A systematic review of MRI studies of language development from birth to 2 years of age

Abstract

Neurocognitive functions supporting language development start to develop well before first words are spoken during the first years of life. This process coincides with the initial growth spurt of the brain. While the core components of the language network are well characterized in adults and children, the initial neural correlates of language skills are still relatively unknown. We reviewed 10 studies identified via a systematic search that combined magnetic resonance imaging and language‐related measures in healthy infants from birth to 2 years of age. We aimed to describe the current knowledge as well as point out viable future directions for similar studies. Expectedly, the implicated cerebral areas included many established components of the language networks, including frontal and temporal regions. A volumetric leftward asymmetry of the brain was suggested as a determinant of language skills, yet with marked interindividual variation. Overall, temporal and frontal brain volumes associated positively with language skills. Positive associations were described between the maturation of language related white matter tracts and language skills. The language networks showed adult‐like structural similarities already in neonates, with weaker asymmetry compared to adults. In summary, we found some evidence that the language circuit described in older age groups is also associated to language skills during the first 2 years of life. However, across the reviewed studies there were no systematic neural correlates of language skills, which is partly explained by a modest number of studies, scattered representation of ages in measurements and the variance in the used methods.

Restricted language access during childhood affects adult brain structure in selective language regions

“…There also appears to be an extended period of cortical thickening in frontal and temporal regions between age 5 to 11 ( 48 ), suggesting prolonged neuroplasticity in these language-related regions when early experience could influence cortical growth. Cortical thickness and volume are also positively associated with language skills in young children ( 24 , 49 , 50 ) and in older adults ( 51 ).…”

Topological abnormality of structural covariance network in MRI-negative frontal lobe epilepsy

“…For the study of Vaessen et al (2013Vaessen et al ( , 2014 and Widjaja et al (2011), the patients recruited were children, but the patients in the present study were adults older than 14 years old. As cortical structure should be closely associate with age, and the variation during development and maturation of frontal lobe may be huge even in normal population (Silver et al, 2021;Herring et al, 2022), future studies with larger sample size is warranted to clarify the influence of age.…”

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Language and Cognition in the Developing Bilingual Brain: From Infancy to Adolescence

“…Previous monolingual-focused, developmental neuroimaging studies have identified brain regions that we now commonly refer to as "classic language areas", including the superior temporal gyrus (STG) and the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG; Brauer & Friederici, 2007;Dehaene-Lambertz et al, 2006;Weiss-Croft & Baldeweg, 2015). Also, with increasing age, the language network develops greater left lateralization (Holland et al, 2007;Silver et al, 2021), with increased activation of semantic processing regions (frontotemporal areas, e.g., classic language areas of Brodmann areas 45, 47 -IFG, fusiform gyrus, superior and middle temporal gyri -STG, MTG (Skeide & Friederici, 2016) and sensory/motor regions (e.g., left premotor, bilateral primary motor, left somatosensory cortex; Weiss-Croft & Baldeweg, 2015) and a decrease in recruitment of default mode network (e.g., posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus) during cognitive control processes with age (Weiss-Croft & Baldeweg, 2015).…”

“…The prevalence of fNIRS may in part explain the lower number of studies using alternative neuroimaging techniques, such as fMRI. The scarcity of fMRI studies persists as a limitation noted in prior reviews (Silver et al, 2021). Given this gap in the literature, we opted to perform an exploratory fMRI meta-analysis to better understand this emerging data.…”