title: Characterizing the normal developmental trajectory of expressive language lateralization using magnetoencephalography.
abstract: To characterize the developmental trajectory for expressive language representation and to test competing explanations for the relative neuroplasticity of language in childhood, we studied 28 healthy children and adolescents (aged 5-19 years) participating in a covert verb generation task in magnetoencephalography. Lateralization of neuromagnetic responses in the frontal lobe was quantified using a bootstrap statistical thresholding procedure for differential beamformer analyses. We observed a significant positive correlation between left hemisphere lateralization and age. Findings suggest that adult-typical left hemisphere lateralization emerges from an early bilateral language network, which may explain the pediatric advantage for interhemispheric plasticity of language.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Darren S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Kadis
authors.forename: Elizabeth W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.forename: Travis
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mills
authors.forename: Margot J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Mary Pat
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: McAndrews
authors.forename: Mary Lou
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007804:Language Development; D007807:Language Tests; D016014:Linear Models; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D015225:Magnetoencephalography; D008297:Male; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult