Functional connectivity between cortical hand motor and language areas during recovery from aphasia

Meister, I.G.; Sparing, R.; Foltys, H.; Gebert, D.; Huber, W.; Töpper, R.; Boroojerdi, B.

doi:10.1016/j.jns.2006.04.003

« Previous Next »Journal of the Neurological Sciences
Volume 247, Issue 2 , Pages 165-168, 25 September 2006

Functional connectivity between cortical hand motor and language areas during recovery from aphasia

I.G. Meister
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Aachen, Pauwelsstr. 30,52074 Aachen, Germany
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +49 241 8089630; fax: +49 241 8082444.
R. Sparing
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Aachen, Pauwelsstr. 30,52074 Aachen, Germany
H. Foltys
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Aachen, Pauwelsstr. 30,52074 Aachen, Germany
D. Gebert
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Aachen, Pauwelsstr. 30,52074 Aachen, Germany
W. Huber
- Section of Neurolinguistics, University Hospital Aachen, Germany
R. Töpper
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Aachen, Pauwelsstr. 30,52074 Aachen, Germany
B. Boroojerdi
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Aachen, Pauwelsstr. 30,52074 Aachen, Germany

Received 1 July 2005; received in revised form 3 February 2006; accepted 10 April 2006.

Abstract

Previous data indicate that in healthy subjects, there is a connectivity between cortical areas for hand movement and language on the left hemisphere. This link is possibly mediated by the so-called mirror neuron system. The present study investigated the functional relationship between linguistic and hand movement processing in patients who were recovering from post-stroke aphasia.

The excitability of the right- and left-hand motor cortex during language production in patients who were recovering from post-stroke aphasia and age-matched controls was investigated. As control, phonation was investigated. Hand motor cortex excitability was assessed with Motor Evoked Potentials which were elicited by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS).

In patients, reading aloud enhanced the excitability of the right hemispheric hand motor cortex, whereas phonation had no effect on hand motor cortex excitability. In the control group, an increased excitability of the left hemispheric hand motor system was found during reading aloud in accordance with previous data.

The present data suggest a functional connectivity between regions mediating hand movements and reading. This may indicate that the right hemisphere participates in language processing as far as involved in single word reading in patients recovering from aphasia. The coactivation between cerebral representations of hand movements and language may be used therapeutically for aphasia rehabilitation.

Keywords: Aphasia, Brain, Recovery, Stroke, Ischemic, TMS