title: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study of language function in international adoptees.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To test the hypothesis that international adoption of Chinese and Eastern European girls after 9 months of age results in long-term changes in the neural circuitry supporting monolingual English in later childhood.
  
  
  METHODS
  Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to test this hypothesis by comparison with a control group of American-born English speakers (n = 13). Girls now aged 6-10 years adopted from China (n = 13) and Eastern Europe (n = 12) by English-speaking families were recruited through a pediatric hospital-based international adoption center after spending more than 6 months in an orphanage or other institution, a measure of early environmental deprivation. Functional magnetic resonance imaging scans were performed on a 3 Tesla MRI scanner using a verb generation language fluency task. Composite activation maps were computed for each group using a general linear model with random effects analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Chinese born adoptees demonstrate atypical lateralization of language function with an apparent shift of temporal-parietal and frontal areas of brain activity toward the right hemisphere. Eastern European adoptees exhibited a rightward shift relative to controls in both frontal and temporal-parietal brain regions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Significant differences in lateralization between the Chinese and American-born groups in temporal-parietal language areas highlight the possible impact of early tonal Asian language exposure on neural circuitry. Findings suggest that exposure to an Asian language during infancy can leave a long-term imprint on the neural circuitry supporting English language development.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Neuroimaging Research Consortium, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH. Electronic address: akila.rajagopal@cchmc.org.
authors.forename: Akila
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rajagopal
authors.forename: Scott K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Holland
authors.forename: Nicolay C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Walz
authors.forename: Mary Allen
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Staat
authors.forename: Mekibib
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Altaye
authors.forename: Shari
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wade
mesh_terms: D000300:Adoption; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D002681:China; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants; D005061:Europe, Eastern; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007804:Language Development; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States
keywords: FSIQ; Full scale IQ; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; LI; Lateralization index; ROI; Region of interest; fMRI
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