Abstract
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a relatively new neuroimaging procedure that has been used to study a wide variety of cognitive phenomena in adults, including attention, language, and memory. More recently, this technique has been successfully applied to pediatric populations as well. In particular, many investigators have employed fMRI as a tool to study language development in normal children. This paper reviews the current imaging research on the identification of cortex subserving components of language processing in young children. The literature suggests that fMRI can successfully identify regions of language cortex in children in much the same capacity as it can with adults, and that generally, adults and children show fundamental similarities in the patterns of activation. However, special considerations with pediatric imaging, paradigm design, and image analysis are also discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References and Recommended Reading
Logothetis NK, Pauls J, Augath M, et al.: Neurophysiological investigation of the basis of the fMRI signal. Nature 2001, 12:150–157. Study demonstrating that blood-oxygen level dependent signal is derived from synaptic activity.
Cohen MS, Bookheimer SY: Localization of brain function using magnetic resonance imaging. Trends Neurosci 1994, 17:288–297.
Malonek D, Dirnagl U, Lindauer U, et al.: Vascular imprints of neuronal activity: Relationships between the dynamics of cortical blood flow, oxygenation, and volume changes following sensory stimulation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1997, 94:14826–14831.
Bandettini PA, Wong EC, Hinks RS, et al.: Time course EPI of human brain function during task activation. Magn Reson Med 1992, 25:390–397.
Petersen SE, Fox PT, Posner MI, et al.: Positron emission tomgraphic studies of the cortical antomy of single word processing. Nature 1988, 331:585–589.
Petersen SE, Fox PT, Posner MI, et al.: Positron emission tomographic studies of the processing of single words. J Cogn Neurosci 1989, 1:153–170.
Yakovlev PI, Lecours AR: The mylenetic cycles of regional maturation of the brain. InRegional Development of the Brain in Early Life. Edited byMinkowskiA. Philadelphia: FA Davis; 1967:3–70.
Schlaggar BL, Brown TT, Lugar HM, et al.: Functional neuroanatomical differences between adults and school-age children in the processing of single words. Science 2002, 296:1476–1479. Innovative study using event-related methodology to examine developmental differences in children and adults.
Muzik O, Chugani DC, Juhasz C, et al.: Statistical parametric mapping: assessment of application in children. Neuroimage 2000, 12:538–549.
Talaraich J, Tournoux P: Coplanar Stereotaxic Atlas of the Human Brain. Three Dimensional Proportional System: An Approach to Cerebral Imaging. New York: Thieme Medical; 1988.
Imaging Research Center at the Children’s Hospital Medical Center Cincinnati, Ohio. http://www.irc.chmcc.org. Accessed on October 7, 2002.
Gaillard WD, Hertz-Pannier L, Mott SH, et al.: Functional anatomy of cognitive development: fMRI of verbal fluency in children and adults. Neurology 2000, 54:180–185.
Gaillard WD, Grandin CB, Xu B: Developmental aspects of pediatric fMRI: considerations for image acquisition, analysis, and interpretation. Neuroimage 2001, 13:239–249. Review of the physiologic and developmental issues relevant to pediatric neuroimaging.
LoganWJ: Functional magnetic resonance imaging in children. Sem Pediatr Neurol 1999, 6:78–86.
BookheimerSY: Methodological issues in pediatric neuroimaging. Ment Retard Dev Disabil Res Rev 2000, 6:161–165. Thorough review of the considerations for paradigm design when imaging cognitive processes in children.
Gaillard WD, Pugliese M, Grandin CB, et al.: Cortical localization of reading in normal children: an fMRI study of language. Neurology 2001, 57:47–54.
Thomas KM, King SW, Franzeden PL, et al.: A developmental functional MRI study of spatial working memory. Neuroimage 1999, 10:327–338.
BookheimerSY: Functional MRI applications in clinical epilepsy. Neuroimage 1996, 4:S139-S146.
Gaillard WD, Sachs BC, Whitnah JR, et al.: Developmental aspects of language processing: fMRI of verbal fluency in children and adults. Hum Brain Map 2003, in press.
