title: Functional MRI of language lateralization during development in children.
abstract: Changes in the distribution of language function in the brain have been documented from infancy through adulthood. Even macroscopic measures of language lateralization reflect a dynamic process of language development. In this review, we summarize a series of functional MRI studies of language skills in children ages of five to 18 years, both typically-developing children and children with brain injuries or neurological disorders that occur at different developmental stages with different degrees of severity. These studies used a battery of fMRI-compatible language tasks designed to tap sentential and lexical language skills that develop early and later in childhood. In typically-developing children, lateralization changes with age are associated with language skills that have a protracted period of development, reflecting the developmental process of skill acquisition rather than general maturation of the brain. Normative data, across the developmental period, acts as a reference for disentangling developmental patterns in brain activation from changes due to developmental or acquired abnormalities. This review emphasizes the importance of considering age and child development in neuroimaging studies of language.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Neuroimaging Research Consortium, Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation, University of Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA. Scott.Holland@cchmc.org
authors.forename: Scott K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Holland
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vannest
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mecoli
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Jacola
authors.forename: Jan-Mendelt
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Tillema
authors.forename: Prasanna R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Karunanayaka
authors.forename: Vincent J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Schmithorst
authors.forename: Weihong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Plante
authors.forename: Anna W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Byars
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology*; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007804:Language Development; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology