Neurology 2002;59:238-244
© 2002 American Academy of Neurology
Language lateralization in left-handed and ambidextrous people
fMRI data
J. P. Szaflarski, MD PhD,
J. R. Binder, MD,
E. T. Possing, MS,
K. A. McKiernan, PhD,
B. D. Ward, MS and
T. A. Hammeke, PhD
From the Department of Neurology (Dr. Szaflarski), University of Cincinnati Medical Center, OH; and Department of Neurology (Drs. Binder, McKiernan, and Hammeke, and E. Possing), and Biophysics Research Institute (B. Ward), The Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Jerzy P. Szaflarski, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Department of Neurology, MSB Rm. 4506, ML 525, 231 Albert B. Sabin Way, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0525; e-mail: Jerzy.Szaflarski{at}uc.edu
Background: It is generally accepted that most people have left-hemispheric language dominance, though the actual incidence of atypical language distribution in non–right-handed subjects has not been extensively studied. The authors examined language distribution in these subjects and evaluated the relationships between personal handedness, family history of sinistrality, and a language laterality index (LI) measured with fMRI.
Methods: The authors used whole-brain fMRI to examine 50 healthy, non–right-handed subjects (Edinburgh Handedness Inventory quotient between -100 and 52) while they performed language activation and nonlinguistic control tasks. Counts of active voxels (p < 0.001) were computed in 22 regions of interest (ROI) covering both hemispheres and the cerebellum. LI were calculated for each ROI and each entire hemisphere using the formula [L - R]/[L + R].
Results: Activation was predominantly right hemispheric in 8% (4/50), symmetric in 14% (7/50), and predominantly left hemispheric in 78% (39/50) of the subjects. Lateralization patterns were similar for all hemispheric ROI. Associations were observed between personal handedness and LI (r = 0.28, p = 0.046), family history of sinistrality and LI (p = 0.031), and age and LI (r = -0.49, p < 0.001).
Conclusions: The incidence of atypical language lateralization in normal left-handed and ambidextrous subjects is higher than in normal right-handed subjects (22% vs 4–6%). These whole-brain results confirm previous findings in a left-handed cohort studied with fMRI of the lateral frontal lobe. Associations observed between personal handedness and LI and family history of handedness and LI may indicate a common genetic factor underlying the inheritance of handedness and language lateralization.
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