Concordance of MEG and fMRI patterns in adolescents during verb generation

In this study we focused on direct comparison between the spatial distributions of activation detected by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and localization of sources detected by magnetoencephalography (MEG) during identical language tasks. We examined the spatial concordance between MEG and fMRI results in 16 adolescents performing a three-phase verb generation task that involves repeating the auditorily presented concrete noun and generating verbs either overtly or covertly in response to the auditorily presented noun. MEG analysis was completed using a synthetic aperture magnetometry (SAM) technique, while the fMRI data were analyzed using the general linear model approach with random-effects. To quantify the agreement between the two modalities, we implemented voxel-wise concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) and identified the left inferior frontal gyrus and the bilateral motor cortex with high CCC values. At the group level, MEG and fMRI data showed spatial convergence in the left inferior frontal gyrus for covert or overt generation versus overt repetition, and the bilateral motor cortex when overt generation versus covert generation. These findings demonstrate the utility of the CCC as a quantitative measure of spatial convergence between two neuroimaging techniques.

► Use concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) to quantify the spatial convergence between MEG and fMRI.
► High concordances between MEG and fMRI are observed in the classical language areas during the verb generation task.
► FMRI protocol allows auditory stimuli to be presented without gradient noise so that overt responses can be recorded.