Relationship between motor and language activation using fMRI

Article abstract The authors examined laterality ratios (i.e., [L-R]/[L+R]) from functional MRI (fMRI) scans obtained in 12 healthy volunteers during unimanual left- and right-hand finger movements and during a verb generation language task. The language and right-hand motor asymmetry ratios were correlated ( rho = 0.71, p = 0.005) as were the left- and right-hand ratios ( rho = −0.68, p = 0.008). Subjects with greater relative left hemisphere lateralization of language exhibit greater relative unilateral hemisphere activation during right-hand movements.