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Neurology 2003;60:1598-1605
© 2003 American Academy of Neurology

Auditory comprehension of language in young children

Neural networks identified with fMRI

Z. Ahmad, BS, L. M. Balsamo, MA, B. C. Sachs, BS, B. Xu, PhD and W. D. Gaillard, MD

From the Clinical Epilepsy Section (Z. Ahmad, L.M. Balsamo, B.C. Sachs, and Drs. Xu and Gaillard), NINDS, NIH, Bethesda, MD; and Department of Neurology (Z. Ahmad, L.M. Balsamo, B.C. Sachs, and Dr. Gaillard), Children’s National Medical Center, The George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, DC.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. William Davis Gaillard, Department of Neurology, Children’s National Medical Center, 111 Michigan Ave NW, Washington, DC 20010; e-mail: gaillardw{at}ninds.nih.gov

Objective: The organization of neuronal systems that process language in young children is poorly understood. The authors used fMRI to identify brain regions underlying auditory comprehension in healthy young children.

Methods: Fifteen right-handed children (mean age 6.8 years) underwent fMRI at 1.5-T using blood oxygen level dependent echoplanar imaging. They listened to stories with a reverse speech control condition. Group data were analyzed with statistical parametric mapping. Individual subject data were analyzed with a region of interest approach based on t-maps. An asymmetry index (AI = [(L-R)/(L+R)]) was calculated for each region.

Results: Group analysis showed significant activation in the left middle temporal gyrus (Brodmann area [BA] 21) and left superior temporal gyrus (BA 22) along the superior temporal sulcus extending back to the angular gyrus (BA 39). Individual maps showed lateralized activation in temporal regions (AI > 0.49 ± 0.39). There was minimal activation in the frontal lobe. There were no significant correlations between age and regional AI.

Conclusion: Networks for auditory language processing are regionally localized and lateralized by age 5. These data may provide a means to interpret language fMRI studies performed in preparation for brain surgery, and may be employed to investigate the effect of chronic disease states, such as epilepsy, on language organization during critical periods for plasticity.




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