Scientific Institute IRCCS "Eugenio Medea", Dipartimento/Unità Operativa Pasian di Prato, 33037 Pasian di Prato, Italy.
Department of Physics, Santa Maria della Misericordia University Hospital, 33100 Udine, Italy.
Neuroimage Clin. 2024;41:103561. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2023.103561. Epub 2023 Dec 28.
Plasticity could take place as a compensatory process following brain glioma growth. Only a few studies specifically explored plasticity in patients affected by a glioma invading the left insula; even more, plasticity of the insular cortex in task-based functional language network is almost unexplored. In the current study, we explored potential plasticity in a consecutive series of 22 patients affected by a glioma centered to the left insula, by comparing their preoperative object-naming functional network with that of a group of healthy controls. After having controlled for demographic variables, fMRI results showed that patients vs. controls activated a cluster in the right, contralesional pars triangularis including the Broca's area. On the other hand, controls did not significantly activate any brain region more than patients. At behavioral level, patients retained a generally preserved naming performance as well as a proficient language processing profile. These findings suggest that involvement of language-specific areas in the healthy hemisphere could help compensate for the left, affected insula, thus allowing preservation of the naming functions. Results are commented in relation to lesion site, naming performance, and potential relevance for neurosurgery.
可塑性可能是脑胶质瘤生长后的一种代偿过程。只有少数研究专门探讨了侵袭左侧脑岛的胶质瘤患者的可塑性；更甚的是，基于任务的功能性语言网络中脑岛皮质的可塑性几乎未被探索。在本研究中，我们通过比较 22 例以左侧脑岛为中心的胶质瘤患者的术前物体命名功能网络与一组健康对照组，来探索潜在的可塑性。在控制了人口统计学变量后， fMRI 结果显示，与对照组相比，患者在右侧对侧三角区（包括布罗卡区）激活了一个集群。另一方面，对照组并没有比患者更显著地激活任何脑区。在行为水平上，患者保留了一般的命名表现和熟练的语言处理能力。这些发现表明，健康半球中语言特异性区域的参与有助于补偿受影响的左侧脑岛，从而保持命名功能。研究结果与病变部位、命名表现以及神经外科的潜在相关性进行了讨论。
