STROKE AND LANGUAGE · The role of the right hemisphere in language recovery following stroke

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Project objective

The potential of the right hemisphere to contribute to language recovery following lesions acquired in adulthood is controversial. On the one hand, post-lesional right hemispheric activation is often seen in patients showing poor language recovery. This seems to imply that language recovery relies mainly on spared left hemispheric language areas. On the other hand, contralesional areas might be particularly critical for residual language function in patients being most severely affected. This project investigates the role of right hemispheric areas for language recovery following stroke in patients displaying either sensory or motor aphasia. Right hemispheric activation related to either language perception (sensory aphasia) or production (motor aphasia) will be identified using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The functional significance of right hemispheric activation will then be tested using transcranial magnetic stimulation. Fibre tractography based on diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging will be used to reveal the connectivity of right hemispheric areas showing post stroke language related activation to left hemispheric language areas. Patients will be followed up during the process of recovery with detailed documentation of the speech therapy received during rehabilitation. Patients showing right hemispheric language related activation will be compared to patients showing only left hemispheric activation and to an age-matched healthy control group.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

• THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD · OXFORDCoordinatorUnited Kingdom

Links

• View on CORDIS