Gummadavelli Abhijeet, Wang Yingying, Guo Xinyao, Pardos Maria, Chu Hongtao, Liu Yinhong, Horn Paul, Zhang Fawen, Xiang Jing
MEG Center, Department of Neurology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45220, USA.
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA.
Brain Res. 2013 Mar 1;1498:20-32. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2013.01.001. Epub 2013 Jan 8.
High-frequency oscillations in the brain open a new window for studies of language development in humans. The objective of this study is to determine the spatiotemporal and frequency signatures of word processing in healthy children. Sixty healthy children aged 6-17 years were studied with a whole-cortex magnetoencephalography (MEG) system using a word recognition paradigm optimized for children. The temporal signature of neuromagnetic activation was measured using averaged waveforms. The spatial and frequency signatures of neuromagnetic activation were assessed with wavelet-based beamformer analyses. The results of waveform analyses showed that the latencies of the first and third neuromagnetic responses changed with age (p<0.01). The source imaging data revealed a clear lateralization of source activation in the 70-120 Hz range in children within the age range of 6 to 13 years of age (p<0.01). Males and females demonstrated different developmental trajectories over the age range of 9 to 13 years of age (p<0.01). These findings suggest that left-hemisphere language processing emerges from early bilateral brain areas with gender optimal neural networks. The neuromagnetic signatures of language development in healthy children may be used as references for future identification of aberrant language function in children with various disorders.
大脑中的高频振荡为研究人类语言发展打开了一扇新窗口。本研究的目的是确定健康儿童单词处理的时空和频率特征。使用针对儿童优化的单词识别范式，通过全脑皮层脑磁图（MEG）系统对60名6至17岁的健康儿童进行了研究。使用平均波形测量神经磁激活的时间特征。通过基于小波的波束形成器分析评估神经磁激活的空间和频率特征。波形分析结果表明，第一和第三神经磁反应的潜伏期随年龄变化（p<0.01）。源成像数据显示，6至13岁儿童在70-120Hz范围内源激活存在明显的偏侧化（p<0.01）。在9至13岁的年龄范围内，男性和女性表现出不同的发育轨迹（p<0.01）。这些发现表明，左半球语言处理从早期的双侧脑区出现，具有性别最佳神经网络。健康儿童语言发展的神经磁特征可作为未来识别各种疾病儿童异常语言功能的参考。
