A new study from Northwestern Medicine helps doctors decide which parts of the brain to keep during surgery for tumors or epilepsy, aiming to preserve patients’ language abilities better.
The research shows how key brain areas, like necessary connectors in a social network, work together for language. Removing these areas can lead to more language problems after surgery.
Northwestern scientists have found key brain areas essential for language by recording brain signals from patients with brain tumors or epilepsy as they read words aloud. Using advanced analysis, they identified critical language sites in the brain.
This discovery could improve how surgeons map these areas before surgery, potentially reducing or eliminating the need for electrical stimulation during mapping, which currently helps avoid damaging important language regions.
Northwestern scientists found essential brain areas for language by recording brain activity from patients with brain tumors or epilepsy while they read out loud.
They used this information to pinpoint key language sites in the brain. This could help surgeons better plan surgeries, possibly reducing or removing the need for electrical stimulation to avoid harming these critical areas.
Patients with brain tumors spend 20 to 60 minutes awake during surgery for brain stimulation to identify language areas. Still, the method isn’t perfect and can cause seizures.
Dr. Slutzky mentioned that the process is complicated for patients, especially for those with epilepsy, where mapping can take one or two days. Brain surgery may be needed for epilepsy patients when medication doesn’t control their seizures well.
Scientists studied brain signals from 16 patients with epilepsy or tumors by recording electrical activity from the brain’s surface. They used special electrodes placed either during surgery or while monitoring seizures.
Patients read words aloud, and scientists analyzed the signals to identify critical brain areas for language using graph theory and machine learning. These vital areas are essential for connecting different brain networks.
Journal reference :
- Hsieh, J.K., Prakash, P.R., Flint, R.D. et al. Cortical sites critical to language function act as connectors between language subnetworks. Nature Communications. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51839-z.
