ERIC Number: EJ1481794
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Sep
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1363-755X
EISSN: EISSN-1467-7687
Available Date: 2025-08-09
Developmental Changes in Neural Lateralization for Visual-Spatial Function? Evidence from a Line-Bisection Task
Katrina Ferrara1,2; Anna Seydell-Greenwald1; Catherine E. Chambers1; Elissa L. Newport1; Barbara Landau1,3
Developmental Science, v28 n5 e70060 2025
Studies of hemispheric specialization have traditionally cast the left hemisphere as specialized for language and the right hemisphere for spatial function. Much of the supporting evidence for this separation of function comes from studies of healthy adults and those who have sustained lesions to the right or left hemisphere. However, we know little about the developmental origins of lateralization. Recent evidence suggests that the young brain represents language bilaterally, with 4-6-year-olds activating the left-hemisphere regions known to support language in adults as well as homotopic regions in the right hemisphere. This bilateral pattern changes over development, converging on left-hemispheric activation in late childhood. In the present study, we ask whether this same developmental trajectory is observed in a spatial task, that is, strongly right-lateralized in adults--the line bisection (or "Landmark") task. We examined fMRI activation among children ages 5-12 years as they were asked to judge which end of a bisected vertical line was longer. We found that young children showed right-lateralized activation in the same parietal and posterior temporal areas as has been shown among adults, with no significant effects of age on lateralization within the age range we tested. We discuss potential underlying mechanisms and suggest that understanding the development of lateralization for a range of cognitive functions can play a crucial role in understanding general principles of how and why the brain comes to lateralize certain functions.
Descriptors: Cognitive Processes, Brain Hemisphere Functions, Specialization, Language Aptitude, Spatial Ability, Cognitive Development, Children, Lateral Dominance
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www-wiley-com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health (NIH) (DHHS); Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (NIH), Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Branch (IDDB); National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) (DHHS/NIH), Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: 5T32HD046388; K18DC014558; R01DC016902; U54HD090257; R21HD095273; NCATSKL2TR001432
Author Affiliations: 1Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery, Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA; 2Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, Children's National Health System, Washington DC, USA; 3Department of Cognitive Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

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