title: Cortical language activation in aphasia: a functional MRI study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Functional neuroimaging has been used in neurolinguistic research on normal subjects and on patients with brain damage. This study was designed to investigate the differences of the neural basis underlying language processing between normal subjects and aphasics.
  
  
  METHODS
  Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to map the language network in 6 normal subjects and 3 patients with aphasia who were in the stage of recovery from acute stroke. The participants performed a word generation task during multi-slice functional scanning for the measurement of signal change associated with regional neural activity induced by the task.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In normal subjects, a distributed language network was activated. Activations were present in the frontal, temporal, parietal and occipital regions. In the patient group, however, no activation was detected in the left inferior frontal gyrus whether the patient had a lesion in the left frontal lobe or not. Two patients showed activations in some right hemisphere regions where no activation appeared in normal subjects.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  fMRI with word generation task is feasible for evaluating language function in aphasic patients. Remote effect of focal lesion and functional redistribution or reorganisation can be found in aphasic patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310003, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-jun
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Min-ming
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: De-sheng
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Shang
authors.forename: Qi-dong
authors.initials: QD
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ben-yan
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Xu-chu
authors.initials: XC
authors.lastname: Weng
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001037:Aphasia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged