Abstract:
(18F)-Fluorodeoxyglucose PET was used to compare left/right
cerebellar hemispheric glucose metabolism in 37 aphasic patients with
left hemisphere lesions and 22 age-matched controls. Sixteen aphasic
subjects showed cerebellar symmetry. Twenty-one aphasic subjects were
found to have cerebellar metabolic asymmetry, which (1) resulted from an
absolute reduction in local cerebral metabolic rates of glucose in the
right cerebellar hemisphere; (2) was associated with left less than
right glucose metabolic asymmetry in the frontal, parietal, caudate, and
thalamic regions; (3) was associated with Broca's region and deep
hemisphere structural damage to the internal capsule and basal ganglia;
(4) related to reduced functional motor performance, spontaneous speech,
naming, reading, and writing; and (5) included all Broca's aphasia
subjects