Functional brain imaging of language: criteria for scientific merit and supporting data from magnetic source imaging

Abstract We propose five separate criteria for establishing the clinical and research utility of a functional neuroimaging method for the study of language. These criteria are the functional specificity, reliability, validity, spatial and temporal resolution, and logistical ease of the technique for studying language processes in patient and control populations. We describe the newest of the functional neuroimaging techniques, magnetic source imaging, and its advantages in satisfying these criteria. Finally, we review a series of language studies that have revealed dissociations between the relative contributions of superior temporal and middle and mesial temporal cortices in phonological versus semantic processing.