Staveren, Rozemarijn, van (2025) Linguistic Features of Verbal Fluency in Patients with Lower-Grade Glioma: an Explorative Study. Master thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
Background: Patients with lower-grade glioma (LGG) can be impaired in verbal fluency, yet the linguistic features of their performance remain unexplored, limiting insight into the strategies they use and the underlying deficits. We aimed to (1) determine whether linguistic features provide a more sensitive assessment of performance than total word count, (2) examine their relationships with other cognitive processes (lexical retrieval, processing speed, executive functions), and (3) examine associations with tumor characteristics (laterality, location, volume). Methods: A total of 148 patients with LGG and 74 healthy controls (HC) were included. Semantic and phonemic fluency were assessed; total word count, average cluster size, number of switches, and several word properties (word frequency, age of acquisition, concreteness, length) were investigated. Group-level analyses were used to investigate verbal fluency performance; Spearman’s correlations were calculated to assess relations with cognition and tumor characteristics. Results: Patients performed worse than HC on both fluency tasks. Patients made fewer switches in semantic fluency than HC, while average cluster size did not differ between groups. Word properties did not differ between groups. Verbal fluency depended on lexical retrieval and executive functions, with processing speed playing a minor role. Lexical retrieval contributed more strongly to semantic fluency, whereas executive functions contributed more strongly to phonemic fluency and to switching in semantic fluency. Verbal fluency performance was not related to specific tumor characteristics. Conclusion: Verbal fluency impairments reflect deficits beyond the linguistic domain, with executive functions playing a prominent role both in switching and phonemic fluency. Word properties do not differentiate patients with LGG from HC. Linguistic characteristics of verbal fluency performance offer insight into underlying cognitive mechanisms and may support more targeted assessment and interventions in LGG. Keywords: verbal fluency, lower-grade glioma, brain tumor, cognition, language
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Buunk, A.M. and Siebenga, F.F. |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | Clinical Neuropsychology (CN) [Master Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 19 Dec 2025 12:28 |
| Last Modified: | 19 Dec 2025 12:28 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/6015 |
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