R. Salmelin, P. Helenius, M. Vihla, A. Tarkiainen, T. Parviainen, J. Kujala, M. Liljeström, M. Inkinen, H. Laaksonen, M. Viinikainen, T. Saarinen, A. Puurula, J. Uusvuori, A. Jalava, K. Hytönen.
Collaborators:
Linguistic communication is an integral part of human cognition and of humanity itself. Deficits in language perception and production are often experienced as exceptionally debilitating and even unbearable. Modern functional neuroimaging has made it possible to track the neurophysiology of linguistic processes noninvasively, from outside of the skull. Individual cerebral maps of language representation and its functionality would be extremely useful when preparing for brain surgery, in language rehabilitation and re-learning after brain injuries, and in diagnosis and therapeutic treatment of developmental language disorders. For this type of mapping to be truly relevant, however, we must understand the representation of language function in the normal brain. One of our main approaches in mapping the cerebral representation of language is to compare subjects who have intact language function with subjects who have a functional developmental disorder, with no obvious structural correlate, in a specific aspect of language, like reading (dyslexia) or speaking (stuttering). Such comparisons have provided us with initial estimates for cortical areas and time windows which are potentially critical to the normal function (fluent reading or speech). Detailed studies are then designed to determine the specific functional roles of the distinct activation patterns.