Manual and automated measures of superior temporal gyrus asymmetry: Concordant structural predictors of verbal ability in children

Abstract

The planum temporale is a region on the posterior surface of the temporal lobe that exhibits robust leftward structural asymmetry, which has been linked to verbal ability in children and adults. Traditionally, structural asymmetry has been quantified with manual assessment of high resolution MRI scans. Such measures require subjective and frequently unreliable determination of highly variable anatomical boundaries. Methodological developments in automated image processing (voxel-based morphometry - VBM) offer the opportunity to obtain objective and reliable measures of structural variation. This study examined the extent to which a VBM measure of gray matter asymmetry in the posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG) characterized the same individual variation as a manual measure of planum temporale asymmetry in 99 healthy adults and 39 typically developing children. Planum temporale asymmetry was significantly correlated with pSTG gray matter asymmetry in the samples of adults and children. As a measure of validity we examined the extent to which the VBM measure of pSTG gray matter asymmetry predicted measures of verbal ability that were associated with the manual measure of planum temporale asymmetry in the same children. The two asymmetry measures predicted the same variance in verbal ability. The automated measure of pSTG gray matter asymmetry predicted additional significant variance in verbal ability, however. In addition, a posterior STS region was also identified that significantly predicted verbal ability. These results demonstrate significant advantages of an automated voxel-based measure over a manual measure of planum temporale asymmetry.

A Comparison of Voxel-Based Morphometry and Volumetry Methods in the Context of the Neural Basis of Aggression

“…This method also supports the efficient, unbiased analysis of one area in the context of, or in relation to, other areas of interest (e.g. Eckert et al 2008).…”

Gray and white matter asymmetries in healthy individuals aged 21–29 years: A voxel‐based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging study

“…The normalized and segmented images were averaged across the dataset to produce gray matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid sample-specific templates. Each template was flipped and averaged with the unflipped template to create custom symmetrical gray matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid templates [Dorsaint-Pierre et al, 2006;Eckert et al, 2008;Good et al, 2001a;Hervé et al, 2006;Huster et al, 2007;Kawasaki et al, 2008;Luders et al, 2004;Mü hlau et al, 2007;Prinster et al, 2006;Shibata, 2007;Watkins et al, 2001]. Unified segmentation was then performed again using the custom symmetrical templates as priors.…”

“…VBM has been applied to investigate cerebral asymmetry in normal individuals and in patients with various diseases [Dorsaint-Pierre et al, 2006;Good et al, 2001a;Hervé et al, 2006;Huster et al, 2007;Kawasaki et al, 2008;Mü hlau et al, 2007;Prinster et al, 2006;Shibata, 2007;Watkins et al, 2001]. Some studies have validated this method with structural region of interest (ROI) analyses [Eckert et al, 2008;Luders et al, 2004]. There are several inconsistencies in studies investigating cerebral asymmetry in normal individuals [Good et al, 2001a;Watkins et al, 2001], which may stem from heterogeneity of the populations (e.g., age distribution) from which study samples are drawn and by the differences in methods of acquisition and measurement of the MR images.…”

Asymmetry within and around the human planum temporale is sexually dimorphic and influenced by genes involved in steroid hormone receptor activity

“…The PT has been characterized as a computational hub for processing spectrotemporal variation in auditory perception (Griffiths & Warren, 2002), as well as having a role in mapping acoustic speech signals to frontal lobe articulatory networks (Hickok & Poeppel, 2007), and in auditory attention (Hirnstein, Westerhausen, & Hugdahl, 2013). Given these important roles of the PT in speech and language, and its asymmetrical nature in the typically developed brain, there has been much interest in whether individual differences in PT asymmetry are associated with traits that involve changes in language cognition, including dyslexia, reduced verbal ability, and schizophrenia (Eckert et al, 2008;Frank & Pavlakis, 2001;Hasan et al, 2011;Kawasaki et al, 2008;McCarley et al, 2002;Oertel et al, 2010;Shapleske et al, 1999;Sommer, Ramsey, Kahn, Aleman, & Bouma, 2001). These studies have shown that alterations in PT asymmetry may be relevant to some etiological subtypes of these complex traits, although are not necessarily a universal feature of them (Bishop, 2013).…”