Temporoparietal cortex and the recovery of language comprehension in aphasia

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Abstract
Recovering aphasic patients were studied to determine if changes in comprehension were linked to improvement in temporoparietal regional glucose metabolism. Eight aphasic patients were evaluated at two points in time, using (F-18)-fluorodeoxyglucose with positron emission tomography to determine resting cerebral glucose metabolism, and by the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) to determine language function. Significant correlations were found between changes over time of left and right temporoparietal regions with the change in the comprehension score from the WAB. The high correlations between the left and right temporoparietal metabolic rates do not allow for a conclusion as to the extent of contribution of either region to the improvement in comprehension. A single-case analysis demonstrated that a true understanding of the role of functional improvement (as measured by glucose metabolism) requires a more complex model that considers interactions between structural damage and the consequence of that damage on other brain regions.