Lateralized Theta Wave Connectivity and Language Performance in 2- to 5-Year-Old Children
- Mitsuru Kikuchi1,2,
- Kiyomi Shitamichi2,
- Yuko Yoshimura2,3,
- Sanae Ueno2,
- Gerard B. Remijn4,
- Tetsu Hirosawa2,
- Toshio Munesue1,
- Tsunehisa Tsubokawa5,
- Yasuhiro Haruta6,
- Manabu Oi1,
- Haruhiro Higashida1, and
- Yoshio Minabe2
- 1Research Center for Child Mental Development, and
- 2Department of Psychiatry and Neurobiology, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa 920-8641, Japan,
- 3Higher Brain Functions and Autism Research, Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Kanazawa University and Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan,
- 4International Education Center, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan 815-8545,
- 5Department of Anesthesiology, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa 920-8641, Japan, and
- 6Department of MEG, Yokogawa Electric Corporation, Tokyo 180-8750, Japan
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Author contributions: M.K., H.H., and Y.M. designed research; M.K., K.S., Y.Y., S.U., G.B.R., T.M., T.T., and Y.M. performed research; M.K., K.S., Y.Y., S.U., G.B.R., T.H., Y.H., and M.O. analyzed data; M.K. wrote the paper.
Abstract
Recent neuroimaging studies support the view that a left-lateralized brain network is crucial for language development in children. However, no previous studies have demonstrated a clear link between lateralized brain functional network and language performance in preschool children. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a noninvasive brain imaging technique and is a practical neuroimaging method for use in young children. MEG produces a reference-free signal, and is therefore an ideal tool to compute coherence between two distant cortical rhythms. In the present study, using a custom child-sized MEG system, we investigated brain networks while 78 right-handed preschool human children (32–64 months; 96% were 3-4 years old) listened to stories with moving images. The results indicated that left dominance of parietotemporal coherence in theta band activity (6-8 Hz) was specifically correlated with higher performance of language-related tasks, whereas this laterality was not correlated with nonverbal cognitive performance, chronological age, or head circumference. Power analyses did not reveal any specific frequencies that contributed to higher language performance. Our results suggest that it is not the left dominance in theta oscillation per se, but the left-dominant phase-locked connectivity via theta oscillation that contributes to the development of language ability in young children.
- Received June 4, 2011.
- Revision received July 30, 2011.
- Accepted August 22, 2011.
- Copyright © 2011 the authors 0270-6474/11/3114984-05$15.00/0
This article is freely available online through the J Neurosci Open Choice option.
