title: Language lateralization of a bilingual person with epilepsy using a combination of fMRI and neuropsychological assessment findings.
abstract: This report describes the findings of language functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a left-handed Urdu and English speaker with right hemisphere-originating epilepsy and unclear language dominance. fMRI is a reliable method for determining hemispheric language dominance in presurgical planning. However, the effects of bilingualism on language activation depend on many factors including age of acquisition and proficiency in the tested language, and morphological properties of the language itself. This case demonstrates that completing fMRI in both spoken languages and interpreting the results within the context of a neuropsychological assessment are essential in arriving at accurate conclusions about language distribution in bilingual patients.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Medical Physics , Dalhousie University , Halifax , Canada.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: O'Grady
authors.affiliation: b Acquired Brain Injury - Surgical Epilepsy Programme , Nova Scotia Health Authority , Halifax , Canada.
authors.forename: Antonina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Omisade
authors.affiliation: c Division of Neurology , Dalhousie University , Halifax , Canada.
authors.forename: R Mark
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Sadler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D019303:Multilingualism; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen
keywords: Epilepsy surgery; bilingualism; functional MRI; language laterality; neuropsychological assessment