Direct evidence from intraoperative electrocortical stimulation indicates shared and distinct speech production center between Chinese and English languages.
Chinese processing has been suggested involving distinct brain areas from English. However, current functional localization studies on Chinese speech processing use mostly "indirect" techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalography, lacking direct evidence by means of electrocortical recording. In this study, awake craniotomies in 66 Chinese-speaking glioma patients provide a unique opportunity to directly map eloquent language areas. Intraoperative electrocortical stimulation was conducted and the positive sites for speech arrest, anomia, and alexia were identified separately. With help of stereotaxic neuronavigation system and computational modeling, all positive sites elicited by stimulation were integrated and a series of two- and three-dimension Chinese language probability maps were built. We performed statistical comparisons between the Chinese maps and previously derived English maps. While most Chinese speech arrest areas located at typical language production sites (i.e., 50% positive sites in ventral precentral gyrus, 28% in pars opercularis and pars triangularis), which also serve English production, an additional brain area, the left middle frontal gyrus (Brodmann's areas 6/9), was found to be unique in Chinese production (P < 0.05). Moreover, Chinese speakers' inferior ventral precentral gyrus (Brodmann's area 6) was used more than that in English speakers. Our finding suggests that Chinese involves more perisylvian region (extending to left middle frontal gyrus) than English. This is the first time that direct evidence supports cross-cultural neurolinguistics differences in human beings. The Chinese language atlas will also helpful in brain surgery planning for Chinese-speakers.
Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Jinsong
J
Wu
Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Junfeng
J
Lu
Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China.|Department of Radiology and BRIC, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Han
H
Zhang
Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Jie
J
Zhang
Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Chengjun
C
Yao
Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Dongxiao
D
Zhuang
Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Tianming
T
Qiu
Department of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Qihao
Q
Guo
Department of Anesthesia, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Xiaobing
X
Hu
Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Ying
Y
Mao
Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Liangfu
L
Zhou
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D038361:Neuronavigation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology*; D013064:Speech Disorders / Q000473:pathology; D014851:Wakefulness; D055815:Young Adult
Chinese; glioma; intraoperative stimulation mapping; language mapping; neurosurgery