Language development and brain reorganization in a child born without the left hemisphere. 2020

Salomi S Asaridou, and Ö Ece Demir-Lira, and Susan Goldin-Meadow, and Susan C Levine, and Steven L Small
University of California, Irvine, Department of Neurology, Biological Sciences III, Irvine, CA, USA. Electronic address: salomi.asaridou@psy.ox.ac.uk.

We present a case of a 14-year-old girl born without the left hemisphere due to prenatal left internal carotid occlusion. We combined longitudinal language and cognitive assessments with functional and structural neuroimaging data to situate the case within age-matched, typically developing children. Despite having had a delay in getting language off the ground during the preschool years, our case performed within the normal range on a variety of standardized language tests, and exceptionally well on phonology and word reading, during the elementary and middle school years. Moreover, her spatial, number, and reasoning skills also fell in the average to above-average range based on assessments during these time periods. Functional MRI data revealed activation in right fronto-temporal areas when listening to short stories, resembling the bilateral activation patterns in age-matched typically developing children. Diffusion MRI data showed significantly larger dorsal white matter association tracts (the direct and anterior segments of the arcuate fasciculus) connecting areas active during language processing in her remaining right hemisphere, compared to either hemisphere in control children. We hypothesize that these changes in functional and structural brain organization are the result of compensatory brain plasticity, manifesting in unusually large right dorsal tracts, and exceptional performance in phonology, speech repetition, and decoding. More specifically, we posit that our case's large white matter connections might have played a compensatory role by providing fast and reliable transfer of information between cortical areas for language in the right hemisphere.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007802 Language A verbal or nonverbal means of communicating ideas or feelings. Dialect,Dialects,Languages
D007804 Language Development The gradual expansion in complexity and meaning of symbols and sounds as perceived and interpreted by the individual through a maturational and learning process. Stages in development include babbling, cooing, word imitation with cognition, and use of short sentences. Language Acquisition,Acquisition, Language,Development, Language
D008279 Magnetic Resonance Imaging Non-invasive method of demonstrating internal anatomy based on the principle that atomic nuclei in a strong magnetic field absorb pulses of radiofrequency energy and emit them as radiowaves which can be reconstructed into computerized images. The concept includes proton spin tomographic techniques. Chemical Shift Imaging,MR Tomography,MRI Scans,MRI, Functional,Magnetic Resonance Image,Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Functional,Magnetization Transfer Contrast Imaging,NMR Imaging,NMR Tomography,Tomography, NMR,Tomography, Proton Spin,fMRI,Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging,Imaging, Chemical Shift,Proton Spin Tomography,Spin Echo Imaging,Steady-State Free Precession MRI,Tomography, MR,Zeugmatography,Chemical Shift Imagings,Echo Imaging, Spin,Echo Imagings, Spin,Functional MRI,Functional MRIs,Image, Magnetic Resonance,Imaging, Magnetic Resonance,Imaging, NMR,Imaging, Spin Echo,Imagings, Chemical Shift,Imagings, Spin Echo,MRI Scan,MRIs, Functional,Magnetic Resonance Images,Resonance Image, Magnetic,Scan, MRI,Scans, MRI,Shift Imaging, Chemical,Shift Imagings, Chemical,Spin Echo Imagings,Steady State Free Precession MRI
D001921 Brain The part of CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM that is contained within the skull (CRANIUM). Arising from the NEURAL TUBE, the embryonic brain is comprised of three major parts including PROSENCEPHALON (the forebrain); MESENCEPHALON (the midbrain); and RHOMBENCEPHALON (the hindbrain). The developed brain consists of CEREBRUM; CEREBELLUM; and other structures in the BRAIN STEM. Encephalon
D001931 Brain Mapping Imaging techniques used to colocalize sites of brain functions or physiological activity with brain structures. Brain Electrical Activity Mapping,Functional Cerebral Localization,Topographic Brain Mapping,Brain Mapping, Topographic,Functional Cerebral Localizations,Mapping, Brain,Mapping, Topographic Brain
D002648 Child A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL. Children
D002675 Child, Preschool A child between the ages of 2 and 5. Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000293 Adolescent A person 13 to 18 years of age. Adolescence,Youth,Adolescents,Adolescents, Female,Adolescents, Male,Teenagers,Teens,Adolescent, Female,Adolescent, Male,Female Adolescent,Female Adolescents,Male Adolescent,Male Adolescents,Teen,Teenager,Youths

Related Publications

Salomi S Asaridou, and Ö Ece Demir-Lira, and Susan Goldin-Meadow, and Susan C Levine, and Steven L Small
October 2012, Brain and language,
Salomi S Asaridou, and Ö Ece Demir-Lira, and Susan Goldin-Meadow, and Susan C Levine, and Steven L Small
December 2023, Psychiatria Danubina,
Salomi S Asaridou, and Ö Ece Demir-Lira, and Susan Goldin-Meadow, and Susan C Levine, and Steven L Small
May 2007, Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS,
Salomi S Asaridou, and Ö Ece Demir-Lira, and Susan Goldin-Meadow, and Susan C Levine, and Steven L Small
August 1998, Archives of neurology,
Salomi S Asaridou, and Ö Ece Demir-Lira, and Susan Goldin-Meadow, and Susan C Levine, and Steven L Small
November 2004, Otology & neurotology : official publication of the American Otological Society, American Neurotology Society [and] European Academy of Otology and Neurotology,
Salomi S Asaridou, and Ö Ece Demir-Lira, and Susan Goldin-Meadow, and Susan C Levine, and Steven L Small
January 1992, Journal of communication disorders,
Salomi S Asaridou, and Ö Ece Demir-Lira, and Susan Goldin-Meadow, and Susan C Levine, and Steven L Small
June 2004, Brain : a journal of neurology,
Salomi S Asaridou, and Ö Ece Demir-Lira, and Susan Goldin-Meadow, and Susan C Levine, and Steven L Small
November 2010, Brain : a journal of neurology,
Salomi S Asaridou, and Ö Ece Demir-Lira, and Susan Goldin-Meadow, and Susan C Levine, and Steven L Small
October 1998, Brain and language,
Salomi S Asaridou, and Ö Ece Demir-Lira, and Susan Goldin-Meadow, and Susan C Levine, and Steven L Small
January 2000, Brain and cognition,
Copied contents to your clipboard!