbal
processing, using both conventional neuropsychological and fMRI approaches.
These analyses reveal striking correspondences between the deficits present in
this patient on cognitive performance tests and the equally selective patterns
of deviation present in his fMRI data.
Keywords: fMRI, verbal fluency, cognitive assessment, normative data
