[The determination of cerebral speech dominance with the intracarotid amobarbital test]

In neuropsychological diagnostics of lateralisation of cognitive functions, the intracarotid amobarbital procedure (IAP) is a well established method for the determination of cerebral language dominance. In this review, different frameworks of classification of dominance patterns are discussed, ranging from the simple left/right/bilateral-dominance framework to a quantitative analysis according to a computed lateralisation index. Evidence from IAP studies concerning the cerebral organisation of linguistic subfunctions like naming and reading are discussed. A critical evaluation of rivalling approaches like electrical stimulation mapping or visual hemifield studies suggests that these methods mainly yield results complementary to IAP data and hence should not be taken as substitutes of that procedure.