Mapping language function with task-based vs. resting-state functional MRI

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 15; no. 7; p. e0236423
• Main Authors: Park, Ki Yun, Lee, John J., Dierker, Donna, Marple, Laura M., Hacker, Carl D., Roland, Jarod L., Marcus, Daniel S., Milchenko, Mikhail, Miller-Thomas, Michelle M., Benzinger, Tammie L., Shimony, Joshua S., Snyder, Abraham Z., Leuthardt, Eric C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 31.07.2020; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Attention - physiology; Biology and Life Sciences; Brain; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Brain cancer; Brain mapping; Brain Mapping - methods; Brain tumors; Broca Area - diagnostic imaging; Broca Area - pathology; Broca's area; Classifiers; Comparative analysis; Data analysis; Evaluation; Female; Frontal lobe; Frontal Lobe - diagnostic imaging; Frontal Lobe - pathology; Functional Laterality - physiology; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Glioblastoma - diagnosis; Glioblastoma - diagnostic imaging; Glioblastoma - pathology; Ground truth; Humans; Language; Language skills; Localization; Localization (Brain function); Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Mapping; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; Methods; Middle Aged; Neurosurgery; Observations; Patients; Representations; Research and Analysis Methods; Rest - physiology; Social Sciences; Temporal Lobe - diagnostic imaging; Temporal Lobe - pathology; Tumors; Young Adult; United States; San Francisco California; California; United States > US; Missouri
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0236423

Use of functional MRI (fMRI) in pre-surgical planning is a non-invasive method for pre-operative functional mapping for patients with brain tumors, especially tumors located near eloquent cortex. Currently, this practice predominantly involves task-based fMRI (T-fMRI). Resting state fMRI (RS-fMRI) offers an alternative with several methodological advantages. Here, we compare group-level analyses of RS-fMRI vs. T-fMRI as methods for language localization. To contrast RS-fMRI vs. T-fMRI as techniques for localization of language function. We analyzed data obtained in 35 patients who had both T-fMRI and RS-fMRI scans during the course of pre-surgical evaluation. The RS-fMRI data were analyzed using a previously trained resting-state network classifier. The T-fMRI data were analyzed using conventional techniques. Group-level results obtained by both methods were evaluated in terms of two outcome measures: (1) inter-subject variability of response magnitude and (2) sensitivity/specificity analysis of response topography, taking as ground truth previously reported maps of the language system based on intraoperative cortical mapping as well as meta-analytic maps of language task fMRI responses. Both fMRI methods localized major components of the language system (areas of Broca and Wernicke) although not with equal inter-subject consistency. Word-stem completion T-fMRI strongly activated Broca's area but also several task-general areas not specific to language. RS-fMRI provided a more specific representation of the language system. We demonstrate several advantages of classifier-based mapping of language representation in the brain. Language T-fMRI activated task-general (i.e., not language-specific) functional systems in addition to areas of Broca and Wernicke. In contrast, classifier-based analysis of RS-fMRI data generated maps confined to language-specific regions of the brain.