title: Right hemispheric dominance of visual phenomena evoked by intracerebral stimulation of the human visual cortex.
abstract: Electrical brain stimulation can provide important information about the functional organization of the human visual cortex. Here, we report the visual phenomena evoked by a large number (562) of intracerebral electrical stimulations performed at low-intensity with depth electrodes implanted in the occipito-parieto-temporal cortex of 22 epileptic patients. Focal electrical stimulation evoked primarily visual hallucinations with various complexities: simple (spot or blob), intermediary (geometric forms), or complex meaningful shapes (faces); visual illusions and impairments of visual recognition were more rarely observed. With the exception of the most posterior cortical sites, the probability of evoking a visual phenomenon was significantly higher in the right than the left hemisphere. Intermediary and complex hallucinations, illusions, and visual recognition impairments were almost exclusively evoked by stimulation in the right hemisphere. The probability of evoking a visual phenomenon decreased substantially from the occipital pole to the most anterior sites of the temporal lobe, and this decrease was more pronounced in the left hemisphere. The greater sensitivity of the right occipito-parieto-temporal regions to intracerebral electrical stimulation to evoke visual phenomena supports a predominant role of right hemispheric visual areas from perception to recognition of visual forms, regardless of visuospatial and attentional factors.
authors.affiliation: Service de Neurologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nancy, Nancy, France; Université de Lorraine, CRAN, UMR 7039, Nancy, France; Faculté de Médecine de Nancy, Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France; Université Catholique de Louvain, IPSY, IoNS, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgique; CNRS, CRAN, UMR 7039, Nancy, France.
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jonas
authors.forename: Solène
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Frismand
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Vignal
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Colnat-Coulbois
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Koessler
authors.forename: Hervé
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vespignani
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rossion
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Maillard
mesh_terms: D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D007088:Illusions / Q000502:physiology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011336:Probability; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology
keywords: electrical stimulation; hallucination; hemispheric asymmetry; prosopagnosia; recognition; stereo-electroencephalography
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