Language function areas mapping and its application in neurosurgery

Abstract

The ultimate goal of neurosurgery is to remove the lesion to the greatest extent while retaining neurological function. The preservation of motor function, sensory function, especially language function is of great significance to patients. So preoperative and intraoperative functional mapping has important guidance for surgery. The current invasive method⁃intraoperative direct electrical stimulation (DES) is still the "gold standard" for language mapping and lateralization, while non⁃invasive method such as functional magnetic resonance (fMRI), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), magnetoencephalography (MEG) and navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (nTMS) are easy to operate and can be used for preoperative positioning, postoperative follow⁃up and review. Multimodal functional assessment can improve the accuracy of preoperative language mapping. This article intends to review the positioning methods of language function areas and compare the advantages and disadvantages of various methods. DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1672⁃6731.2020.11.003

Keywords

• language
• cerebral cortex
• electric stimulation
• magnetic resonance imaging
• magnetoencephalography
• neuronavigation
• transcranial magnetic stimulation
• review