Abstract
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a noninvasive technique that is increasingly used to understand the cerebral cortical networks and organizations. In this paper, we describe the role of fMRI for mapping language networks in the presurgical workup of patients with medically intractable temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Studies comparing fMRI with the intracarotid sodium amobarbital (Wada) test and fMRI with intraoperative cortical stimulation mapping for language lateralization and/or localization in medically intractable TLE are discussed.
Highlights
Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder that affects about 0.5%–1% of the general population
We describe the role of Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) for mapping language networks in the presurgical workup of patients with medically intractable temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE)
As demonstrated by Haglund et al [4], the distance from the language cortex to the resection boundary is the most important predictor of developing postoperative language deficits. Invasive tests such as the intracarotid amobarbital procedure (IAP, called the with the intracarotid sodium amobarbital (Wada) test) [5] and electrocortical stimulation mapping (ESM) [6], both of which present the patient with additional risks, are the common means for lateralization and localization of the functional regions in brain
Summary
Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder that affects about 0.5%–1% of the general population. As demonstrated by Haglund et al [4], the distance from the language cortex to the resection boundary is the most important predictor of developing postoperative language deficits Invasive tests such as the intracarotid amobarbital procedure (IAP, called the Wada test) [5] and electrocortical stimulation mapping (ESM) [6], both of which present the patient with additional risks, are the common means for lateralization and localization of the functional regions in brain. A common example used for language study that can be performed in patients for lateralization purposes is the “verb generation” and “verbal fluency” task In this type of design, participants are instructed to covertly generate action verbs for each noun (e.g., for the word “knife” one can think “to cut,” “to slice,” “to throw”). FMRI analysis requires considerable mathematical, statistical, and image processing that is provided by a variety of free or commercial software packages, such as statistical parametric mapping (SPM) (http://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/), FSL (http://www.fmrib.ox .ac.uk/fsl/), AFNI (http://afni.nimh.nih.gov/afni), and Brain Voyager (http://www.brainvoyager.com/)
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