A novel tablet computer platform for advanced language mapping during awake craniotomy procedures

The assessment of active language lateralisation in infants and toddlers is challenging. It requires an imaging tool that is unintimidating, quick to setup, and robust to movement, in addition to an engaging and cognitively simple procedure that elicits language processing. Functional Transcranial Doppler Ultrasound (fTCD) offers a suitable technique and here we report on a suitable method to elicit active language production in young children. The 34-second ‘What Box’ trial presents an animated face ‘searching’ for an object. The face ‘finds’ a box that opens to reveal an object, which may be labelled spontaneously, in response to a “What’s this?” prompt, or in response to the object label. What Box conducted with 95 children (1 to 5 years-of-age, completing a median of 7 trials), who were left-lateralised on average. The task was validated (ρ = 0.4) against the gold standard Word Generation task in a group of older adults (n = 65, 60 to 85 years-of-age, median of 24 trials). Existing methods for assessing lateralisation of active language production have been used with 4-year-old children while passive listening has been conducted with sleeping 6-month-olds. This is the first active method to be successfully employed with infants, toddlers, and pre-schoolers, and show good correspondence to Word Generation in older adults.

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What Box: a task for assessing language lateralisation in young children

10.7287/peerj.preprints.1939v2 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Nicholas A Badcock ◽

Rachael Spooner ◽

Jessica Hofmann ◽

Atlanta J Flitton ◽

Scott Elliott ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Young Children ◽

Language Processing ◽

Language Production ◽

Simple Procedure ◽

Transcranial Doppler Ultrasound ◽

Generation Task ◽

Good Correspondence ◽

Word Generation ◽

Imaging Tool

The assessment of active language lateralisation in infants and toddlers is challenging. It requires an imaging tool that is unintimidating, quick to setup, and robust to movement, in addition to an engaging and cognitively simple procedure that elicits language processing. Functional Transcranial Doppler Ultrasound (fTCD) offers a suitable technique and here we report on a suitable method to elicit active language production in young children. The 34-second ‘What Box’ trial presents an animated face ‘searching’ for an object. The face ‘finds’ a box that opens to reveal an object, which may be labelled spontaneously, in response to a “What’s this?” prompt, or in response to the object label. What Box conducted with 95 children (1 to 5 years-of-age, completing a median of 7 trials), who were left-lateralised on average. The task was validated (ρ = 0.4) against the gold standard Word Generation task in a group of older adults (n = 65, 60 to 85 years-of-age, median of 24 trials). Existing methods for assessing lateralisation of active language production have been used with 4-year-old children while passive listening has been conducted with sleeping 6-month-olds. This is the first active method to be successfully employed with infants, toddlers, and pre-schoolers, and show good correspondence to Word Generation in older adults.

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Predicting the Semantic Category of Internally Generated Words from Neuromagnetic Recordings

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn_a_00690 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 27 (1) ◽

pp. 35-45 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Irina Simanova ◽

Marcel A. J. van Gerven ◽

Robert Oostenveld ◽

Peter Hagoort

Keyword(s):

Time Series ◽

Language Production ◽

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽

Semantic Category ◽

Middle Temporal Gyrus ◽

Time Interval ◽

Semantic Fluency ◽

Generation Task ◽

Word Generation

In this study, we explore the possibility to predict the semantic category of words from brain signals in a free word generation task. Participants produced single words from different semantic categories in a modified semantic fluency task. A Bayesian logistic regression classifier was trained to predict the semantic category of words from single-trial MEG data. Significant classification accuracies were achieved using sensor-level MEG time series at the time interval of conceptual preparation. Semantic category prediction was also possible using source-reconstructed time series, based on minimum norm estimates of cortical activity. Brain regions that contributed most to classification on the source level were identified. These were the left inferior frontal gyrus, left middle frontal gyrus, and left posterior middle temporal gyrus. Additionally, the temporal dynamics of brain activity underlying the semantic preparation during word generation was explored. These results provide important insights about central aspects of language production.

