Essential language function of the right hemisphere in brain tumor patients

Neuroimaging studies of language networks in patients with brain lesions of the left language‐dominant hemisphere have shown activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). We tested the functional relevance of right IFG activation using neuroimaging‐guided repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to disturb language function over bilateral IFG in right‐handed patients with brain tumors and controls. All subjects were susceptible to TMS over the left IFG. In patients, this susceptibility correlated with left‐sided the degree of language lateralization to the left. Those patients with lowest dominance were also susceptible to right‐sided TMS proving relevant language function of the right IFG. Ann Neurol 2005;57:128–131

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