Brain Imaging

Researchers and clinicians who work with individuals who have communcation disorders are interested in the relationships between speech, language, and brain structure and function. With the introdution of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a clincial tool in the 1980s, the ability to explore brain structure and function from the outside in has increased exponentially. Nearly every hospital in America, all medical schools, and most research centers use MRI scanners for a variety of clinical and research purposes.

Although MRI is perhaps the most common imaging technology in general use, there are other techniques for analyzing brain function that are well suited to understanding the neural contributions to speech and language. This entry provides a brief summary of three approaches to brain imaging that are used for ...