Female, 50 years old, with medically intractable right temporal lobe epilepsy. Functional MRI requested for surgical planning. Sensorimotor cortical activation of the hands and face maps as expected along the pre- and post-central gyri. Reliable sensorimotor cortical activation of the feet could not be achieved. Passive visual stimulation results in cortical activation along the bilateral calcarine sulci.Of the tested language paradigms, the most reliable language related cortical activation is seen with the verb generation and sentence completion paradigms. Language is left dominant. Broca's area activity is identified in its customary location of the left inferior frontal gyrus, primarily pars triangularis. Two candidate foci for Wernicke's area activity are seen in slightly atypical locations including the left supramarginal gyrus and the left middle temporal gyrus. A very small focus of activity is also demonstrated in the left superior temporal sulcus which is the more common location for Wernicke's area.
Technically successful functional MRI. The sensorimotor and primary visual cortices are well delineated. Language is left dominant. Broca's area activity is identified in its customary location. Two candidate foci for Wernicke's area activity are seen in slightly atypical locations as above.