image: Examples of individual activation maps in each of the age groups. Strong activation in right-hemisphere homologs of the left-hemisphere language areas is evident in the youngest children, declines over age, and is absent in most adults view more
Credit: Image credit: Olumide A. Olulade, Anna Seydell-Greenwald, Catherine E. Chambers, Peter E. Turkeltaub, Alexander W. Dromerick, Madison M. Berl, William D. Gaillard, and Elissa L. Newport.
Researchers report that although language is centered in the brain's left hemisphere in nearly all adults, a functional MRI study of spoken language comprehension in 39 children, ages 4-13 years, finds that the right-hemisphere homologs of the language centers were also active in children aged 4-6 years and decreased systematically with age, with 14 adults showing typical strong left lateralization and little activity in the right hemisphere; the results suggest that the brain's right hemisphere contributes to language development early in life and may provide an alternate route for language upon brain injury in young children.
Article #19-05590: "The neural basis of language development: Changes in lateralization over age," by Olumide A. Olulade et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Elissa L. Newport, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC; tel: 585-943-9002; e-mail: eln10@georgetown.edu
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Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences