title: Relationship between receptive vocabulary and the neural substrates for story processing in preschoolers.
abstract: A left-lateralized fronto-temporo-parietal language network has been well-characterized in adults; however, the neural basis of this fundamental network has hardly been explored in the preschool years, despite this being a time for rapid language development and vocabulary growth. We examined the functional imaging correlates associated with vocabulary ability and narrative comprehension in 30 preschool children ages 3 to 5. Bilateral auditory cortex and superior temporal activation as well as left angular and supramarginal gyrus activation were observed during a passive listening-to-stories task. Boys showed greater activation than girls in the right anterior cingulate and right superior frontal gyrus (SFG). Finally, children with higher vocabulary scores showed increased grey matter left-lateralization and greater activation in bilateral thalamus, hippocampus, and left angular gyrus. This study is novel in its approach to relate left-hemisphere language regions and vocabulary scores in preschool-aged children using fMRI.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Neuroimaging Research Consortium, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Ave. ML 5033, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA.
authors.forename: M Claire
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Sroka
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vannest
authors.forename: Thomas C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Maloney
authors.forename: Tzipi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Horowitz-Kraus
authors.forename: Anna W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Byars
authors.forename: Scott K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Holland
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D054022:Cerebrum / Q000502:physiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007804:Language Development; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D014825:Vocabulary