Cortical representation of Persian word production: an fMRI study.

BACKGROUND Neural correlates of single word reading with the use of a functional MRI (fMRI) scan have been widely studied in different languages. These study patterns of cortical activation differ in different languages. In this report we used a similar technique to study cortical activation when reading single Persian words. METHODS The subjects were comprised of nine healthy right-handed bilingual individuals who performed three consecutive fMRI paradigms. RESULTS Our study showed activation of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) when single Persian words were read. These results revealed that the pattern of brain activation during word production in Persian has a similar topography to that of English equivalents. CONCLUSION The paradigms selectively activate word production areas and are useful in neurological assessment of the Persian population.