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.
科研人员报告说，尽管几乎所有成年人的语言的中心是大脑左半球，对年龄在4到13岁的39名儿童的口语理解的功能磁共振成像研究发现，语言中心在右半球的对应体也在4到6岁的儿童中激活，并且随着年龄增长而系统地减少，14名成年人表现出了典型的强烈的左侧单侧化；这些结果提示，大脑的左半球对生命早期的语言发育有贡献，而且可能为大脑损伤的幼童提供了一个另外的语言路径。
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Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences