Determination of hemispheric dominance with mental rotation using functional transcranial Doppler sonography and FMRI.
OBJECTIVE
the aim of this study was to investigate specific activation patterns and potential gender differences during mental rotation and to investigate whether functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and functional transcranial Doppler sonography (fTCD) lateralize hemispheric dominance concordantly.


METHODS
regional brain activation and hemispheric dominance during mental rotation (cube perspective test) were investigated in 10 female and 10 male healthy subjects using fMRI and fTCD.


RESULTS
significant activation was found in the superior parietal lobe, at the parieto-occipital border, in the middle and superior frontal gyrus bilaterally, and the right inferior frontal gyrus using fMRI. Men showed a stronger lateralization to the right hemisphere during fMRI and a tendency toward stronger right-hemispheric activation during fTCD. Furthermore, more activation in frontal and parieto-occipital regions of the right hemisphere was observed using fMRI. Hemispheric dominance for mental rotation determined by the 2 methods correlated well (P= .008), but did not show concordant results in every single subject.


CONCLUSIONS
the neural basis of mental rotation depends on a widespread bilateral network. Hemispheric dominance for mental rotation determined by fMRI and fTCD, though correlating well, is not always concordant. Hemispheric lateralization of complex cortical functions such as spatial rotation therefore should be investigated using multimodal imaging approaches, especially if used clinically as a tool for the presurgical evaluation of patients undergoing neurosurgery.
Hattemer
Katja
K
Department of Neurology, Interdisciplinary Epilepsy Center, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
Plate
Annika
A
Heverhagen
Johannes T
JT
Haag
Anja
A
Keil
Boris
B
Klein
Karl Martin
KM
Hermsen
Anke
A
Oertel
Wolfgang H
WH
Hamer
Hajo M
HM
Rosenow
Felix
F
Knake
Susanne
S
D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007092:Imagination / Q000502:physiology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D012737:Sex Factors; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D017585:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial