DECODING ACTIVITY IN BROCA’S AREA PREDICTS THE OCCURRENCE OF AUDITORY HALLUCINATIONS ACROSS SUBJECTS

IntroductionCorollary discharges (CDs) are the reason most people cannot tickle themselves. They are the brain's way of distinguishing whether a stimulus is associated with one's own actions or something else. In neural terms, CDs are copies of motor plans that are propagated to sensory cortex where they can be compared with inputs. A range of phenomena associated with schizophrenia from auditory hallucinations to visual processing difficulties to the ability of patients to tickle themselves can be explained as pathologies in CD mechanisms. Auditory hallucinations for example involve patients failing to perceive themselves as the author of their own inner speech.Objectives and aimsTo test whether schizophrenia is associated with a structural network disruption that could impair CD signals involved in language processing, adolescents with schizophrenia were examined using magnetic resonance imaging and compared to healthy controls.MethodsA graph theoretical approach was used to analyse the connectivity in networks centered on:– Broca's area;– Wernicke's area.Connectivity information was acquired using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).ResultsCompared to healthy controls, adolescents with schizophrenia displayed a lower average degree of connectivity with the left inferior frontal gyrus (Broca's area). No significant differences were found in the degree of connectivity with the right inferior frontal gyrus and the superior temporal gyrus bilaterally (Wernicke's area).ConclusionsThe results suggest a link between schizophrenia and impairment to areas where CDs associated with inner speech plausibly originate.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

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Facilitation and inhibition of syntactic processing by focal transcranial magnetic stimulation of Broca's area

Neuroscience Research ◽

10.1016/s0168-0102(00)81164-5 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 38 ◽

pp. S53

Author(s):

K Sakai

Keyword(s):

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽

Magnetic Stimulation ◽

Syntactic Processing ◽

Broca’S Area ◽

Broca's Area ◽

Stimulation Of

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The „narrow faculty“ and Broca's area

Aktuelle Neurologie ◽

10.1055/s-0028-1086964 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 35 (S 01) ◽

Author(s):

M Musso ◽

A Schneider ◽

C Büchel ◽

C Weiller

Keyword(s):

Broca’S Area ◽

Broca's Area

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of Encoding of human action in Broca's area.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.1168491.630680 ◽

2009 ◽

Author(s):

Barbro B Johansson

Keyword(s):

Human Action ◽

Broca’S Area ◽

Broca's Area

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SURG-40. SURGICAL RESECTIONS IN BROCA’S AREA DO NOT LEAD TO BROCA’S APHASIA

Neuro-Oncology ◽

10.1093/neuonc/noaa215.886 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 22 (Supplement_2) ◽

pp. ii212-ii212

Author(s):

John Andrews ◽

Nathan Cahn ◽

Benjamin Speidel ◽

Valerie Lu ◽

Mitchel Berger ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽

Brain Surgery ◽

Broca’S Area ◽

Broca's Area ◽

Supramarginal Gyrus ◽

Broca's Aphasia ◽

Broca’S Aphasia ◽

Language Evaluations ◽

Lesion Symptom Mapping ◽

Normal Speech

Abstract Brodmann’s areas 44/45 of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), are the seat of Broca’s area. The Western Aphasia Battery is a commonly used language battery that diagnoses aphasias based on fluency, comprehension, naming and repetition. Broca’s aphasia is defined as low fluency (0-4/10), retained comprehension (4-10/10), and variable deficits in repetition (0-7.9/10) and naming (0-8/10). The purpose of this study was to find anatomic areas associated with Broca’s aphasia. Patients who underwent resective brain surgery in the dominant hemisphere were evaluated with standardized language batteries pre-op, POD 2, and 1-month post-op. The resection cavities were outlined to construct 3D-volumes of interest. These were aligned using an affine transformation to MNI brain space. A voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping (VLSM) algorithm determined areas associated with Broca’s aphasia when incorporated into a resection. Post-op MRIs were reviewed blindly and percent involvement of pars orbitalis, triangularis and opercularis was recorded. 287 patients had pre-op and POD 2 language evaluations and 178 had 1 month post-op language evaluation. 82/287 patients had IFG involvement in resections. Only 5/82 IFG resections led to Broca’s aphasia. 11/16 patients with Broca’s aphasia at POD 2 had no involvement of IFG in resection. 35% of IFG resections were associated with non-specific dysnomia and 36% were normal. By one-month, 76% of patients had normal speech. 80% of patients with Broca’s aphasia at POD 2 improved to normal speech at 1-month, with 20% improved to non-specific dysnomia. The most highly correlated (P< 0.005) anatomic areas with Broca’s aphasia were juxta-sylvian pre- and post-central gyrus extending to supramarginal gyrus. While Broca’s area resections were rarely associated with Broca’s aphasia, juxta-sylvian pre- and post-central gyri extending to the supramarginal gyrus were statistically associated with Broca’s type aphasia when resected. These results have implications for planning resective brain surgery in these presumed eloquent brain areas.

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