American Society of Functional Neuroradiology–Recommended fMRI Paradigm Algorithms for Presurgical Language Assessment

Abstract

Convergence of fMRI language paradigms across institutions offers the first step in providing a "Rosetta Stone" that provides a common reference point with which to compare and contrast the usefulness and reliability of fMRI data. From this common language task battery, future refinements and improvements are anticipated, particularly as objective measures of reliability become available. Some commonality of practice is a necessary first step to develop a foundation on which to improve the clinical utility of this field.

Electrocorticographic high‐gamma modulation with passive listening paradigm for pediatric extraoperative language mapping

“…In our clinical practice, verb generation–related BOLD response thresholds were scaled individually for each patient to determine lateralization indices. Also, because different language tasks may result in variable fMRI language lateralization, we did not incorporate fMRI data into comparative analyses . Although this remains a limitation of our study, attempts are underway to include fMRI and diffusion data along with neurophysiology to develop optimal prediction models for language localization.…”

Functional MRI Task Comparison for Language Mapping in Neurosurgical Patients

“…Selection of the optimal language task paradigms remains a matter of debate in clinical fMRI, because each paradigm yields slightly different results due to differences in sensory input modality, task complexity, and specific aspects of language processing elicited . Studies have compared and quantified these differences for various language tasks in healthy volunteers.…”

“…The SC task is a visually presented paradigm, which stimulates word retrieval, reading comprehension, attentional and semantic processes, and recruits both receptive and expressive language function . The AG task is a visually presented paradigm, which stimulates phonologic, working memory, lexical search, semantic, and orthographic processes involved with speech and language function . The AN task is an auditorily presented paradigm, which recruits receptive and expressive language regions, in addition to task‐specific auditory cortex within Heschl's gyrus .…”

“…Understanding the differences between paradigms is essential for rationally selecting a standardized battery of tasks. In 2017, in the light of evidence available on the commonly used paradigms, the American Society of Functional Neuroradiology published two sets of language tasks that balanced ease of application and clinical usefulness . The recommendation for adult clinical fMRI comprises Sentence Completion (SC), Silent Word Generation, Rhyming, Object Naming, and/or Passive Story Listening.…”

“…In 2017, in the light of evidence available on the commonly used paradigms, [7][8][9] the American Society of Functional Neuroradiology published two sets of language tasks that balanced ease of application and clinical usefulness. 10 The recommendation for adult clinical fMRI comprises Sentence Completion (SC), Silent Word Generation, Rhyming, Object Naming, and/or Passive Story Listening. The pediatric recommendation consists of SC, Rhyming, Antonym Generation (AG), or Passive Story Listening.…”