Department of Radiology, Division of Neuroradiology, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
Cereb Cortex. 2011 May;21(5):1076-83. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhq179. Epub 2010 Sep 17.
Anatomical and functional hemispheric lateralization originates from differential gene expression and leads to asymmetric structural brain development, which initially appears in the perisylvian regions by 26 gestational weeks (GWs). In this in vivo neuroimaging study, we demonstrated a predominant pattern of temporal lobe (TL) asymmetry in a large cohort of human fetuses between 18 and 37 GWs. Over two-thirds of fetuses showed a larger, left-sided TL, combined with the earlier appearance of the right superior temporal sulcus by 23 GWs (vs. 25 GWs on the left side), which was also deeper than its left counterpart in the majority of cases (94.2%). Shape analysis detected highly significant differences in the contour of the right and left TLs by 20 GWs. Thus, fetal hemispheric asymmetry can be detected in utero, opening new diagnostic possibilities for the assessment of diseases that are believed to be linked to atypical hemispheric lateralization.
左右半球的解剖和功能偏侧性源于差异基因表达，并导致不对称的结构性大脑发育，这种发育最初在妊娠 26 周（GWs）时出现在围侧裂区。在这项体内神经影像学研究中，我们在 18 至 37 GWs 的大量人类胎儿中证明了颞叶（TL）不对称的主要模式。超过三分之二的胎儿表现出较大的左侧 TL，并伴有右侧颞上沟在 23 GWs 时比左侧更早出现（而左侧为 25 GWs），而且在大多数情况下，右侧颞上沟比左侧更深（94.2%）。形态分析在 20 GWs 时就检测到了左右 TL 轮廓的高度显著差异。因此，胎儿半球的偏侧性可以在子宫内被检测到，为评估那些被认为与非典型半球偏侧化有关的疾病提供了新的诊断可能性。
