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Developmental disinhibition gates language lateralization in childhood
Minarose M Ismail1,2, Davide Momi3, Zheng Wang3
1Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Nature Communications
|April 28, 2026
Summary
Brain development shows language specialization emerges from early structural differences and reduced local inhibition. This process involves distinct inhibitory mechanisms, particularly in the left hemisphere, for effective language processing.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Neuroscience
- Computational Neuroscience
Background:
- Hemispheric specialization is a key feature of brain organization, but its developmental origins are not fully understood.
- The left hemisphere's dominance for language in humans provides a model for studying the development of functional specialization.
- Understanding how specialized neural circuits develop is crucial for comprehending cognitive functions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the developmental mechanisms underlying expressive language lateralization in the human brain.
- To model the emergence of functional specialization from auditory perception to language production.
- To elucidate the roles of inhibitory processes and structural asymmetries in language lateralization.
Main Methods:
- Construction of personalized whole-brain neurophysiological models in children and adolescents.
- Simulation of task-evoked neural dynamics during auditory perception and language production.
- In silico manipulation of inhibitory processes to test their necessity for functional specialization.
Main Results:
- Expressive language lateralization develops through specific inhibitory processes, not solely structural asymmetry.
- Early interhemispheric inhibitory asymmetry (left pyramidal neurons to right interneurons) is insufficient for functional specialization.
- A developmental reduction in local inhibition is required to reveal the impact of early structural asymmetries.
Conclusions:
- Expressive language specialization arises from the interplay between early structural asymmetries and developmental disinhibition.
- Distinct inhibitory mechanisms are critical for the emergence of functional brain specialization.
- The study offers a computational framework applicable to studying circuit specialization across different species and cognitive domains.
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