Brain activation during silent word generation evaluated with functional MRI.
This is a study of word generation during functional MRI (fMRI). Eleven normal healthy subjects were instructed to generate words covertly, (i.e., silently) that began with particular letters. Images were acquired on a conventional 1.5T scanner at three contiguous axial planes encompassing language-related areas of the temporal and frontal lobe. The data were analyzed at the level of a Talairach box, after individually fitting the proportional Talairach grid system to each slice. The main variable of interest was the number of activated pixels within a Talairach box. Boxes with a significant increase in the proportion of activated pixels were located in three regions of the left neocortex: (1) Brodmann areas 44 and 45 in the dorsolateral frontal cortex (Broca's area), (2) areas 21 and 37 in the temporal cortex, (3) and the striate/extrastriate cortex (areas 17 & 18). The results are discussed in terms of a cognitive model of word generation and are compared, in detail, with the results of prior relevant imaging studies.
Department of Psychiatry, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA. lxf5@po.cwru.edu
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L
Friedman
J T
JT
Kenny
A L
AL
Wise
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D
Wu
T A
TA
Stuve
D A
DA
Miller
J A
JA
Jesberger
J S
JS
Lewin
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology*