CEREBRAL HEMISPHERIC CONTROL OF SPEECH DURING THE INTRACAROTID SODIUMAMYTAL PROCEDURE - AN ACOUSTIC EXPLORATION

In this study we investigated lateralized control of speech during the intracarotid amobarbital procedure. Vowel segments were extracted fro m recordings made during two separate amobarbital procedures and invol ving two patients. Subjects were right-handed, presented with focal le ft mesial temporal epileptogenic foci. Age of onset of seizure disorde rs was 1.5 years for one subject and 16 years for the other. Recorded pre-and postinjection speech samples were digitized. Analyses were con ducted on formants 1 and 2 (F-1, F-2) measures to determine the extent of formant fluctuation in the time course of the IAP. Preliminary res ults showed, for these two cases, that the left hemisphere is involved in the control of both F-1 and F-2 and the right in the control of F- 2 only. The data reveal the potential of coupling the IAP procedure an d the acoustical analysis of speech in the study of cerebral control o f speech. (C) 1997 Academic Press.