Infiltration of the basal ganglia by brain tumors is associated with the development of co-dominant language function on fMRI.
Studies have shown that some patients with left-hemispheric brain tumors have an increased propensity for developing right-sided language support. However, the precise trigger for establishing co-dominant language function in brain tumor patients remains unknown. We analyzed the MR scans of patients with left-hemispheric tumors and either co-dominant (n=35) or left-hemisphere dominant (n=35) language function on fMRI to investigate anatomical factors influencing hemispheric language dominance. Of eleven neuroanatomical areas evaluated for tumor involvement, the basal ganglia was significantly correlated with co-dominant language function (p<0.001). Moreover, among patients whose tumors invaded the basal ganglia, those with language co-dominance performed significantly better on the Boston Naming Test, a clinical measure of aphasia, compared to their left-lateralized counterparts (56.5 versus 36.5, p=0.025). While further studies are needed to elucidate the role of the basal ganglia in establishing co-dominance, our results suggest that reactive co-dominance may afford a behavioral advantage to patients with left-hemispheric tumors.
Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, 10021, United States.
Katharina
K
Shaw
Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, 10021, United States.
Nicole
N
Brennan
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, 10021, United States.
Kaitlin
K
Woo
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, 10021, United States.
Zhigang
Z
Zhang
Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, 10021, United States.
Robert
R
Young
Department of Radiology and Medical Physics, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, 10021, United States.
Kyung K
KK
Peck
Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, 10021, United States. Electronic address: holodnya@mskcc.org.
Andrei
A
Holodny
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013067:Speech Perception
Basal ganglia; Boston Naming Test; Brain tumors; Co-dominance; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Language laterality