Altered gray matter volumes in language‐associated regions in children with developmental language disorder and speech sound disorder

Abstract

Developmental language disorder (DLD) and speech sound disorder (SSD) are common, and although scientific evidence for structural and functional alterations in DLD/SSD is accumulating, current neuroimaging studies provide an incongruent picture. Here, we hypothesized that children affected by DLD and SSD present with gray matter (or gray matter asymmetry) aberrations in brain areas associated with language processing compared to typically developing (TD) children. To assess this hypothesis, we enhanced MRI-based information with microscopically defined cytoarchitectonic probabilities of Broca's area (BA 45, BA 44) as well as an auditory area (TE 3.0). We detected a larger rightward gray matter asymmetry in BA 45 in children with DLD (n = 13) and with SSD (n = 18) compared to TD children (n = 18), albeit only on a trend level. Interestingly though, we observed significantly larger gray matter volumes in right BA 45 in DLD compared to SSD children (and also compared to TD children).

The neural basis of nonword repetition in children with developmental speech or language disorder: An fMRI study

“…Note that some participants in this study were also included in structural MRI focused publications (Kurth et al, 2018;Luders et al, 2017;Morgan et al, 2018). 10) 80( 9) 105( 10) 109(11) Core 107( 9) 80( 7) 104( 9) 108( 10) WASI-2 PRI (NVIQ) 102( 10) 92( 8) 105( 11) 107( 7) for the DLD group were significantly lower than for the DSD and typical control groups (p<.05).…”

Sex differences in structural brain asymmetry of children with autism spectrum disorders

“…A key advantage over the standard VBM workflow is establishing the voxel-wise hemispheric correspondence, which is ensured by using Diffeomorphic Anatomical Registration Lie (DARTEL) algebra to convert spatial normalization into a symmetric space. Several studies have used this approach to investigate the effects of sex, meditation, alcohol dependence, and schizophrenia on GM asymmetry [22][23][24].…”

The Topology of Pediatric Structural Asymmetries in Language-Related Cortex

“…Leftward posterior superior temporal gyrus asymmetry was also significantly associated with an estimate of VIQ [9]. Better expressive and receptive language has been observed in children with less rightward gray matter volume asymmetry of the pars triangularis (Brodmann area 45), which appeared largely due to the volume of the right pars triangularis [22]. In addition, change towards more rightward pars triangularis cortical thickness, due to reduced left cortical thickness, was associated with larger gains in language skills in children [24].…”

“…Sex has been related to structural asymmetries in multiple voxel-based studies [10,13,21], although non-significant results have been reported [8,11], perhaps because sex differences in brain size may explain locally specific sex effects in some samples [22]. The magnitude of sex differences may also depend on age.…”