Electrocorticographic language mapping with a listening task consisting of alternating speech and music phrases

- A short listening task consisting of alternating speech and music phrases induces high gamma activity in classical language areas.
- ECoG language mapping using the discrimination between the speech and music phrases had a sensitivity of 0.32 and a specificity of 0.95 when compared to electrocortical stimulation mapping (ESM).
- This non-demanding listening task can therefore give a quick and reliable indication where to find critical language areas.

ObjectiveElectrocorticographic (ECoG) mapping of high gamma activity induced by language tasks has been proposed as a more patient friendly alternative for electrocortical stimulation mapping (ESM), the gold standard in pre-surgical language mapping of epilepsy patients. However, ECoG mapping often reveals more language areas than considered critical with ESM. We investigated if critical language areas can be identified with a listening task consisting of speech and music phrases.MethodsNine patients with implanted subdural grid electrodes listened to an audio fragment in which music and speech alternated. We analysed ECoG power in the 65-95 Hz band and obtained task-related activity patterns in electrodes over language areas. We compared the spatial distribution of sites that discriminated between listening to speech and music to ESM results using sensitivity and specificity calculations.ResultsOur listening task of alternating speech and music phrases had a low sensitivity (0.32) but a high specificity (0.95).ConclusionsThe high specificity indicates that this test does indeed point to areas that are critical to language processing.SignificanceOur test cannot replace ESM, but this short and simple task can give a reliable indication where to find critical language areas, better than ECoG mapping using language tasks alone.