Identification of language-specific brain activity using magnetoencephalography

Author(s): Breier, J. I., Zouridakis, G., Papanicolaou, A. C.

Journal/Book: J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 1998; 20: P O Box 825, 2160 Sz Lisse, Netherlands. Swets Zeitlinger Publishers. 706-722.

Abstract: The purpose of the present investigation was to explore the ability of magnetoencephalography (MEG) to identify brain areas involved in language comprehension. Event-related magnetic fields (ERFs) were recorded from 7 right-handed adults with no history of neurological disorder or learning disability as they engaged in an auditory and a visual word-recognition task. A face-recognition task served as control. During the later portion of the ERFs, activity sources from both language tasks tended to overlap in temporal and temporo-parietal cortices. There was a clear preponderance of such sources in the left compared to the right hemisphere in all participants. These findings demonstrate that MEG is a promising tool for identifying brain regions involved in the analysis of linguistic stimuli, in addition to the initial encoding of stimulus features.

Note: Article Simos PG, Univ Texas, Sch Med, Dept Neurosurg, 6431 Fannin Suite 7148, Houston,TX 77030 USA

Keyword(s): HUMAN AUDITORY-CORTEX; MEDIAL TEMPORAL-LOBE; EVOKED-POTENTIALS; ELECTRICAL-STIMULATION; HIPPOCAMPAL-FORMATION; SOURCE LOCALIZATION; MAGNETIC-FIELDS; VISUAL-CORTEX; MEMORY; AREAS

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