Precision fMRI reveals that the language network exhibits adult-like left-hemispheric lateralization by 4 years of age.

Abstract

Language is the most canonical function that shows a strong hemispheric asymmetry in adult brains. However, whether the language system is already lateralized to the left hemisphere early in development has long been debated, given that early left-hemisphere damage often leaves language processing unimpaired. We examined the developmental trajectory of language lateralization in two large-scale pediatric datasets using robust individual-subject fMRI approaches. We found that the language system exhibits adult-like left-hemispheric lateralization by age 4, although other aspects of the neural infrastructure for language show a clear change between age 4 and late childhood. These findings challengethe claim that the language system is bilateral during early development and call for alternative accounts of early hemispheric equipotentiality for language.