TY - JOUR
T1 - Integrity of the hippocampus and surrounding white matter is correlated with language training success in aphasia
AU - Meinzer, Marcus
AU - Mohammadi, Siawoosh
AU - Kugel, Harald
AU - Schiffbauer, Hagen
AU - Flöel, Agnes
AU - Albers, Johannes
AU - Kramer, Kira
AU - Menke, Ricarda
AU - Baumgärtner, Annette
AU - Knecht, Stefan
AU - Breitenstein, Caterina
AU - Deppe, Michael
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung ( 01GW0520, 0101-31 P6427 ); the Volkswagen Foundation ( I/80708 ); the European Commission ( MRTN-CT-2004-512141 ); the Interdisciplinary Center for Clinical Research of the University of Münster ( Floe 3-004-008 ); the Stiftung Neuromedizin Münster; and the German Foundation for Science (SFB/TR3 A08 and A10, ME 3161/2-1, Fl 379-8/1). We thank Dr. K. Heilman for helpful comments on a previous version of this manuscript and Dr. S. Harnish for editorial assistance.
PY - 2010/10
Y1 - 2010/10
N2 - Aphasia after middle cerebral artery (MCA) stroke shows highly variable degrees of recovery. One possible explanation may be offered by the variability of the occlusion location. Branches from the proximal portion of the MCA often supply the mesial temporal lobe including parts of the hippocampus, a structure known to be involved in language learning. Therefore, we assessed whether language recovery in chronic aphasia is dependent on the proximity of the MCA infarct and correlated with the integrity of the hippocampus and its surrounding white matter. Language reacquisition capability was determined after 2. weeks of intensive language therapy and 8. months after treatment in ten chronic aphasia patients. Proximity of MCA occlusion relative to the internal carotid artery was determined by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) based on the most proximal anatomical region infarcted. Structural damage to the hippocampus was assessed by MRI-based volumetry, regional microstructural integrity of hippocampus adjacent white matter by fractional anisotropy. Language learning success for trained materials was correlated with the proximity of MCA occlusion, microstructural integrity of the left hippocampus and its surrounding white matter, but not with lesion size, overall microstructural brain integrity and a control region outside of the MCA territory. No correlations were found for untrained language materials, underlining the specificity of our results for training-induced recovery. Our results suggest that intensive language therapy success in chronic aphasia after MCA stroke is critically dependent on damage to the hippocampus and its surrounding structures.
AB - Aphasia after middle cerebral artery (MCA) stroke shows highly variable degrees of recovery. One possible explanation may be offered by the variability of the occlusion location. Branches from the proximal portion of the MCA often supply the mesial temporal lobe including parts of the hippocampus, a structure known to be involved in language learning. Therefore, we assessed whether language recovery in chronic aphasia is dependent on the proximity of the MCA infarct and correlated with the integrity of the hippocampus and its surrounding white matter. Language reacquisition capability was determined after 2. weeks of intensive language therapy and 8. months after treatment in ten chronic aphasia patients. Proximity of MCA occlusion relative to the internal carotid artery was determined by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) based on the most proximal anatomical region infarcted. Structural damage to the hippocampus was assessed by MRI-based volumetry, regional microstructural integrity of hippocampus adjacent white matter by fractional anisotropy. Language learning success for trained materials was correlated with the proximity of MCA occlusion, microstructural integrity of the left hippocampus and its surrounding white matter, but not with lesion size, overall microstructural brain integrity and a control region outside of the MCA territory. No correlations were found for untrained language materials, underlining the specificity of our results for training-induced recovery. Our results suggest that intensive language therapy success in chronic aphasia after MCA stroke is critically dependent on damage to the hippocampus and its surrounding structures.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77955304894&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.06.004
DO - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.06.004
M3 - Journal articles
C2 - 20541018
AN - SCOPUS:77955304894
SN - 1053-8119
VL - 53
SP - 283
EP - 290
JO - NeuroImage
JF - NeuroImage
IS - 1
ER -
