REGIONAL CEREBRAL BLOOD-FLOW CHANGES RELATED TO AFFECTIVE SPEECH PRESENTATION IN PERSISTENT VEGETATIVE STATE

A story told by his mother was presented on tape to a trauma patient i n persistent vegetative state (PVS). During auditory presentation, mea surements of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) were performed by mea ns of positron emission tomography (PET). Changes in rCBF related to t his stimulus condition, as compared to presenting non-word sound, were evaluated by means of statistical parametric mapping (SPM). This anal ysis indicated activation of rostral anterior cingulate, right middle temporal and right premotor cortices, which may reflect appropriate co rtical involvement in processing emotional attributes of sound or spee ch. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.