Determination of language dominance with synthetic aperture magnetometry: comparison with the Wada test

Cerebral dominance for language function was investigated with synthetic aperture magnetometry (SAM). The results were compared with those of the Wada test. SAM is a spatial filtering technique that enables demonstration of the spatiotemporal distribution of oscillatory changes (synchronization and desynchronization) in magnetoencephalography (MEG) signals elicited by specific brain activation. MEG was conducted during a silent reading task in 20 consecutive preoperative neurosurgical patients who also underwent a Wada test. The spatial distribution of oscillatory changes related to silent reading was shown tomographically with SAM as statistical images. Language dominance was estimated by the laterality index, which scales the lateralization of the beta (13–25 Hz) and low gamma (25–50 Hz) band desynchronizations in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) or middle frontal gyrus (MFG). Oscillatory changes were distributed multifocally and bilaterally in the occipital cortex, IFG or MFG, and temporo-parieto-occipital border regions. In 19 patients (95%), language lateralization estimated by the laterality index was congruent with the result of the Wada test. In left-handed patients, SAM analysis clearly differentiated language dominance (left, right, or bilateral), and the findings were confirmed by the Wada test. Lateralization of beta or low gamma band desynchronizations in the IFG or MFG is a good indicator of the side of language dominance. Reliability of MEG imaging with SAM is sufficient to evaluate language dominance preoperatively in neurosurgical patients.