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Related Concept Videos

Lateralization

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Brain lateralization refers to the division of mental processes and functions between the two hemispheres of the brain, a phenomenon that optimizes neural efficiency and underpins complex abilities in humans. This specialization allows each hemisphere to perform tasks where it has a comparative advantage, facilitating more refined cognitive capabilities across different domains.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 25, 2026

Utilizing Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to Improve Language Function in Stroke Patients with Chronic Non-fluent Aphasia

Utilizing Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to Improve Language Function in Stroke Patients with Chronic Non-fluent Aphasia

Published on: July 2, 2013

Age at stroke determines post-stroke language lateralization.

J P Szaflarski¹, J B Allendorfer¹, A W Byars²

¹Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.

Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience

|August 28, 2014

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Stroke occurring earlier in life leads to more bilateral language processing. Later strokes show a greater reliance on repairing left-hemisphere networks, impacting language lateralization.

Keywords:

adult aphasia child fMRI language language lateralization stroke

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Developmental Neuroscience
Neurolinguistics

Background:

Left middle cerebral artery stroke can impact language lateralization.
Understanding how stroke timing affects brain plasticity and language function is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the effect of stroke age on language lateralization.
To compare language processing in perinatal, childhood, and adult stroke survivors.

Main Methods:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to assess language lateralization.
Participants included individuals with perinatal stroke, later stroke, and healthy controls.
A verb generation task (VGT) was employed during fMRI.

Main Results:

Perinatal stroke survivors exhibited more bilateral language signal increases compared to controls.
Later stroke survivors showed left-hemispheric signal increases, but less lateralized than controls.
Age at stroke onset positively correlated with global and frontal language lateralization indices.

Conclusions:

The age of stroke occurrence significantly influences language lateralization.
Earlier strokes are associated with greater cortical plasticity.
Later strokes involve reliance on repairing existing left-hemispheric language networks.