Functional magnetic resonance imaging of Broca's area during internal speech.

Conventional gradient-echo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 4 Tesla was used successfully to study the activity of Broca's area during internal speech word generation in healthy right-handed volunteers. Activity was demonstrated in the internal gray matter surrounding the ascending ramus of the lateral sulcus, deep to the cortical surface representation of Broca's area, in all the subjects. These studies demonstrate the capability of functional MRI to non-invasively map language related cognitive functions. Such functional mapping has value for both the study of basic neuroscience and neurosurgical planning.