Developmental Cognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095-1769, USA.
Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2011 Jul;1(3):313-23. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2011.02.004.
Development of syntactic processing was examined to evaluate maturational processes including left language lateralization functions and increased specialization of brain regions important for syntactic processing. We utilized multimodal methods, including indices of brain activity from fMRI during a syntactic processing task, cortical thickness measurements from structural MRI, and neuropsychological measures. To evaluate hypotheses about increasing lateralization and specialization with development, we examined relationships between cortical thickness and magnitude and spatial activation extent within the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and its right hemisphere homologue. We predicted that increased activation in the left and decreased activation in the right IFG would be associated with increased syntactic proficiency. As predicted, a more mature pattern of increased thickness in the right pars triangularis was associated with decreased activation intensity and extent in the right IFG. These findings suggest a maturational shift towards decreased involvement of the right IFG for syntactic processing. Better syntactic skills were associated with increased activation in the left IFG independent from age, suggesting increased specialization of the left IFG with increased proficiency. Overall, our findings show relationships between structural and functional neurodevelopment that co-occur with improved syntactic processing in critical language regions of the IFG in typically developing children.
我们利用多模态方法，包括在句法处理任务期间的 fMRI 的大脑活动指标、来自结构 MRI 的皮质厚度测量以及神经心理学测量，来研究句法处理的发展情况，以评估包括左语言侧化功能和与句法处理相关的脑区专业化程度提高的成熟过程。为了评估与发展相关的侧化和专业化增加的假设，我们检查了左侧额下回（IFG）及其右侧半球同源区域内的皮质厚度与幅度以及空间激活程度之间的关系。我们预测，左侧的激活增加和右侧 IFG 的激活减少将与句法能力的提高相关。正如所预测的那样，右侧三角部的厚度更成熟模式与右侧 IFG 的激活强度和范围的减少相关。这些发现表明，对于句法处理，右侧 IFG 的参与度逐渐降低，这是一种成熟的转变。更好的句法技能与左侧 IFG 的激活增加有关，与年龄无关，这表明随着熟练程度的提高，左侧 IFG 的专业化程度增加。总的来说，我们的研究结果表明，在 IFG 的关键语言区域中，结构和功能神经发育之间存在关系，这些关系与句法处理能力的提高同时发生，这在典型的发育儿童中是存在的。
