# Comprehensive pre-surgical identification of the critical language network in tumor patients

> **NIH NIH K01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2021 · $155,601

## Abstract

Project Summary
This is a K01 application for Monika M. Polczynska, Ph.D., a current junior faculty at the University of California
Los Angeles, to become an independent investigator and leader in the field of clinical language mapping. The
five-year K01 award will provide Dr. Polczynska with the necessary training in (1) designing and optimizing
functional MRI experiments, (2) approaches to analyzing functional connectivity data and (3) the structural
analysis of the brain. Environment: Experts in cutting-edge methods in functional and structural neuroimaging,
imaging statistics and neurolinguistics will serve as Mentors: Drs. Susan Bookheimer, Martin Monti, David
Shattuck and Ariana Anderson, and Consultants: Drs. Tim Behrens, Nina Dronkers and Susan Curtiss.
Research and Career Development: Studies in neurosurgical language mapping have primarily focused on
language evaluations at a word level and they have ignored the following: (1) a broader neural configuration of
language function based on grammar, (2) right hemisphere contributions that could be critical to rehabilitation
and (3) network connectivity, treating language regions as isolated units rather than nodes of the network. The
objective of the study is to comprehensively identify the language network in surgical candidates with brain
tumor by addressing the three gaps. It is hypothesized that applying both grammar tests and standard single-
word based tests and using mixed methods (advanced neuroimaging techniques and behavioral tests) will
allow for a more comprehensive mapping of the crucial language regions and important connections between
them. The proposed study will fulfill three specific aims: (1) Create an optimized fMRI battery of grammar
assessment to maximally identify the critical language network in healthy subjects (N=25), (2) Model how a
brain tumor affects structural and functional connectivity of the critical language network; subjects: 40 patients
with brain tumor neighboring the left inferior frontal gyrus (N=20) and posterior temporo-parietal regions (N=20)
and 24 matched controls and (3) Examine the effect of lesions in the frontal versus posterior language areas
on structural and functional connectivity within the left and the right hemisphere. The approach is innovative
because it will be the first attempt, to our knowledge, to augment our understating of altered connectivity
patterns in the brain tumor population, including hyperconnectivity in the RH. The study is significant because it
will help establish the crucial functional and structural anatomy of the language network in patients with brain
tumors in specific locations. The study will be a fundamental step in advancing the comprehensiveness and
depth of pre-surgical language mapping. The proposed research aligns directly with the 2017 NIDCD Strategic
Plan to focus on changes in the structure and function of the brain following a pathologic insult that results in
language disturbances. Results will sup...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10146335
- **Project number:** 5K01DC016904-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** Monika Maria Polczynska
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $155,601
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-05-01 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10146335

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10146335, Comprehensive pre-surgical identification of the critical language network in tumor patients (5K01DC016904-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10146335. Licensed CC0.

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