Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41751168›Full record

ReviewBiomedicines2026

The Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon: Cognitive, Neural, and Neurochemical Perspectives.

Chenwei Xie, William Shiyuan Wang

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Biomedicines, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Chenwei XieResearch Centre for Language Cognition and Neuroscience, Department of Language Science and Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hunghom, Hong Kong 999077, China.ORCID 0000-0003-1124-3422
William Shiyuan WangDepartment of Electronic Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong 999077, China.ORCID 0000-0001-6153-8240

Funding

Sin Wai Kin Foundation P0043436The Hong Kong Polytechnic University P0051135
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomenon is a transient state in which speakers momentarily fail to retrieve a known word despite preserved semantic knowledge and a strong sense of imminent recall. This review integrates cognitive and neural evidence with emerging neurochemical perspectives to develop a comprehensive biomedical framework for word-finding failures. Cognitive models of semantic-phonological transmission and interloper interference have been refined through structural, functional, and metabolic imaging to elucidate the mechanisms underlying TOT states across the lifespan. Functional neuroimaging implicates a left-lateralized fronto-temporal network, particularly the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and temporal pole, in retrieval monitoring and conflict resolution. Structural MRI and diffusion imaging link increased TOT frequency to reduced integrity of the arcuate and uncinate fasciculi and diminished network efficiency. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (

Indexed as

agingexcitation–inhibition balanceGABAglutamatelexical retrievalneuroimagingproton magnetic resonance spectroscopytip-of-the-tongue

Identifiers

PMID41751168
PMCPMC12938793

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.