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Learning to read without a left occipital lobe: Right‐hemispheric shift of visual word form area
Author(s) -
Cohen Laurent,
Lehéricy Stéphane,
Henry Carole,
Bourgeois Marie,
Larroque Christine,
SainteRose Christian,
Dehaene Stanislas,
HertzPannier Lucie
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
annals of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.764
H-Index - 296
eISSN - 1531-8249
pISSN - 0364-5134
DOI - 10.1002/ana.20326
Subject(s) - lateralization of brain function , occipital lobe , reading (process) , psychology , audiology , neuroscience , medicine , linguistics , philosophy
Using anatomical and functional magnetic resonance imaging, we studied the pattern of brain lateralization during spoken and written language tasks, in an 11‐year‐old girl who underwent a left occipitotemporal resection for a Sturge–Weber angioma at the age of 4 years, that is, after the development of speech but before the acquisition of reading. We observed a selective and successful shift to the right hemisphere of the visual component of reading, particularly the Visual Word Form Area, whereas the verbal components remained strongly left‐lateralized. This emphasizes the potential utility of a precise functional and developmental cartography of language for the surgical treatment of focal brain lesions in children. Ann Neurol 2004;56:890–894