THE INTRACAROTID AMOBARBITAL PROCEDURE - AN HISTORICAL-PERSPECTIVE

The intracarotid sodium amobarbital procedure (LAP) is currently regar ded as the best method for the determination of hemispheric specializa tion for speech, and it is universally relied on as a prognostic test for patients with medically refractory epilepsy who are candidates for neurosurgical intervention. Since its initial development, the IAP al so has been adapted for assessing lateralized mesiotemporal contributi ons to memory functioning in this patient population, and it is now in wide use for both basic and applied research in behavioral neuroscien ce on language, memory, visuospatial functions, emotion, attention, an d consciousness. Despite the IAP's wide range of applications, little has been said about its history and development. This essay recounts a nd discusses this history. (C) 1997 Academic Press.