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Cited by 650Hemispheric Asymmetry in NeuroscienceNeurobiology of Language and BilingualismAdvanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications

Symmetries in human brain language pathways correlate with verbal recall

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Catani, Marco, Allin, Matthew P. G., Husain, Masud, Pugliese, Luca, Mesulam, Marsel M., Murray, Robin M., Jones, Derek K.·2007·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
DOI 10.1073/pnas.0702116104PMC PMC2040413
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Abstract

Lateralization of language to the left hemisphere is considered a key aspect of human brain organization. We used diffusion tensor MRI to perform in vivo virtual dissection of language pathways to assess the relationship between brain asymmetry and cognitive performance in the normal population. Our findings suggest interhemispheric differences in direct connections between Broca's and Wernicke's territories, with extreme leftward lateralization in more than half of the subjects and bilateral symmetrical distribution in only 17.5% of the subjects. Importantly, individuals with more symmetric patterns of connections are better overall at remembering words using semantic association. Moreover, preliminary analysis suggests females are more likely to have a symmetrical pattern of connections. These findings suggest that the degree of lateralization of perisylvian pathways is heterogeneous in the normal population and, paradoxically, bilateral representation, not extreme lateralization, might ultimately be advantageous for specific cognitive functions.

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  • The volume and length of a fiber tract can be computed directly from tractography and have been used as quantitative measures.

    “Other quantitative measures can be computed directly from tractography, such as the volume and the length of a fiber tract (Bajada et al., 2019; Behrman-Lay et al., 2015; Catani et al., 2007; Chandio et al., 2020a; Colby et al., 2012a; Grinberg et al., 2018; Rheault et al., 2020a; Song et al., 2015; Yeatman et al., 2012), have also been used.”

    From Quantitative mapping of the brain’s structural connectivity using diffusion MRI tractography: A review (2022) · cites this paper as Catani et al., 2007

    The tractography methods passage (Discussion; page unavailable) describes measuring the number of reconstructed pathways and fractional anisotropy, but not tract volume or length. Searches for tract volume and fiber length found no passage saying either was computed or used as a quantitative measure in this paper. (LLM, conf=0.75)

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Authors
Catani, M., Allin, M. P. G., Husain, M., Pugliese, L., Mesulam, M. M., Murray, R. M., & Jones, D. K.
Affiliations
  • King's College London (GB)
  • Department of Psychological Medicine, and
  • Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, United Kingdom;
  • *Section of Brain Maturation,
  • Northwestern University (US)
  • Cardiff University (GB)
ORCID
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Published
2007-10-23
Volume
104
Issue
43
Pages
17163-17168
ISSN
  • 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1091-6490
DOI
10.1073/pnas.0702116104
PMC
PMC2040413
OpenAlex
W2021077321
Cited by
650
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 38 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 33 · 2020: 40 · 2019: 33 · 2018: 40 · 2017: 43 · 2016: 39 · 2015: 52 · 2014: 35 · 2013: 52 · 2012: 42
FWCI
11.36
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Wellcome Trust (061140)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Hemispheric Asymmetry in Neuroscience
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications
Keywords
language lateralization, brain asymmetry, Broca's area, Wernicke's area, language pathways, interhemispheric connections, word recall, semantic memory, sex differences, perisylvian cortex, diffusion tensor imaging
MeSH terms
Adult, Brain, Brain Mapping, Female, Humans, Language, Functional Laterality, Male, Mental Recall, Sex Characteristics, Verbal Behavior

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