The maturation of expressive language lateralization revealed by functional near infrared spectroscopy
-
1
Université de Montréal, Canada
-
2
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico
-
3
CHU Ste-Justine, Canada
-
4
Harvard University, United States
The development of left hemispheric specialization is not well established, particularly with regards to expressive language abilities. This is related to the inherent limitations of using imaging techniques such as fMRI or MEG in young children. In contrast, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a non-invasive, functional imaging technique that has no major restrictions on movements or verbalization. The present study aimed to determine the maturation of hemispheric specialization for expressive language abilities in forty participants (3.5-6 yrs: n = 10, 7-10 yrs: n = 10; 12-16: n = 10; adults: n = 10) using fNIRS during the execution of a semantic verbal fluency (retrieval of words from a given category such as toys, animals or colors). fNIRS was performed using a multi-channel Imagent Tissue Oxymeter (ISS Inc., Champaign, Ill, USA) with 32 sources operating at 690 nm, 32 sources operating at 830 nm, and 16 detectors. Activity was recorded in the temporal and frontal lobes of both hemispheres. The source-detector distance was held constant between 2 and 5 cm. DC and AC data were filtered, normalized and transformed to quantify concentration changes of HbO2 and HbR for each channel with homERTM data analysis program. The semantic verbal fluency task revealed unilateral left hemisphere dominance in the two younger age groups. However, the adolescent group (12-16) showed a bilateral pattern of response whereas the adult pattern was predominantly lateralized to the left hemisphere. The results of the present study suggest that that the development of semantic processes related to a categorical fluency task can be well characterized with NIRS. Moreover, this response is highly lateralized in young children, most probably as a result of immature myelination processes.
Keywords:
Infrared Spectroscopy,
Language
Conference:
XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI), Palma, Mallorca, Spain, 25 Sep - 29 Sep, 2011.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Poster Sessions: Neural Bases of Language
Citation:
Lassonde
M,
González-Frankenberger
B,
Vannasing
P,
Tremblay
J,
Florea
O,
Paquette
N,
Lepore
F,
Béland
R and
Gallagher
A
(2011). The maturation of expressive language lateralization revealed by functional near infrared spectroscopy.
Conference Abstract:
XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI).
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2011.207.00189
Copyright:
The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers.
They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters.
The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated.
Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed.
For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions.
Received:
19 Nov 2011;
Published Online:
28 Nov 2011.
*
Correspondence:
Prof. Maryse Lassonde, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada, maryse.lassonde@umontreal.ca