Inside a Programmer's Brain: Dissociating Code and Language Comprehension Networks Using a Novel fMRI-ESM Protocol.
Victor Cepero-Escribano, Patricia León-Cabrera, Anna Gasa-Roqué et al.
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Case in brief
A professional software engineer with an IDH-mutant astrocytoma in the left middle frontal gyrus underwent preoperative fMRI and intraoperative electrical stimulation mapping (ESM) to assess both language and code comprehension. Adding a code-comprehension task to standard language assessment identified functionally relevant sites in the left inferior frontal cortex that standard object-naming mapping had not detected. The tumor was completely resected while these regions were preserved, and postoperative language and programming performance remained intact.
What made this case unusual
Code-comprehension mapping identified functionally relevant sites missed by standard object-naming mapping, addressing the specific risk of impairing a professional programmer’s work.
Diagnostic / clinical pearl
In this case, adding a code-comprehension task to fMRI-ESM revealed sites not identified by standard object naming, highlighting the value of assessing functions important to an individual patient.