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Intraoperative Language Localizationin Multilingual Patients With Gliomas

Neurosurgery ◽

10.1227/01.neu.0000219241.92246.fb ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 59 (1) ◽

pp. 115-125 ◽

Cited By ~ 84

Author(s):

Lorenzo Bello ◽

Francesco Acerbi ◽

Carlo Giussani ◽

Pietro Baratta ◽

Paolo Taccone ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Oral Language ◽

Language Production ◽

Tumor Resection ◽

Awake Craniotomy ◽

The Other ◽

Tumor Removal ◽

Language Mapping ◽

Current Threshold ◽

Subcortical Stimulation ◽

Intraoperative Localization

Abstract OBJECTIVE Intraoperative localization of speech is problematic in patients that are fluent with different languages. Previous studies have generated various results depending on the series of patients studied, the type of language and the sensitivity of the tasks applied. It is not clear if languages are mediated by multiple and separate cortical areas, or shared by common areas. Globally considered, previous studies recommended performing a multiple intra-operative mapping for all the languages the patient is fluent for. Aim of this work was to study the feasibility of performing an intra-operative multiple language mapping in a group of multilingual patients with a glioma undergoing awake craniotomy for tumor removal, to describe the intraoperative cortical and subcortical findings in the area of craniotomy, with the final goal to maximally preserve their functional language. METHODS Seven late highly proficient multilingual patients with a left frontal glioma were submitted pre-operatively to a battery of tests to evaluate oral language production, comprehension, and repetition. Each language was tested serially starting from the first acquired language. Items which were correctly named during these tests were used to build personalized blocks to be used intraoperatively. Language mapping was undertaken during awake craniotomies, by the use of a Ojemann cortical stimulator during counting and oral naming tasks. Subcortical stimulation by using the same current threshold was applied during tumor resection, in a back and forth fashion, and the same tests. RESULTS Cortical sites essential for oral naming were found in 87.5% of patients, those for the first acquired language in 1 to 4 sites, those for the other languages in 1 to 3 sites. Sites for each language were distinct and separate. Number and location of sites were not predictable, being randomly and widely distributed in the cortex around or less frequently over the tumor area. Subcortical stimulations found tracts for the first acquired language in 4 patients, and for the other languages in 3 patients. Three of these patients decreased their fluency immediately after surgery, affecting the first acquired language, which fully recovered in two patients and partially in one. The procedure was agile and well tolerated by the patients. CONCLUSION These findings show that multiple cortical and subcortical language mapping during awake craniotomy for tumor removal is a feasible procedure. They support the concept that intraoperative mapping should be performed for all the languages the patient is fluent for to preserve functional integrity.

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What Box: a task for assessing language lateralisation in young children

10.7287/peerj.preprints.1939v1 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Nicholas A Badcock ◽

Rachael Spooner ◽

Jessica Hofmann ◽

Atlanta J Flitton ◽

Scott Elliott ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Young Children ◽

Language Processing ◽

Language Production ◽

Simple Procedure ◽

Transcranial Doppler Ultrasound ◽

Generation Task ◽

Good Correspondence ◽

Word Generation ◽

Imaging Tool

The assessment of active language lateralisation in infants and toddlers is challenging. It requires an imaging tool that is unintimidating, quick to setup, and robust to movement, in addition to an engaging and cognitively simple procedure that elicits language processing. Functional Transcranial Doppler Ultrasound (fTCD) offers a suitable technique and here we report on a suitable method to elicit active language production in young children. The 34-second ‘What Box’ trial presents an animated face ‘searching’ for an object. The face ‘finds’ a box that opens to reveal an object, which may be labelled spontaneously, in response to a “What’s this?” prompt, or in response to the object label. What Box conducted with 95 children (1 to 5 years-of-age, completing a median of 7 trials), who were left-lateralised on average. The task was validated (ρ = 0.4) against the gold standard Word Generation task in a group of older adults (n = 65, 60 to 85 years-of-age, median of 24 trials). Existing methods for assessing lateralisation of active language production have been used with 4-year-old children while passive listening has been conducted with sleeping 6-month-olds. This is the first active method to be successfully employed with infants, toddlers, and pre-schoolers, and show good correspondence to Word Generation in older adults.

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A Novel Language Paradigm for Intraoperative Language Mapping: Feasibility and Evaluation

Journal of Clinical Medicine ◽

10.3390/jcm10040655 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 655

Author(s):

Katharina Rosengarth ◽

Delin Pai ◽

Frank Dodoo-Schittko ◽

Katharina Hense ◽

Teele Tamm ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Healthy Subjects ◽

Intraoperative Complications ◽

Evaluation Study ◽

Awake Craniotomy ◽

Language Mapping ◽

Tumor Patients ◽

Language Functions ◽

Before And After ◽

Assessment Time ◽

Neuropsychological Outcomes

(1) Background—Mapping language using direct cortical stimulation (DCS) during an awake craniotomy is difficult without using more than one language paradigm that particularly follows the demand of DCS by not exceeding the assessment time of 4 s to prevent intraoperative complications. We designed an intraoperative language paradigm by combining classical picture naming and verb generation, which safely engaged highly relevant language functions. (2) Methods—An evaluation study investigated whether a single trial of the language task could be performed in less than 4 s in 30 healthy subjects and whether the suggested language paradigm sufficiently pictured the cortical language network using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 12 healthy subjects. In a feasibility study, 24 brain tumor patients conducted the language task during an awake craniotomy. The patients’ neuropsychological outcomes were monitored before and after surgery. (3) Results—The fMRI results in healthy subjects showed activations in a language-associated network around the (left) sylvian fissure. Single language trials could be performed within 4 s. Intraoperatively, all tumor patients showed DCS-induced language errors while conducting the novel language task. Postoperatively, mild neuropsychological impairments appeared compared to the presurgical assessment. (4) Conclusions—These data support the use of a novel language paradigm that safely monitors highly relevant language functions intraoperatively, which can consequently minimize negative postoperative neuropsychological outcomes.

