Representative cognitive and neurologic functions assessed during provocative amobarbital testing*
| Neuropsychologic or Neurologic Function | Lobe | Test and/or Stimuli |
|---|---|---|
| Verbal fluency | Frontal, temporal | Naming of as many items in a given category (eg, fruits, animals) as possible in 15 seconds |
| Naming | Frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital | Object naming, picture naming |
| Reading | Frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital | Single word reading |
| Semantic judgment | Temporal | Deciding whether two words are related (eg, “Are grass and green related?”) or of a given category (eg, “Is a dog an animal?”) (10) |
| Mental arithmetic | Parietal | Performing non-rote calculations |
| Right-left orientation | Parietal | Using a specific hand to point to lateralized body part on the examiner (eg, “Point to my right ear with your right hand.”) |
| Visual-spatial processing | Parietal, occipital | Reading of analog clock faces, identifying common objects presented in disarranged visual fragments (11), performing and real vs non-real object decision tasks (12) (Fig 1) |
| Color perception and naming | Occipital | Naming of color patches |
| Recognition memory | Frontal, temporal | Testing after the amobarbital effect has worn off by asking the patient to choose between pairs of pictures or words, of which one of was shown in the language-testing phase |
| Strength | Frontal, parietal | Testing of limb strength contralateral to the AVM, assessed with the Medical Research Council scale |
| Sensation | Frontal, parietal | Assessing light touch and/or temperature in the contralateral limbs |
| Visual fields | Parietal, temporal, occipital | Confrontation testing with the detection of finger movement or finger counting |
| Limb coordination | Cerebellar | Testing with finger-to-nose and rapid finger-tapping sequences |
| Eye movements | Cerebellar | Testing with smooth pursuits and saccades |
* Tests were based on the lobe in which the AVM was located.