Spanish Language Mapping Using MEG: A Validation Study

The purpose of the present study was to compare magnetoencephalography (MEG) data with the results of the intracarotid amytal procedure (IAP). Twenty-one native Spanish-speaking patients with intractable epilepsy underwent MEG language mapping. A subset of 8 patients also underwent an IAP. With the exception of 2 patients who showed right hemisphere dominance, all other patients showed left hemisphere dominance for language on the MEG recording. The IAP findings were consistent with MEG results in 7 patients. The eighth patient who, according to the MEG data, had probable right hemisphere dominance for language did not show clear hemispheric specialization for language on the IAP and suffered a transient global aphasia following a right temporal lobotomy. These results suggests that MEG-based language mapping can play an important role in presurgical clinical evaluation.

Authors

• Fernando Maestú
• Tomás Ortiz
• Alberto Fernandez
• Carlos Amo
• Pilar Martin
• Santiago Fernández
• Rafael G. Sola

Keywords

• receptive language
• functional brain imaging
• intracarotid amytal procedure
• magnetoencephalography
• magnetic source imaging