Dissociated expressive and receptive language functions on magnetoencephalography, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and amobarbital studies

2006 ◽  
Vol 104 (4) ◽  
pp. 598-607 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyousuke Kamada ◽  
Fumiya Takeuchi ◽  
Shinya Kuriki ◽  
Tomoki Todo ◽  
Akio Morita ◽  
...  

✓Dissociated language functions are largely invalidated by standard techniques such as the amobarbital test and cortical stimulation. Language studies in which magnetoencephalography (MEG) and functional magnetic resonance (fMR) imaging are used to record data while the patient performs lexicosemantic tasks have enabled researchers to perform independent brain mapping for temporal and frontal language functions (MEG is used for temporal and fMR imaging for frontal functions). In this case report, the authors describe a right-handed patient in whom a right-sided insular glioma was diagnosed. The patient had a right-lateralized receptive language area, but expressive language function was identified in the left hemisphere on fMR imaging–and MEG-based mapping. Examinations were performed in 20 right-handed patients with low-grade gliomas (control group) for careful comparison with and interpretation of this patient’s results. In these tests, all patients were asked to generate verbs related to acoustically presented nouns (verb generation) for fMR imaging, and to categorize as abstract or concrete a set of visually presented words consisting of three Japanese letters for fMR imaging and MEG. The most prominent display of fMR imaging activation by the verb-generation task was observed in the left inferior and middle frontal gyri in all participants, including the patient presented here. Estimated dipoles identified with the abstract/concrete categorization task were concentrated in the superior temporal and supramarginal gyri in the left hemisphere in all control patients. In this patient, however, the right superior temporal region demonstrated significantly stronger activations on MEG and fMR imaging with the abstract/concrete categorization task. Suspected dissociation of the language functions was successfully mapped with these two imaging modalities and was validated by the modified amobarbital test and the postoperative neurological status. The authors describe detailed functional profiles obtained in this patient and review the cases of four previously described patients in whom dissociated language functions were found.

2007 ◽  
Vol 106 (4) ◽  
pp. 726-727
Author(s):  
Geert-Jan Rutten ◽  
Nick Ramsey

Dissociated language functions are largely invalidated by standard techniques such as the amobarbital test and cortical stimulation. Language studies in which magnetoencephalography (MEG) and functional magnetic resonance (fMR) imaging are used to record data while the patient performs lexicosemantic tasks have enabled researchers to perform independent brain mapping for temporal and frontal language functions (MEG is used for temporal and fMR imaging for frontal functions). In this case report, the authors describe a right-handed patient in whom a right-sided insular glioma was diagnosed. The patient had a right-lateralized receptive language area, but expressive language function was identified in the left hemisphere on fMR imaging– and MEG-based mapping. Examinations were performed in 20 right-handed patients with low-grade gliomas (control group) for careful comparison with and interpretation of this patient's results. In these tests, all patients were asked to generate verbs related to acoustically presented nouns (verb generation) for fMR imaging, and to categorize as abstract or concrete a set of visually presented words consisting of three Japanese letters for fMR imaging and MEG. The most prominent display of fMR imaging activation by the verb-generation task was observed in the left inferior and middle frontal gyri in all participants, including the patient presented here. Estimated dipoles identified with the abstract/concrete categorization task were concentrated in the superior temporal and supra-marginal gyri in the left hemisphere in all control patients. In this patient, however, the right superior temporal region demonstrated significantly stronger activations on MEG and fMR imaging with the abstract/concrete categorization task. Suspected dissociation of the language functions was successfully mapped with these two imaging modalities and was validated by the modified amobarbital test and the postoperative neurological status. The authors describe detailed functional profiles obtained in this patient and review the cases of four previously described patients in whom dissociated language functions were found.


Neurosurgery ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 52 (6) ◽  
pp. 1335-1347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franck-Emmanuel Roux ◽  
Kader Boulanouar ◽  
Jean-Albert Lotterie ◽  
Mehdi Mejdoubi ◽  
James P. LeSage ◽  
...  

