A Reconsideration of Bilateral Language Representation Based on the Intracarotid Amobarbital Procedure

Hemispheric language dominance was established for 368 epilepsy surgery candidates based on results of objective language performance during the intracarotid amobarbital procedure. Eighty-three percent of patients were found to be left hemisphere dominant, while six percent were right dominant, and eleven percent demonstrated some degree of bilateral language representation. Bilateral patients were grouped according to modality-specific patterns of language performance in each hemisphere, with a majority demonstrating left hemisphere superiority in over all language processing. Variables affecting atypical language development are reviewed and results are considered in the context of previous research.