Comparative Analysis of Brain Activity in Verbal and Spatial Thought in Healthy Subjects and Patients with Speech Disorders

摘要

We report here an analysis of specifi c brain activity measured by fMRI during solution of spatial and verbal tasks in 15 healthy subjects and nine patients with dysarthria or mild sensorimotor aphasia. In healthy subjects, activation of Brodmann area (BA) 19 and Broca’s area was more characteristic of verbal thought, while greater bilateral activation of the temporal-parietal-occipital zone, along with the left insula and visual fi elds 17 and 18 on the left, was specifi c for spatial thought. In patients with speech disorders, the distribution of areas specifi c to one task or another underwent signifi cant changes, with non-activation of areas of brain activation characteristic of healthy subjects. Despite the absence of clinical signs of cognitive impairments, the mean verbal task solution time was signifi cantly longer and the proportion of correct responses was smaller in patients than in healthy subjects.