Diffusion tensor imaging of hemispheric asymmetries in the developing brain

Abstract

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was performed in 39 right-handed children to examine structural hemispheric differences and the impact of age, socioeconomic status, and sex on these differences. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values were smaller in the left than in the right temporal, prefrontal, anterior internal capsular and the thalamic regions, and fractional anisotropy (FA) values were larger in the left than in the right internal capsule, thalamus, and cingulate. Significant region-by-sex interactions disclosed that the relation of DTI asymmetries to performance depended on sex including the relation of temporal lobes to reading comprehension and the relation of frontal lobes to solving applied mathematical problems.

Keywords:

• Adolescents
• Arithmetic
• Asymmetry
• Brain
• Children
• Diffusion tensor imaging
• Reading

This research was supported by Grant NS-21889 awarded to Harvey S. Levin by the National Institutes of Health. We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Summer Lane and Lori Cook for their assistance in patient recruitment and Stacey K. Martin for her assistance in manuscript preparation. We would also like to acknowledge the generous support by Mission Connect of the TIRR Foundation (The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research).