Structural mechanisms of brain network reorganization in the recovery of language function

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21H03301
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 59010:Rehabilitation science-related
• Research Institution: Kanazawa University
• Principal Investigator: Nakajima Riho 金沢大学, 保健学系, 助教 (60614865)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 篠原 治道 金沢大学, 医学系, 客員教授 (20135007) ; 中田 光俊 金沢大学, 医学系, 教授 (20334774) ; 木下 雅史 金沢大学, 医学系, 講師 (50525045)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 機能シフト / 再組織化 / 言語 / 覚醒下手術 / 安静時機能的MRI / 法則

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this research is to clarify the rules of reorganization in language and its structural mechanisms. We investigated the characteristics of the functional shift by comparing the distribution of positive findings in awake surgery and resting-state functional MRI between the remote group, in which the lesion was located far from the language area, and the immediate and near group. In this study, the anterior (Broca's area) and posterior (Wernicke's area) language areas were analyzed separately. The results showed that in the anterior language area, the language area shifted to the posterior part of the middle frontal gyrus when the lesion developed in the Broca's area. The posterior part of Broca's area was considered to be the hub of the anterior language area. In the posterior language area, the language area shifted to the posterior part of the supramarginal gyrus, or hub, when the lesion invades in the Wernicke area.

Free Research Field

リハビリテーション科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

これまで，脳機能局在が移動しうることは知られてきたが，その法則やメカニズムについては明らかになっていなかった．本研究を通して，言語領域のシフトの法則，および構造的メカニズムの一部が明らかになった．言語障害は患者の社会生活や生活の質に影響をおよぼす重要な因子である．本研究成果は，言語領域に病変を有する症例にたいするリハビリテーション指針の決定および予後予測において，極めて有用な情報と考える．なお，構造的メカニズムの全貌を明らかにするには，今後のさらなる解析が必要である．