Methodological considerations in assessment of language lateralisation with fMRI: a systematic review
- Published
- Accepted
- Subject Areas
- Neuroscience, Neurology, Psychiatry and Psychology, Radiology and Medical Imaging
- Keywords
- language, lateralisation, fMRI, systematic review
- Copyright
- © 2017 Bradshaw et al.
- Licence
- This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ Preprints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
- Cite this article
- 2017. Methodological considerations in assessment of language lateralisation with fMRI: a systematic review. PeerJ Preprints 5:e2962v1 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.2962v1
Abstract
The involvement of the right and left hemispheres in mediating language functions has been measured in a variety of ways over the centuries since the relative dominance of the left hemisphere was first known. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) presents a useful non-invasive method of assessing lateralisation that is being increasingly used in clinical practice and research. However, the methods used in the fMRI laterality literature currently are highly variable, making systematic comparisons across studies difficult. Here we consider the different methods of quantifying and classifying laterality that have been used in fMRI studies since 2000, with the aim of determining which give the most robust and reliable measurement. Recommendations are made with a view to informing future research to increase standardisation in fMRI laterality protocols. In particular, the findings reinforce the importance of threshold-independent methods for calculating laterality indices, and the benefits of assessing heterogeneity of language laterality across multiple regions of interest and tasks.
Author Comment
This a preprint of a systematic review assessing the use of different methodologies for quantifying and classifying laterality from fMRI data. A manuscript is currently being prepared for submission to a peer reviewed journal.
Supplemental Information
Database of data inputted from 76 selected studies
Spreadsheet drawn from REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) database used to input data on each of the 76 selected studies.