Child Age and Planum Temporale Asymmetry

• Published in: Brain and cognition Vol. 40; no. 3; pp. 441 - 452
• Main Authors: Preis, Sabine, Jancke, Lutz, Schmitz-Hillebrecht, Jan, Steinmetz, Helmuth
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Diego, CA Elsevier Inc 01.08.1999; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adolescent; Age Factors; Anatomical correlates of behavior; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Brain - anatomy & histology; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Functional Laterality - physiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Human; Preschool age; Temporal lobe; Central nervous system; Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; Preadolescent; School age; Asymmetry; Adolescent; Medical imagery; Morphometry; Child; Age; Brain (vertebrata)
• ISSN: 0278-2626; 1090-2147
• DOI: 10.1006/brcg.1998.1072

Investigations using in vivo magnetic resonance (MR) morphometry have shown that left–right asymmetry of the planum temporale (PT) is a structural correlate of hemispheric functional asymmetries in adult humans (e.g., handedness, language representation). Postmortem studies of brains of fetuses and newborns have demonstrated that PT asymmetry becomes visible as early as in the last gestational trimester. The same studies could not clarify when the full (adult) degree of PT asymmetry is reached during brain development and whether this process may be influenced by functional specialization during childhood. We examined 61 neuropsychiatrically normal right-handed children aged 3 to 14 years (mean age ±SD, 8.4 ± 2.7 years; cross-sectional study). MR morphometry showed no change in PT or planum parietale asymmetry with increasing age or brain volume. An unexpected gender difference of unknown significance emerged, with girls displaying a stronger leftward PT asymmetry, independently of age. For the age range studied, the results suggest that functional differentiation follows a structural asymmetry that is already “preset.”