Sex differences in neural processing of language among children

NEUROPSYCHOLOGIA

卷:46

Article

Burman, Douglas D.^1,2  Bitan, Tali³  Booth, James R.^1,2 

[1] Northwestern Univ, Dept Commun Sci & Disorders, Evanston, IL 60208 USA

[2] Evanston NW Healthcare, Dept Radiol, Evanston, IL USA

[3] Univ Haifa, Dept Commun Disorders, IL-31999 Haifa, Israel

关键词: fMRI;    gender;    development;    reading;    skill;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2007.12.021

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Why females generally perform better on language tasks than males is unknown. Sex differences were here identified in children (ages 9-15) across two linguistic tasks for words presented in two modalities. Bilateral activation in the inferior frontal and superior temporal gyri and activation in the left fusiform gyrus of girls was greater than in boys. Activation in the left inferior frontal and fusiform regions of girls was also correlated with linguistic accuracy irregardless of stimulus modality, whereas correlation with performance accuracy in boys depended on the modality of word presentation (either in visual or auditory association cortex). This pattern suggests that girls rely on a supramodal language network, whereas boys process visual and auditory words differently. Activation in the left fusiform region was additionally correlated with performance on standardized language tests in which girls performed better, additional evidence of its role in early sex differences for language. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

Free