Direct cortical electrical recording (electrocorticography, ECoG) will be applied to problems in the understanding of the functional and neural bases of language and language-related functions. This work is made feasible because some patients requiring focal cerebral resections (e.g., for epilepsy, arteriovenous malformations, or brain tumors) receive extensive indwelling subdural electrode arrays as part of their clinical evaluation. As a result, electrical recording can be done with an awake, cooperative, fully-functioning individual. This project has the following specific scientific aims: (l) To determine what indices of regional cortical electrical activity, such as spectral changes, reflect regional cerebral processing with language and related cognitive functions in humans, (2) To use the indices of regional cerebral involvement determined in #1 to analyze the processes and subprocesses involved in human language and related functions -- in particular, to identify the functional components, their interrelationships, and their time courses, (3) To determine how the results obtained with direct cortical recording compare with those obtained from other techniques, such as direct cortical stimulation, cortically-recorded evoked potentials, PET and/or functional MRI, and focal lesions. Many of these comparisons will be made within the same subject, undergoing investigation with the different techniques. Other comparisons will be made across subjects and subject groups.
These aims will be pursued concurrently, through detailed comparisons of the patterns of electrocortical activity, and of their neuroanatomic correlations, in each individual subject under a variety of different task and stimulus conditions. The standard logic of cognitive neuroscience will be used to interpret patterns of task performance in terms of underlying cognitive operations. Standard methods of electrical signal analysis, and standard and advanced methods of statistical analysis, will be used to interpret the patterns of electrocortical activity and to relate it to functional components and to neuroanatomic regions. Preliminary studies have established that the proposed studies are feasible, that analyses using regional spectral changes in the ECoG appear to reflect regional cerebral involvement in motor, sensory, and cognitive processes, and that a direct comparison with the results of another technique, cortical stimulation, can strengthen the conclusions drawn from either method separately.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
Clinical Investigator Award (CIA) (K08)
Project #
5K08NS001821-04
Application #
2750768
Study Section
NST-2 Subcommittee (NST)
Program Officer
Jacobs, Margaret
Project Start
1995-08-01
Project End
2000-07-31
Budget Start
1998-08-01
Budget End
1999-07-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
1998
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Johns Hopkins University
Department
Neurology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
045911138
City
Baltimore
State
MD
Country
United States
Zip Code
21218
Crone, N E; Boatman, D; Gordon, B et al. (2001) Induced electrocorticographic gamma activity during auditory perception. Brazier Award-winning article, 2001. Clin Neurophysiol 112:565-82
Crone, N E; Hao, L; Hart Jr, J et al. (2001) Electrocorticographic gamma activity during word production in spoken and sign language. Neurology 57:2045-53
Hart Jr, J; Crone, N E; Lesser, R P et al. (1998) Temporal dynamics of verbal object comprehension. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 95:6498-503
Lesser, R P; Arroyo, S; Crone, N et al. (1998) Motor and sensory mapping of the frontal and occipital lobes. Epilepsia 39 Suppl 4:S69-80
Crone, N E; Miglioretti, D L; Gordon, B et al. (1998) Functional mapping of human sensorimotor cortex with electrocorticographic spectral analysis. I. Alpha and beta event-related desynchronization. Brain 121 ( Pt 12):2271-99
Crone, N E; Miglioretti, D L; Gordon, B et al. (1998) Functional mapping of human sensorimotor cortex with electrocorticographic spectral analysis. II. Event-related synchronization in the gamma band. Brain 121 ( Pt 12):2301-15