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Objective:To investigate the changes of gray matter volume in patients with chronic nonfluent aphasia after cortical cerebral infarction and the relationship between gray matter volume and language function. Methods:From June, 2016 to June, 2019, 19 patients with chronic nonfluent aphasia after cortical cerebral infarction from the First Affiliated Hospital of Ji'nan University and 28 healthy subjects (controls) were scanned with structural magnetic resonance imaging. The data were analyzed using voxel-based morphological measurement to measure the gray matter volumes of the brain regions, and the differences between patients and controls were compared. The correlation between volumes of brain regions with difference and scores of items of Aphasia Battery of Chinese (ABC) was analyzed. Results:The gray matter volumes increased in the brain regions of right inferior frontal gyrus triangle, right inferior frontal gyrus island cover, right angular gyrus, the right medial frontal gyrus, left insula, left medial frontal gyrus in the patients; while decreased in right globus pallidus. The volumes of left insular lobe correlated with the scores of repeating (r = 0.665, P = 0.001) and naming (r = 0.638, P = 0.003); and the volumes of right inferior frontal gyrus triangle correlated with the scores of hearing comprehension (r = 0.493, P = 0.031), repeating (r = 0.576, P = 0.009) and naming (r = 0.674, P = 0.001) in the patients. Conclusion:The cortex volumes of left insula and right inferior frontal gyrus triangle increase in patients with chronic nonfluent aphasia after cerebral infarction, which may play a role in the language dysfunction.
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Embodied cognition is an important research direction in current psycholinguistics. Perceptual symbols theory, indexical hypothesis, immersed experiencer framework, symbol interdependency hypothesis and mirror neuron system are important research achievements of embodied cognition in the field of language, which may light a way for the further development of speech therapy.
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Objective:To analyze the structure and function of white matter in autistic children by using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), to explore the imaging features of abnormal neural connectivity in children with autism. Methods:Autism group (n = 14) and control group (n = 8), aged two to nine years, underwent DTI and MRS scan. Bilateral frontal lobe, hippocampus, genu and splenium of corpus callosum and cerebellum white matter were selected as regions of interest. The data of DTI and MRS were processed by Functool 2.6 software of GEAW4.2 workstation. The fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of DTI, the absolute concentrations of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), choline (Cho), creatinine (Cr) and the ratios of NAA/Cr and Cho/Cr were recorded respectively. Results:Compared with the control group, the FA of left hippocampus (F = 5.922, P = 0.033) and the absolute concentration of Cr in left and right hippocampus (F > 4.715, P < 0.05) decreased significantly in the autism group. The FA was lower in left corpus callosum genu than in the right one (F = -2.335, P = 0.042), and the ADC was higher in left corpus callosum splenium than in the right one (F = 3.520, P < 0.01) in the autism group. The absolute concentration of NAA, Cho and Cr in left frontal lobe (|t| > 2.648, P < 0.05), the absolute concentration of NAA in left corpus callosum splenium (t = -3.076, P = 0.009) and Cho/Cr in left cerebellum (t = -2.225, P = 0.044) were significantly lower than those in the right cerebral hemisphere in the autism group. The DTI and MRS indexes were not different between left and right hemispheres in the control group (P > 0.05). Conclusion:Abnormal metabolite or functional alternations were found in the frontal lobe, hippocampus, cerebellum and the genu and splenium of the corpus callosum in autistic children, suggesting underconnectivity intra- or inter-hemispheric neural, especially in left hemisphere.
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Objective To explore the mechanisms of recovery from aphasia by using speech-activated single photon emission computed tomography(SPECT)brain imaging.Methods The SPECT brain imaging of 7 aphasic patients caused by various brain disorders were performed while they were at rest and performing oral reading,respec- tively,with an one-day interval.A semi-quantitative analysis of regional cerebral blood flow(rCBF)was conducted using region of interesting(ROI).The change of rCBF before and after reading was calculated and compared to ana- lyze the role of both hemispheres in the recovery from aphasia.Results It was found that the activation pattern of brain region was associated with the speech performance of the patients.The activated brain regions were mainly loca- ted at the left hemisphere in 5 patients whose reading capacity was relatively better,and mainly at the right hemi- sphere in the other 2 patients who had poor performance in reading.Conclusion After a focal lesion of the left hemisphere,the recovery of speech function might be mainly attributed to the repair of the damaged left hemisphere language network.When the left-hemispheric centers were permanently impaired,the brain would recruit some right- hemisphere regions for speech processing,but this strategy was less effective than the repair of the original speech-rel- evant network.