title: fMRI shows atypical language lateralization in pediatric epilepsy patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The goal of this study was to compare language lateralization between pediatric epilepsy patients and healthy children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two groups of subjects were evaluated with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) by using a silent verb-generation task. The first group included 18 pediatric epilepsy patients, whereas the control group consisted of 18 age/gender/handedness-matched healthy subjects.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A significant difference in hemispheric lateralization index (LI) was found between children with epilepsy (mean LI =-0.038) and the age/gender/handedness-matched healthy control subjects (mean LI=0.257; t=6.490, p<0.0001). A dramatic difference also was observed in the percentage of children with epilepsy (77.78%) who had atypical LI (right-hemispheric or bilateral, LI<0.1) when compared with the age/gender/handedness-matched group (11.11%; chi(2)=16.02, p<0.001). A linear regression analysis showed a trend toward increasing language lateralization with age in healthy controls (R(2)=0.152; p=0.108). This association was not observed in pediatric epilepsy subjects (R(2)=0.004, p=0.80). A significant association between language LI and epilepsy duration also was found (R(2)=0.234, p<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows that epilepsy during childhood is associated with neuroplasticity and reorganization of language function.
authors.affiliation: Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Imaging Research Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229, USA. weihong.yuan@cchme
authors.forename: Weihong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Jerzy P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Szaflarski
authors.forename: Vincent J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Schmithorst
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schapiro
authors.forename: Anna W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Byars
authors.forename: Richard H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Strawsburg
authors.forename: Scott K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Holland
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007804:Language Development; D016014:Linear Models; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000502:physiology / Q000503:physiopathology