Essential language function of the right hemisphere in brain tumor patients.
Neuroimaging studies of language networks in patients with brain lesions of the left language-dominant hemisphere have shown activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). We tested the functional relevance of right IFG activation using neuroimaging-guided repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to disturb language function over bilateral IFG in right-handed patients with brain tumors and controls. All subjects were susceptible to TMS over the left IFG. In patients, this susceptibility correlated with left-sided the degree of language lateralization to the left. Those patients with lowest dominance were also susceptible to right-sided TMS proving relevant language function of the right IFG.
Thiel
Alexander
A
Department of Neurology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. A.Thiel@pet.mpin-koeln.mpg.de
Habedank
Birgit
B
Winhuisen
Lutz
L
Herholz
Karl
K
Kessler
Josef
J
Haupt
Walter F
WF
Heiss
Wolf-Dieter
WD
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001931:Brain Mapping; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology*; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008280:Magnetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000528:radiation effects; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects