1Department of NeurosurgeryTianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China
2Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin, China
3Department of Radiology and Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Imaging, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China
4Department of Surgery, First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China
5Department of Neurosurgery, Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Shandong, China

Abstract 

Essential language sites and the arcuate fasciculus (AF) have been extensively researched. However, the relationship between them remains insufficiently studied, especially in healthy people. Navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (nTMS) is increasingly used in language mapping. While enjoying the advantage of non-invasiveness, it is also capable of inducing a virtual lesion in the brain. Thus, it offers the possibility of using the virtual-lesion method to study the healthy brain. This study combined nTMS and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) tractography to investigate the relationship between essential language sites and the AF in 30 healthy right-handed volunteers. A total of 143 essential language sites were identified using nTMS, and a total of 175 AF terminations were identified using DTI tractography. Sixty-six sites had a direct correlation with the AF, accounting for 46% of the total essential language sites. Forty-seven AF terminations harbored essential language sites, accounting for 27% of the total AF terminations. Upon data rendering to the cortical parcellation system, a region-related heterogeneity of the correlation rate was found. This study provides the first data on the relationship between essential language sites and the AF in healthy adults.

Keywords

Essential language site; Arcuate fasciculus; Navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation; Diffusion tensor tractography; Neuroplasticity

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