Abstract
Although Wada (1949) developed the technique of selective hemispheric anesthetization to identify language dominance, the first report of local anesthetic application to functionally inactivate cerebral language areas was described by Gardner (1941). Two left-handed patients were being evaluated for surgery, and Gardner was aware that the patients’ handedness raised the possibility of reversed cerebral laterality. If these patients were right language dominant, Gardner reasoned, a left resection could be more extensive if performed on the non-language dominant hemisphere. Alternatively, resection involving the right hemisphere could potentially compromise language. “The removal of a tumor at the cost of the patient’s speech is scarcely an accomplishment on which to congratulate oneself” (p. 1035).
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© 1992 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.
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Loring, D.W., Meador, K.J., Lee, G.P., King, D.W. (1992). Language. In: Amobarbital Effects and Lateralized Brain Function. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-2874-5_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-2874-5_1
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
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Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-2874-5
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