Basal ganglia structures differentially contribute to verbal fluency: Evidence from Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-infected adults

BackgroundThe basal ganglia (BG) are involved in executive language functions (i.e., verbal fluency) through their connections with cortical structures. The caudate and putamen receive separate inputs from prefrontal and premotor cortices, and may differentially contribute to verbal fluency performance. We examined BG integrity in relation to lexico-semantic verbal fluency performance among older HIV infected adults.Method20 older (50+ years) HIV+ adults underwent MRI and were administered measures of semantic and phonemic fluency. BG (caudate, putamen) regions of interest were extracted.ResultsPerformance on phonemic word generation significantly predicted caudate volume, whereas performance on phonemic switching predicted putamen volume.ConclusionsThese findings suggest a double dissociation of BG involvement in verbal fluency tasks with the caudate subserving word generation and the putamen associated with switching. As such, verbal fluency tasks appear to be selective to BG function.

► We examined the role of the basal ganglia in lexical retrieval (verbal fluency) performance.
► The caudate and putamen differentially contribute to verbal fluency performance.
► Verbal fluency predicted basal ganglia volume beyond traditional neuropsychological performance.
► Verbal fluency is sensitive to striatal dysfunction.