Cortical reafferentation following left subcortical hemorrhage: A serial functional MR study

A 48-year-old patient who had aphasia due to a left subcortical hemorrhage underwent three follow-up examinations to assess MR signal changes accompan ying recovery. A word classification task was applied. During the 6-month f ollow-up period, we observed a dynamic change from negative toward positive blood oxygenation level-dependent MR signals, i.e., task-related reafferen tation of eloquent cortices occurred. Clinical improvement from aphasia par alleled the MR signal changes.