Purpose

The aim of this study is to use functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) to analyse the cortical presentation of selected language functions in patients after a total laryngectomy.

Methods

Eighteen patients after total laryngectomy treated with electrolarynx speech and 18 volunteers were included. The mean number of patients’ post-operative speech rehabilitation sessions was five (range of 3–8 sessions). Four paradigms were used, including noun generation, pseudoword reading, reading phrases with pseudowords, and nonliteral sign reproduction.

Results

In noun, the most significant difference between the groups was the stronger activation of both lingual gyri in the volunteers. Pseudoword reading resulted in stronger activations in patients than in volunteers in the lingual gyri, the right cerebellum, the right Broca’s area, and the right parietal operculum. Reading phrases with pseudowords involved different parts of the Brodmann area 40. During nonliteral sign reproduction, there was a stronger activation of the left Broca’s area in volunteers and a stronger activation of the left premotor cortex in patients.

Conclusion

This study provides evidence of altered cortical activation in response to language tasks in patients after a laryngectomy compared with healthy volunteers, which may be considered brain plasticity in response to a laryngectomy.

中文翻译：

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全喉切除术后患者语言功能的皮层表现：一项功能磁共振成像研究。

目的

这项研究的目的是使用功能磁共振（fMRI）来分析全喉切除术后患者所选语言功能的皮层表现。

方法

包括18例全喉切除术后用电喉讲话治疗的患者和18名志愿者。病人术后术后语言康复训练的平均次数为五次（3-8次）。使用了四种范式，包括名词生成，伪单词阅读，阅读带有伪单词的短语以及非文字符号再现。

结果

在名词中，两组之间最显着的差异是志愿者的两个舌状回合的激活更强。伪单词的读取导致患者的激活比舌状回，右小脑，右Broca区域和右顶盖的志愿者更强。阅读带有伪词的短语涉及Brodmann区域40的不同部分。在非文字符号复制过程中，志愿者的左Broca区域激活更强，患者的左前运动皮层激活更强。

结论

这项研究提供了与健康志愿者相比，喉切除术后患者应对语言任务而改变的皮质激活的证据，这可以被认为是喉切除术后的大脑可塑性。