Holland SK, Plante E, Weber Byars A, et al.: Normal fMRI brain activation patterns in children performing a verb generation task. Neuroimage 2001, 14:837–843. Important paper about verbal fluency in children.
Lee BC, Kuppusamy K, Grueneich R, et al.: Hemisphere language dominance in children demonstrated by functional magnetic resonance imaging. J Child Neurol 1999, 14:78–82.
Booth JR, MacWhinney B, Thulborn KR, et al.: Functional organization of activation patterns in children: whole brain fMRI imaging during three different cognitive tasks. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 1999, 23:669–682.
Ahmad Z, Balsamo LM, Sachs BC, et al.: Auditory comprehension of language in young children: neural networks identified with fMRI. Ann Neurol 2002, 52(suppl 1):S114.
Balsamo LM, Xu B, Grandin CB, et al.: Functional magnetic resonance imaging study of left hemisphere language dominance in children. Arch Neurol 2002, 59:1168–1174.
Booth JR, MacWhinney B, Thulborn KR, et al.: Development and lesion effects in brain activation during sentence comprehension and mental rotation. Dev Neuropsychol 2000, 18:139–169.
Ulualp SO, Biswal BB, Yetkin Z, Kidder TM: Functional magnetic resonance imaging of auditory cortex in children. Laryngoscope 1998, 108:1782–1786.
Bates E, Thal D, Trauner D, et al.: From first words to grammar in children with focal brain injury. Dev Neuropsychol 1997, 13:275–343.
Gaillard WD, Balsamo LM, Ibrahim Z, et al.: fMRI identifies regional specialization of neural networks for reading in young children. Neurology 2003, 60:94–99. Study of reading in children using paradigms tailored to individual skill level. This is one of the youngest populations that have been studied.
Shaywitz BA, Shaywitz SE, Pugh KR, et al.: Disruption of posterior brain systems for reading in children with developmental dyslexia. Biol Psychiatry 2002, 52:101–110. Largest study published of pediatric single word-processing. Focuses on differences between normal and dyslexic children.
Georgiewa P, Rzanny R, Gaser C, et al.: Phonological processing in dyslexic children: a study combining functional imaging and event related potentials. Neurosci Lett 2002, 318:5–8.
Corina DP, Richards TL, Serafini S, et al.: fMRI auditory language differences between dyslexic and able reading children. Neuroreport 2001, 12:1195–1201.
Temple E, Poldrack RA, Salidis J, et al.: Disrupted neural responses to phonological and orthographic processing in dyslexic children: an fMRI study. Neuroreport 2001, 12:299–307.
Serafini S, Steury K, Richards T, et al.: Comparison of fMRI and PEPSI during language processing in children. Magn Reson Med 2001, 45:217–225.
Georgiewa P, Rzanny R, Hopf JM, et al.: fMRI during word processing in dyslexic and normal reading children. Neuroreport 1999, 10:3459–3465.
Dapretto M, Bookheimer S: A fMRI study of phonological and semantic processing in normally developing children. Soc Neurosci Abstracts 1998, 24:20.
Hertz-Panier L, Gaillard WD, Mott SH, et al.: Noninvasive assessment of language dominance on children and adolescents with functional MRI: a preliminary study. Neurology 1997, 48:1003–1012.
Bookheimer SY, Dapretto M, Karmarkar U: Functional MRI in children with epilepsy. Dev Neurosci 1999, 21:191–199.
GaillardWD: Structural and functional imaging in children with partial epilepsy. Ment Retard Dev Disabil Res Rev 2000, 6:220–226.
Pierce K, Muller RA, Ambrose J, et al.: Face processing occurs outside the fusiform ‘face area’ in autism: evidence from functional MRI. Brain 2001, 124:2059–2073.
Schultz RT, Gauthier I, Klin A, et al.: Abnormal ventral temporal cortical activity during face discrimination among individuals with autism and Asperger syndrome. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2000, 57:331–340.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sachs, B.C., Gaillard, W.D. Organization of language networks in children: Functional magnetic resonance imaging studies. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep 3, 157–162 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11910-003-0068-z
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11910-003-0068-z