Language Lateralization in Chinese Left-handers using fMRI with Verbal Fluency and Homophone Judgment Tasks
Date Issued
2009
Date
2009
Author(s)
Peng, Yu-Ju
Abstract
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research has been found to be a robust method for language lateralization. However, the majority of the subjects examined were right-handed, and relatively less is known about the consistency of language lateralization in left handers. Two fMRI tasks, the verbal fluency and the homophone judgment tasks that involved semantic fluency and phonological processing respectively, were used to examine the language representation in Chinese speaking left-handers. Weighted laterality index (wLI) was calculated for evaluating language lateralization. Our study showed atypical language lateralization in 5% of the right-handers, with similar incidence as previous western findings, but showed greater proportion (35%-50%) in left-handers. This study provided consistent evidence that fMRI is a robust measure in determining language lateralization in Chinese right-handers. However, more caution needs to be taken for left-handers undergoing presurgical planning by using clinical fMRI when the eloquent cortex is the focus, and more than one kind of language tasks may be required.
Subjects
verbal fluency
phonological judgment
fMRI
Chinese language
lateralization
hemispheric dominance
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Loading...
Name
ntu-98-R95227208-1.pdf
Size
23.53 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum
(MD5):b1fb969e3830a96ea0d1d467e3444347