Neuroanatomy and physiology of aphasia: Evidence from positron emission tomography

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Abstract
Positron emission tomography allows for the study of brain physiology and chemistry in humans. Most studies to date have examined cerebral blood flow, oxygen or glucose metabolism. Studies in aphasic patients have focused on glucose metabolism and have demonstrated that the extent of cerebral metabolic changes consistently involves brain regions which are not structurally damaged. These remote metabolic changes follow consistent patterns that are dependent on the location and extent of structural damage. Metabolic changes were variably found in undamaged prefrontal lobe, basal ganglia and thalamus. Variation in clinical aphasic syndromes were found to relate to these metabolic changes, suggesting that some aspects of the clinical features result from differences in prefrontal function rather than directly from structural damage to perisylvian structures.