Determining Language Lateralization in the Brain during Passive Speech Listening and Verb Generation Using fNIRS

Abstract

Language lateralization has been investigated in various scenarios using diverse methods such as the Wada test, fMRI, and fNIRS. Among these methods, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has gained popularity in neuroscience research over the past four decades. In this thesis, fNIRS was employed to examine language lateralization during passive speech listening and verb generation tasks, aiming to explore potential correlations between the two. The findings of this study revealed a strong association of language lateralization between these tasks. However, the observed laterality index and the impact of task and control conditions were inconsis- tent with previous studies. These results shed light on the complexities of language lateralization and emphasize the need for further investigation and refinement of the implementation of fNIRS.