Functional neuroimaging for the investigation of motor speech disorders
Résumé
Imaging brain refers basically to two modalities. The first relies on the structural description of the organ, as part of an anatomical approach delineating specific cerebral areas and highlighting brain lesions or tumours. Computed tomography (CT, using x-rays), optical imaging (using near-infrared light) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI, using magnetic fields) represent some examples of methods of structural neuroimaging. On the other hand, the second imaging possibility is based on the correlation between anatomical locations and brain functioning, linking cerebral areas with their activations (or the absence of activation in the case of dysfunctions) during experimental tasks. Functional neuroimaging falls into this latter type of investigations and is represented by various methodologies: e.g. single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), positron emission tomography (PET), near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) or even electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG).