Neuroscience 2000 Abstract
| Presentation Number: | 790.4 |
|---|---|
| Abstract Title: | Cerebral dominance for language in children: comparison of the Wada test with functional MRI. |
| Authors: |
Baldeweg, T. H.*1
; Vargha-Khadem, F.1
; Holloway, V.1
; Liegois, F.1
; Gadian, D. G.1
; Conelly, A.1
1Cognittive Neurosci Unit, Inst Child Health, London WC1N 2AP, United Kingdom |
| Primary Theme and Topics |
I. Neural Basis of Behavior - 103. Cognition: language |
| Secondary Theme and Topics | J. Disorders of the Nervous System and Aging<br />- 122. Epilepsy: human studies and animal models |
| Session: |
790. Cognition language Slide |
| Presentation Time: | Thursday, November 9, 2000 8:45 AM-9:00 AM |
| Location: | Room 388 |
| Keywords: | Language, Hemisphere Dominance, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Epilepsy |
The assessment of hemispheric dominance for language is being carried out after intracarotid administration of sodium amytal (Wada Test). This highly invasive method is not free of risks and is also distressing to the patient. Recent studies in adults have shown a good correlation between language dominance and lateralisation on fMRI. Here we present preliminary data in 6 consecutive patients who underwent Wada testing and fMRI scanning prior to epilepsy surgery. FMRI was performed on a 1.5T Siemens Vision system using a whole brain 3D EPI sequence. Two scans each with a total of 120 data sets were collected. During scanning the subjects silently generated verbs in response to auditory presentation of nouns. fMRI activations (analysed using SPM96b) included: the left inferior frontal gyrus (Broca’s area), premotor cortex and superior temporal gyrus bilaterally. The Wada test was not completed in 2 patients. One patient did not show language-related activation in any of 4 scans performed. Of the remaining 4 patients complete concordance between Wada and fMRI was found in one case of right hemisphere dominance. In the other cases (1 right, 2 left) significant bilateral activation was found, with some preponderance for the dominant hemisphere. In comparison with similar data in adults the significant proportion of children with bilateral fMRI activation may reflect processes of language reorganization due to greater cortical plasticity in children. These preliminary data suggests that findings in adults cannot be extended automatically to pediatric populations and that further careful study is warranted.
Sample Citation:
[Authors]. [Abstract Title]. Program No. XXX.XX. 2000 Neuroscience Meeting Planner. New Orleans, LA: Society for Neuroscience, 2000. Online.
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