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Measurement of language laterality using functional transcranial Doppler ultrasound: a comparison of different tasks

Wellcome Open Research ◽

10.12688/wellcomeopenres.14720.1 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

pp. 104 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Zoe V.J. Woodhead ◽

Holly A. Rutherford ◽

Dorothy V.M. Bishop

Keyword(s):

Transcranial Doppler ◽

Cerebral Arteries ◽

Transcranial Doppler Sonography ◽

Future Research ◽

Generation Task ◽

Good Reliability ◽

Sentence Generation ◽

Directional Bias ◽

Word Generation ◽

Language Laterality

Background: Relative blood flow in the two middle cerebral arteries can be measured using functional transcranial Doppler sonography (fTCD) to give an index of lateralisation as participants perform a specific task. Language laterality has mostly been studied with fTCD using a word generation task, but it is not clear whether this is optimal. Methods: Using fTCD, we evaluated a sentence generation task that has shown good reliability and strong left lateralisation in fMRI. We interleaved trials of word generation, sentence generation and list generation and assessed agreement of these tasks in 31 participants (29 right-handers). Results: Although word generation and sentence generation both gave robust left-lateralisation, Bland-Altman analysis showed that these two methods were not equivalent. The comparison list generation task was not systematically lateralised, but nevertheless laterality indices (LIs) from this task were significantly correlated with the other two tasks. Subtracting list generation LI from sentence generation LI did not affect the strength of the laterality index. Conclusions: This was a pre-registered methodological study designed to explore novel approaches to optimising measurement of language lateralisation using fTCD. It confirmed that sentence generation gives robust left lateralisation in most people, but is not equivalent to the classic word generation task. Although list generation does not show left-lateralisation at the group level, the LI on this task was correlated with left-lateralised tasks. This suggests that word and sentence generation involve adding a constant directional bias to an underlying continuum of laterality that is reliable in individuals but not biased in either direction. In future research we suggest that consistency of laterality across tasks might have more functional significance than strength or direction of laterality on any one task.

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Measurement of language laterality using functional transcranial Doppler ultrasound: a comparison of different tasks

Wellcome Open Research ◽

10.12688/wellcomeopenres.14720.2 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

pp. 104 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Zoe V.J. Woodhead ◽

Holly A. Rutherford ◽

Dorothy V.M. Bishop

Keyword(s):

Transcranial Doppler ◽

Cerebral Arteries ◽

Transcranial Doppler Sonography ◽

Future Research ◽

Generation Task ◽

Good Reliability ◽

Sentence Generation ◽

Directional Bias ◽

Word Generation ◽

Language Laterality

Background: Relative blood flow in the two middle cerebral arteries can be measured using functional transcranial Doppler sonography (fTCD) to give an index of lateralisation as participants perform a specific task. Language laterality has mostly been studied with fTCD using a word generation task, but it is not clear whether this is optimal. Methods: Using fTCD, we evaluated a sentence generation task that has shown good reliability and strong left lateralisation in fMRI. We interleaved trials of word generation, sentence generation and list generation and assessed agreement of these tasks in 31 participants (29 right-handers). Results: Although word generation and sentence generation both gave robust left-lateralisation, Bland-Altman analysis showed that these two methods were not equivalent. The comparison list generation task was not systematically lateralised, but nevertheless laterality indices (LIs) from this task were significantly correlated with the other two tasks. Subtracting list generation LI from sentence generation LI did not affect the strength of the laterality index. Conclusions: This was a pre-registered methodological study designed to explore novel approaches to optimising measurement of language lateralisation using fTCD. It confirmed that sentence generation gives robust left lateralisation in most people, but is not equivalent to the classic word generation task. Although list generation does not show left-lateralisation at the group level, the LI on this task was correlated with left-lateralised tasks. This suggests that word and sentence generation involve adding a constant directional bias to an underlying continuum of laterality that is reliable in individuals but not biased in either direction. In future research we suggest that consistency of laterality across tasks might have more functional significance than strength or direction of laterality on any one task.

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