Abstract OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to analyze the usefulness of preoperative language functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), by correlating fMRI data with intraoperative cortical stimulation results for patients with brain tumors. METHODS Naming and verb generation tasks were used, separately or in combination, for 14 right-handed patients with tumors in the left hemisphere. fMRI data obtained were analyzed with SPM software, with two standard analysis thresholds (P < 0.005 and then P < 0.05). The fMRI data were then registered in a frameless stereotactic neuronavigational device and correlated with direct brain mapping results. We used a statistical model with the fMRI information as a predictor, spatially correlating each intraoperatively mapped cortical site with fMRI data integrated in the neuronavigational system (site-by-site correlation). Eight patients were also studied with language fMRI postoperatively, with the same acquisition protocol. RESULTS We observed high variability in signal extents and locations among patients with both tasks. The activated areas were located mainly in the left hemisphere in the middle and inferior frontal gyri (F2 and F3), the superior and middle temporal gyri (T1 and T2), and the supramarginal and angular gyri. A total of 426 cortical sites were tested for each task among the 14 patients. In frontal and temporoparietal areas, poor sensitivity of the fMRI technique was observed for the naming and verb generation tasks (22 and 36%, respectively) with P < 0.005 as the analysis threshold. Although not perfect, the specificity of the fMRI technique was good in all conditions (97% for the naming task and 98% for the verb generation task). Better correlation (sensitivity, 59%; specificity, 97%) was achieved by combining the two fMRI tasks. Variation of the analysis threshold to P < 0.05 increased the sensitivity to 66% while decreasing the specificity to 91%. Postoperative fMRI data (for the cortical brain areas studied intraoperatively) were in accordance with brain mapping results for six of eight patients. Complete agreement between pre- and postoperative fMRI studies and direct brain mapping results was observed for only three of eight patients. CONCLUSION With the paradigms and analysis thresholds used in this study, language fMRI data obtained with naming or verb generation tasks, before and after surgery, were imperfectly correlated with intraoperative brain mapping results. A better correlation could be obtained by combining the fMRI tasks. The overall results of this study demonstrated that language fMRI could not be used to make critical surgical decisions in the absence of direct brain mapping. Other acquisition protocols are required for evaluation of the potential role of language fMRI in the accurate detection of essential cortical language areas.


2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (11) ◽  
pp. 941-944
Author(s):  
Olivera Sveljo ◽  
Katarina Koprivsek ◽  
Milos Lucic ◽  
Ljubodrag Minic

Introduction. New methods for studying brain functions have provided the new insights into human brain. It is really possible to study a cortical adaptation in adults who have sustained injury. We reported cortical changes in a left frontal low-grade glioma patient during disease progression and after reoperation by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Case report. The use of fMRI exams for localisation of eloquent motor and language areas were performed three times in a period of 15 months: seven years after initial tumor resection, eleven months later and three months after the reoperation. The first fMRI demonstrated cortical activation for motor tasks in the expected location of primary motor area while later examinations showed activations of both primary motor areas for right hand movement. The first exam language evaluation showed the left hemisphere dominance for both language tasks, while the second fMRI demonstrated the right hemisphere dominance for complex word generation task, but the left hemisphere remained dominant in simple language task. After the reoperation, language mapping revealed the left hemisphere dominance for both language tasks. Conclusion. fMRI evaluation of cortical changes in low-grade glioma patients may additionally optimize and individualize neurosurgical treatment.


2002 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 132-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dianne P. Anderson

AbstractFunctional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been recognised as a neuroimaging technique suitable for examination of higher cognitive function in children. It has been used to elucidate cognitive neural networks associated with various aspects of language function in several group and case studies of school-aged children. Language function has been lateralised and localised with fMRI in clinical samples, neurologically normal children and children with developmental language disorders. Issues of plasticity of language function during development and following injury have also been considered. Several paediatric case studies have also raised questions with respect to the interpretation of fMRI language activation. In spite of methodological challenges, fMRI has proved a useful technique for examination of the brain-behaviour relationship in developmental language functions. This paper reviews fMRI studies of language, including reading, in children.


2005 ◽  
Vol 102 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuan H. Kho ◽  
Frans S. S. Leijten ◽  
Geert-Jan Rutten ◽  
Jan Vermeulen ◽  
Peter van Rijen ◽  
...  

✓ The Wada test is still considered the gold standard for determining the language-dominant hemisphere prior to brain surgery. The authors report on a 34-year-old right-handed woman whose Wada test results indicated that the right hemisphere was dominant for language. In contrast, functional magnetic resonance (fMR) imaging was indicative of bilaterally represented language functions. Activation in the left hemisphere demonstrated on fMR imaging was most pronounced in the Broca area. Importantly, fMR imaging results in this area were confirmed on electrocortical stimulation mapping. These contradictory findings indicated that a right hemispherre dominance for language according to the Wada test should be questioned and verified using electrocortical stimulation. Nonetheless, the question remains whether involvement of these areas in the left frontal hemisphere is critical for language, as these were spared during surgery.


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