Karl V. Embleton1,2, Geoff J. Parker1, David M. Morris1, Hamied A. Haroon1, Matt A. Lambon Ralph2
1Imaging Science and Biomedical Engineering, School of Cancer and Imaging Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK; 2School of Psychological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
A combined semantic/language fMRI and tractography study was performed on 12 individuals. Functional activations were used to directly seed probabilistic tractography. The functional data revealed a left hemisphere dominance in task related activity with substantial activation in brain regions known to be associated with semantic and/or language processing. Functional activations in the inferior frontal lobe could be differentially related to language or semantic memory by examination of patterns of connectivity to other brain regions. The incorporation of tractography suggested an anterior to posterior gradient of semantic-language processing within the left inferior frontal lobe, in keeping with recent reports.
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