Skip to main content

Main menu

  • HOME
  • CONTENT
    • Early Release
    • Featured
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • Collections
    • Podcast
  • ALERTS
  • FOR AUTHORS
    • Information for Authors
    • Fees
    • Journal Clubs
    • eLetters
    • Submit
    • Special Collections
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
    • Editorial Board
    • ECR Advisory Board
    • Journal Staff
  • ABOUT
    • Overview
    • Advertise
    • For the Media
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Feedback
    • Accessibility
  • SUBSCRIBE

User menu

  • Log out
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Neuroscience
  • Log out
  • Log in
  • My Cart
Journal of Neuroscience

Advanced Search

Submit a Manuscript
  • HOME
  • CONTENT
    • Early Release
    • Featured
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • Collections
    • Podcast
  • ALERTS
  • FOR AUTHORS
    • Information for Authors
    • Fees
    • Journal Clubs
    • eLetters
    • Submit
    • Special Collections
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
    • Editorial Board
    • ECR Advisory Board
    • Journal Staff
  • ABOUT
    • Overview
    • Advertise
    • For the Media
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Feedback
    • Accessibility
  • SUBSCRIBE
PreviousNext
Articles, Behavioral/Cognitive

Interactions between White Matter Asymmetry and Language during Neurodevelopment

Jonathan O'Muircheartaigh, Douglas C. Dean III, Holly Dirks, Nicole Waskiewicz, Katie Lehman, Beth A. Jerskey and Sean C.L. Deoni
Journal of Neuroscience 9 October 2013, 33 (41) 16170-16177; https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1463-13.2013
Jonathan O'Muircheartaigh
1Advanced Baby Imaging Laboratory, School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912,
2Department of Neuroimaging, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London WC2R 2 LS, United Kingdom, and
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Douglas C. Dean III
1Advanced Baby Imaging Laboratory, School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912,
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Holly Dirks
1Advanced Baby Imaging Laboratory, School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912,
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Nicole Waskiewicz
1Advanced Baby Imaging Laboratory, School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912,
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Katie Lehman
1Advanced Baby Imaging Laboratory, School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912,
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Beth A. Jerskey
3Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Sean C.L. Deoni
1Advanced Baby Imaging Laboratory, School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912,
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

The human brain is asymmetric in gross structure as well as functional organization. However, the developmental basis and trajectory of this asymmetry is unclear, and its relationship(s) to functional and cognitive development, especially language, remain to be fully elucidated. During infancy and early childhood, in concert with cortical gray matter growth, underlying axonal bundles become progressively myelinated. This myelination is critical for efficient and coherent interneuronal communication and, as revealed in animal studies, the degree of myelination changes in response to environment and neuronal activity. Using a novel quantitative magnetic resonance imaging method to investigate myelin content in vivo in human infants and young children, we investigated gross asymmetry of myelin in a large cohort of 108 typically developing children between 1 and 6 years of age, hypothesizing that asymmetry would predict language abilities in this cohort. While asymmetry of myelin content was evident in multiple cortical and subcortical regions, language ability was predicted only by leftward asymmetry of caudate and frontal cortex myelin content and rightward asymmetry in the extreme capsule. Importantly, the influence of this asymmetry was found to change with age, suggesting an age-specific influence of structure and myelin on language function. The relationship between language ability and asymmetry of myelin stabilized at ∼4 years, indicating anatomical evidence for a critical time during development before which environmental influence on cognition may be greatest.

View Full Text
Back to top

In this issue

The Journal of Neuroscience: 33 (41)
Journal of Neuroscience
Vol. 33, Issue 41
9 Oct 2013
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
  • Advertising (PDF)
  • Ed Board (PDF)
Email

Thank you for sharing this Journal of Neuroscience article.

NOTE: We request your email address only to inform the recipient that it was you who recommended this article, and that it is not junk mail. We do not retain these email addresses.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Interactions between White Matter Asymmetry and Language during Neurodevelopment
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from Journal of Neuroscience
(Your Name) thought you would be interested in this article in Journal of Neuroscience.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Print
View Full Page PDF
Citation Tools
Interactions between White Matter Asymmetry and Language during Neurodevelopment
Jonathan O'Muircheartaigh, Douglas C. Dean III, Holly Dirks, Nicole Waskiewicz, Katie Lehman, Beth A. Jerskey, Sean C.L. Deoni
Journal of Neuroscience 9 October 2013, 33 (41) 16170-16177; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1463-13.2013

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Respond to this article
Request Permissions
Share
Interactions between White Matter Asymmetry and Language during Neurodevelopment
Jonathan O'Muircheartaigh, Douglas C. Dean III, Holly Dirks, Nicole Waskiewicz, Katie Lehman, Beth A. Jerskey, Sean C.L. Deoni
Journal of Neuroscience 9 October 2013, 33 (41) 16170-16177; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1463-13.2013
Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Introduction
    • Materials and Methods
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF

Responses to this article

Respond to this article

Jump to comment:

No eLetters have been published for this article.

Related Articles

Cited By...

More in this TOC Section

Articles

  • Memory Retrieval Has a Dynamic Influence on the Maintenance Mechanisms That Are Sensitive to ζ-Inhibitory Peptide (ZIP)
  • Neurophysiological Evidence for a Cortical Contribution to the Wakefulness-Related Drive to Breathe Explaining Hypocapnia-Resistant Ventilation in Humans
  • Monomeric Alpha-Synuclein Exerts a Physiological Role on Brain ATP Synthase
Show more Articles

Behavioral/Cognitive

  • Continuous Diffusion-Detected Neuroplasticity during Motor Learning
  • Neural Signatures of Flexible Multiple Timing
  • Functional and Regional Specificity of Noradrenergic Signaling for Encoding and Retrieval of Associative Recognition Memory in the Rat
Show more Behavioral/Cognitive
  • Home
  • Alerts
  • Follow SFN on BlueSky
  • Visit Society for Neuroscience on Facebook
  • Follow Society for Neuroscience on Twitter
  • Follow Society for Neuroscience on LinkedIn
  • Visit Society for Neuroscience on Youtube
  • Follow our RSS feeds

Content

  • Early Release
  • Current Issue
  • Issue Archive
  • Collections

Information

  • For Authors
  • For Advertisers
  • For the Media
  • For Subscribers

About

  • About the Journal
  • Editorial Board
  • Privacy Notice
  • Contact
  • Accessibility
(JNeurosci logo)
(SfN logo)

Copyright © 2025 by the Society for Neuroscience.
JNeurosci Online ISSN: 1529-2401

The ideas and opinions expressed in JNeurosci do not necessarily reflect those of SfN or the JNeurosci Editorial Board. Publication of an advertisement or other product mention in JNeurosci should not be construed as an endorsement of the manufacturer’s claims. SfN does not assume any responsibility for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from or related to any use of any material contained in JNeurosci.