Patient Preparation and Paradigm Design in fMRI.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is useful for localizing eloquent cortex in the brain prior to neurosurgery. Language and motor paradigms offer a wide range of tasks to test brain regions within the language and motor networks. With the help of fMRI, hemispheric language dominance can be determined. It also is possible to localize specific motor and sensory areas within the motor and sensory gyri. These findings are critical for presurgical planning. The most important factor in presurgical fMRI is patient performance. Patient interview and instruction time are crucial to ensure that patients understand and comply with the fMRI paradigm.

The role of the Supplementary Motor Area (SMA) in the execution of primary motor activities in brain tumor patients: functional MRI detection of time-resolved differences in the hemodynamic response.

BACKGROUND: Interpreting volume of activation maps of brain tumor patients remains difficult using blood oxygenation-level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) methods. A time-resolved fMRI may offer an informative strategy for investigating the possibility of functional reorganization by elucidating temporal variations in the activation of cortical structures . The aim of this study is to use time-resolved fMRI to investigate potential alterations in the spatially-varying and time-dependent hemodynamic response function within the supplementary motor area (SMA) and primary motor cortex (PMC) in the presence of an adjacent brain tumor, relative to normal control subjects. MATERIAL/METHODS: Fifteen patients and eight healthy volunteers were recruited. By utilizing a brief motor paradigm that exerts a differential effect on the activation of these structures, latency differences in the hemodynamic responses of such areas may be sensitively investigated. The present study determines the utility of this approach in brain tumor patients by examining the time to peak of the BOLD hemodynamic response within the SMA and PMC. RESULTS: In patients with glial tumors involving the PMC, the activation of the SMA was delayed and approached that of the PMC with time-to-peak difference between the PMC and SMA averaging 0.2 s. This delay in SMA activation was seen in all patients with glial tumors involving the PMC. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that in patients with high-grade brain tumors invading the PMC , the SMA may assume a greater role in the execution of primary motor activities, in addition to its role in executive motor planning.

Language Mapping Using fMRI and Direct Cortical Stimulation for Brain Tumor Surgery: The Good, the Bad, and the Questionable.

Language functional magnetic resonance imaging for neurosurgical planning is a useful but nuanced technique. Consideration of primary and secondary language anatomy, task selection, and data analysis choices all impact interpretation. In the following chapter, we consider practical considerations and nuances alike for language functional magnetic resonance imaging in the support of and comparison with the neurosurgical gold standard, direct cortical stimulation. Pitfalls and limitations are discussed.

Cortical Plasticity in the Setting of Brain Tumors.

Cortical reorganization of function due to the growth of an adjacent brain tumor has clearly been demonstrated in a number of surgically proven cases. Such cases demonstrate the unmistakable implications for the neurosurgical treatment of brain tumors, as the cortical function may not reside where one may initially suspect based solely on the anatomical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Consequently, preoperative localization of eloquent areas adjacent to a brain tumor is necessary, as this may demonstrate unexpected organization, which may affect the neurosurgical approach to the lesion. However, in interpreting functional MRI studies, the interpreting physician must be cognizant of artifacts, which may limit the accuracy of functional MRI in the setting of brain tumors.

Corpus Callosum Diffusion and Language Lateralization in Patients with Brain Tumors: A DTI and fMRI Study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Examining how left-hemisphere brain tumors might impact both the microstructure of the corpus callosum (CC) as measured by fractional anisotropy (FA) values in diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) as well as cortical language lateralization measured with functional MRI (fMRI). METHODS: fMRI tasks (phonemic fluency and verb generation) were performed in order to detect activation in Broca's and Wernicke's area. Twenty patients with left-hemisphere brain tumors were investigated. fMRI results were divided into left dominant (LD), right dominant (RD), or codominant (CD) for language function. DTI was performed to generate FA maps in the anterior and posterior CC. FA values were correlated with the degree of language dominance. RESULTS: Patients who were LD or RD for language in Broca's area had lower FA in the anterior CC than those who were CD for language (median for CD = .72, LD = .66, RD = .65, P < .09). Lateralized versus CD group level analysis also showed that CD patients had higher FA in the anterior CC than patients who displayed strong lateralization in either hemisphere (median for CD = .72, lateralized = .65, P < .05). CONCLUSION: Our preliminary observations indicate that the greater FA in CD patients may reflect a more directional microstructure for the CC in this region, suggesting a greater need for interhemispheric transfer of information. Because brain tumors can cause compensatory codominance, our findings may suggest a mechanism by which interhemispheric transfer is facilitated during plasticity in the presence of a tumor.