Introducing the Mini-Intraoperative Language Test (MILT): a new language battery for awake brain surgeries

Poster Session E - Monday, April 15, 2024, 2:30 – 4:30 pm EDT, Sheraton Hall ABC

Giovanna Oliveira Santos¹ (gi.santos.souza@gmail.com), Analia Arevalo¹, Marije Soto², Márcia Otsubo, Juliana Novo Gomes³, Sônia Lopes, Aniela Improta França², Vitoria Piai⁴, Guilherme Lepski^1,5; ¹University of São Paulo Medical School, ²Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, ³University of Porto, ⁴Radboud University, ⁵Eberhard Karls University

Intraoperative awake language mapping is currently the state-of-the-art method to assess language organization and prevent postoperative deficits. Besides its clinical applications, this technique can significantly contribute to our understanding of cortical language organization within and across individuals. However, there is currently no standard protocol used across centers. Here we present a new language battery created in Brazil, the Mini-Intraoperative Language Test (MILT), which contains 10 language subtests that can be applied in 3- to 5-minute time windows and repeated (in different versions) across 10-15 pre-mapped cortical sites. We apply the Tanigushi method, which uses monopolar electrodes to induce stimulation for longer periods of time (3-5 minutes vs. 4 seconds, as in the Penfield method), and can reduce the incidence of epileptic seizures. Here we present the subtests, the normative studies conducted in Brazilian Portuguese to create them, and data from two pilot cases. In the future, our aim is to adapt MILT to different languages and develop an automated platform that makes MILT application and analysis in the surgical environment more efficient.

Topic Area: METHODS: Other