Two chronic, nonfluent aphasia patients participated in overt naming fMRI scans, pre-and post-a series of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) treatments as part of a TMS study to improve naming. Each patient received ten, 1-Hz rTMS treatments to suppress a part of R pars triangularis. P1 was a 'good responder' with improved naming and phrase length; P2 was a 'poor responder' without improved naming.Pre-TMS (10 yr. poststroke), P1 had significant activation in R and L sensorimotor cortex, R IFG, and in both L and R SMA during overt naming fMRI (28% pictures named. At 3 mo. post-TMS (42% named), P1 showed continued activation in R and L sensorimotor cortex, R IFG, and in R and L SMA. At 16 mo. post-TMS (58% named), he also showed significant activation in R and L sensorimotor cortex mouth and R IFG. He now showed a significant increase in activation in the L SMA compared to pre-TMS and at 3 mo. post-TMS (p<.02; p<.05, respectively). At 16 mo. there was also greater activation in L than R SMA (p<.08). At 46 mo. post-TMS (42% named), this new LH pattern of activation continued. He improved on the Boston Naming Test from 11 pictures named pre-TMS, to scores ranging from 14-18 pictures, post-TMS (2 mo. to 43 mo. post-TMS). His longest phrase length (Cookie Theft picture) improved from 3 words pre-TMS, to 5-6 words post-TMS.Pre-TMS (1.5 yr. poststroke), P2 had significant activation in R IFG (3% pictures named). At 3 and 6 mo. post-TMS, there was no longer significant activation in R IFG, but significant activation was present in R sensorimotor cortex. On all three fMRI scans, P2 had significant activation in both the L and R SMA. There was no new, lasting perilesional LH activation across sessions for this patient. Over time, there was little or no change in his activation. His naming remained only at 1-2 pictures during all three fMRI scans. His BNT score and longest phrase length remained at 1 word, post-TMS.Lesion site may play a role in each patient's fMRI activation pattern and response to TMS treatment. P2, the poor responder, had an atypical frontal lesion in the L motor and premotor cortex that extended Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. The fMRI data of our patient who had good response following TMS support the notion that restoration of the LH language network is linked in part, to better recovery of naming and phrase length in nonfluent aphasia. NIH Public Access
The arcuate fasciculus (AF) is a white matter pathway traditionally considered to connect left Broca's area with posterior language zones. We utilized diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in eight healthy subjects (5M) to track pathways in the horizontal mid-portion of the AF (hAF) to subregions of Broca's area -pars triangularis (PTr) and pars opercularis (POp); and to ventral premotor cortex (vPMC) in the right and left hemispheres (RH, LH). These pathways have previously been studied in the LH, but not in the RH. Only 1/8 subjects showed fiber tracts between PTr and hAF in the RH (also, only 1/8 in the LH). In contrast to PTr, 5/8 subjects showed fiber tracts between POp and hAF in the RH (8/8 in the LH). Fiber tracts for vPMC were similar to those of POp, where 7/8 subjects showed fiber tracts between vPMC and hAF in the RH (8/8 in the LH). Our designated hAF could have included some of the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) III, because it is difficult to separate the two fiber bundles. The SLF III has been previously reported to connect supramarginal gyrus with POp and vPMC in the LH. Thus, although the present DTI study showed almost no pathways between PTr and hAF in the RH (and in the LH), robust pathways were observed between POp and/or vPMC with hAF in the RH (and in LH). These results replicate previous studies for the LH, but are new, for the RH. They could contribute to better understanding of recovery in aphasia.
The physical arrangement of receptive fields (RFs) within neural structures is important for local computations. Nonuniform distribution of tuning within populations of neurons can influence emergent tuning properties, causing bias in local processing. This issue was studied in the auditory system of barn owls. The owl’s external nucleus of the inferior colliculus (ICx) contains a map of auditory space where the frontal region is overrepresented. We measured spatiotemporal RFs of ICx neurons using spatial white noise. We found a population-wide bias in surround suppression such that suppression from frontal space was stronger. This asymmetry increased with laterality in spatial tuning. The bias could be explained by a model of lateral inhibition based on the overrepresentation of frontal space observed in ICx. The model predicted trends in surround suppression across ICx that matched the data. Thus, the uneven distribution of spatial tuning within the map could explain the topography of time-dependent tuning properties. This mechanism may have significant implications for the analysis of natural scenes by sensory systems.
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