A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Phonemic word fluency is related to temporal and striatal gray matter volume in healthy older adults




AuthorsGrönholm-Nyman, Petra; Saarela, Carina; Ellfolk, Ulla; Joutsa, Juho; Parkkola, Riitta; Laine, Matti; Karrasch, Mira; Rinne, Juha O.

PublisherTaylor & Francis

Publishing placeABINGDON

Publication year2024

JournalAging, Neuropsychology and Cognition

Journal name in sourceAGING NEUROPSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITION

Journal acronymAGING NEUROPSYCHOL C

Number of pages24

ISSN1382-5585

eISSN1744-4128

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1080/13825585.2024.2436996(external)

Web address https://doi.org/10.1080/13825585.2024.2436996(external)

Self-archived copy’s web addresshttps://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/478069394(external)


Abstract
Word fluency (WF) tasks that tap verbal and executive function show deteriorating performance by advancing age. To address the scarcely studied age-related brain correlates of WF, we employed whole-brain voxel-based morphometry to examine gray matter (GM) correlates of semantic and phonemic WF in 46 healthy older adults. Lower phonemic WF score was related to smaller anterior medial temporal GM volume as well as smaller GM volume in the putamen bilaterally. A disproportionally weak score on phonemic WF in relation to semantic WF was associated with smaller GM volume in the left inferior frontal cortex, the right anterior medial temporal lobe, and the right striatum. There were no significant associations for semantic WF. The fact that our temporal and subcortical findings were bilateral and right-lateralized, may reflect age-related compensation by these brain areas.

Downloadable publication

This is an electronic reprint of the original article.
This reprint may differ from the original in pagination and typographic detail. Please cite the original version.





Last updated on 2025-27-01 at 19:44