Neurology Medical News about deaf and dyslexic adults;left inferior frontal gyrus

Your Article Summary

(Click the title below to leave the MDLinx Network and go to the Journal's Website)

Enhanced activation of the left inferior frontal gyrus in deaf and dyslexic adults during rhyming
Brain, 06/01/09

MacSweeney M et al. – The finding of greater inferior frontal gyrus activation in both pt groups with phonologic processing difficulties vs controls suggests greater reliance on the articulatory component of speech during phonologic processing when auditory processes are absent (deaf group) or impaired (dyslexic group). Thus, the brain appears to develop a similar solution to a processing problem that has different antecedents in these 2 populations.

Methods

Use of a rhyme-judgement task to compare adult hearing developmental dyslexic pts and congenitally profoundly deaf pts vs hearing non-dyslexic controls
All groups matched on non-verbal intelligence quotient, reading age, and rhyme performance
Picture stimuli used for pts to self-generate phonologic representations
Testing of well-matched pt groups on same task elucidates whether previous literature reporting differences between pts with vs without phonologic processing difficulties show same regions of differential activation in these 2 distinct populations

Results

Data show greater activation in deaf and dyslexic pts vs hearing non-dyslexic pts across a large portion of left inferior frontal gyrus
Area includes pars triangularis, superiorly into middle frontal gyrus and posteriorly to include the pars opercularis, and the ventral precentral gyrus junction
Variability between the 2 groups with phonological processing difficulties within left inferior frontal gyrus
More activatation of superior posterior tip of left pars opercularis, extending into precentral gyrus, for deaf vs dyslexic pts
More activatation of superior posterior portion of pars triangularis, extending into ventral pars opercularis, for dyslexic vs deaf pts
Whether these regions play differing roles in compensating for poor phonologic processing remains unclear

<< Previous
Prevalence and clinical demographics of cerebral salt wasting in...

Next >>
Defining Meyer's loop–temporal lobe resections, visual...

Cochlear implantation in a profoundly deaf patient who also suffers from multiple sclerosis - a case study
Cochlear Implants International, 10/27/09 Relevance Score: 64%

On the origins of ageism among older and younger adults
International Psychogeriatrics, 11/03/09 Relevance Score: 47%

Childhood and Young Adult Overweight/Obesity and Incidence of Depression in the SUN Project
Obesity, 11/05/09 Relevance Score: 46%

Screening and Imputed Prevalence of ADHD in Adult Patients with Comorbid Substance Use Disorder at a Residential Treatment Facility
Postgraduate Medicine, 10/05/09 Relevance Score: 46%

Differences in clinical predictors of influenza in adults and children with influenza-like illness
Central European Journal of Medicine, 10/23/09 Relevance Score: 45%