Imaging of Cortical and White Matter Language Processing

Although investigations into the functional and anatomical organization of language within the human brain began centuries ago, it is recent advanced imaging techniques including functional magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging that have helped propel our understanding forward at an unprecedented rate. Important cortical brain regions and white matter tracts in language processing subsystems including semantic, phonological, and orthographic functions have been identified. An understanding of functional and dysfunctional language anatomy is critical for practicing radiologists. This knowledge can be applied to routine neuroimaging examinations as well as to more advanced examinations such as presurgical brain mapping.