Speaking is not only about retrieving words and structuring them into sentences; it also requires top-down control to plan and execute speech. In previous electrophysiological research with young adult speakers, mid-frontal theta oscillations have been observed using a picture-word interference paradigm. With this paradigm, participants name pictures while ignoring superimposed distractor words. In particular, mid-frontal theta power increases for categorically related distractors relative to other types of distractors, reflecting top-down interference control in resolving the competition between processing streams during word production (Piai, Roelofs, Jensen, Schoffelen, & Bonnefond, 2014). In the present study, we conceptually replicated the magnetoencephalography study by Piai et al. (2014) with an older group of healthy adults (mean age: 60 years). Behaviorally, we replicated distractor semantic interference and Stroop-like interference effects typically observed in young adults. However, we did not find the corresponding theta modulation associated with these interference effects at the neural level. Instead, we found beta power decreases associated with interference control, mostly pronounced in the left posterior temporal and inferior parietal cortex. We further confirmed that these beta modulations were not present in the young adults' data. The distinct spectro-spatial-temporal profile of the oscillatory effects in the older population may reflect different underlying dynamics relative to the midline frontal effect previously found in young adult speakers. Our results indicate that the neural underpinnings of top-down interference control may be modified by aging and that the mid-frontal theta cannot be the exclusive oscillatory pattern enabling interference control during spoken word production.

Lesion-symptom mapping (LSM) studies have revealed brain areas critical for naming, typically finding significant associations between damage to left temporal, inferior parietal, and inferior fontal regions and impoverished naming performance. However, specific subregions found in the available literature vary. Hence, the aim of this study was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of published lesion-based findings, obtained from studies with unique cohorts investigating brain areas critical for accuracy in naming in stroke patients at least 1 month post-onset. An anatomic likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis of these LSM studies was performed. Ten papers entered the ALE meta-analysis, with similar lesion coverage over left temporal and left inferior frontal areas. This small number is a major limitation of the present study. Clusters were found in left anterior temporal lobe, posterior temporal lobe extending into inferior parietal areas, in line with the arcuate fasciculus, and in pre- and postcentral gyri and middle frontal gyrus. No clusters were found in left inferior frontal gyrus. These results were further substantiated by examining five naming studies that investigated performance beyond global accuracy, corroborating the ALE meta-analysis results. The present review and meta-analysis highlight the involvement of left temporal and inferior parietal cortices in naming, and of mid to posterior portions of the temporal lobe in particular in conceptual-lexical retrieval for speaking.