Academic Journal
Fixel-based white matter atypicalities in relation to language impairment in children with developmental language disorder.
| Τίτλος: | Fixel-based white matter atypicalities in relation to language impairment in children with developmental language disorder. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Svaldi C; Center for Language and Cognition, University of Groningen, Groningen, AS, the Netherlands; Department of Language and Cognition, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, United Kingdom. Electronic address: c.g.h.svaldi@rug.nl., Vos K; Center for Language and Cognition, University of Groningen, Groningen, AS, the Netherlands. Electronic address: k.vos@rug.nl., Reinders A; Center for Language and Cognition, University of Groningen, Groningen, AS, the Netherlands. Electronic address: a.reinders@rug.nl., Ćurčić-Blake B; Department of Neuroscience, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands. Electronic address: b.curcic@rug.nl., Tseng J; The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada. Electronic address: julie.tseng@sickkids.ca., Jonkers R; Center for Language and Cognition, University of Groningen, Groningen, AS, the Netherlands. Electronic address: r.jonkers@rug.nl., de Aguiar V; Center for Language and Cognition, University of Groningen, Groningen, AS, the Netherlands. Electronic address: vania.de.aguiar@rug.nl. |
| Πηγή: | Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior [Cortex] 2026 Sep; Vol. 202, pp. 87-108. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 May 29. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Masson Country of Publication: Italy NLM ID: 0100725 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1973-8102 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00109452 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Cortex Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: Milan : Masson Original Publication: Varese. |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | White Matter*/pathology , White Matter*/diagnostic imaging , Language Development Disorders*/pathology , Language Development Disorders*/physiopathology , Language Development Disorders*/diagnostic imaging , Brain*/pathology, Diffusion Tensor Imaging/methods ; Humans ; Child ; Female ; Male ; Adolescent ; Language ; Language Tests |
| Περίληψη: | Literature regarding white matter differences in children with developmental language disorder (DLD) has shown inconsistent results. Furthermore, relevance of neuroanatomical differences between typically developing children and children with DLD to language function has scarcely been investigated. Therefore, this study investigated white matter differences in children with DLD using fixel-based analysis, deriving fiber-specific metrics with increased biological specificity. Relations between fixel-based metrics showing group differences and behaviour were investigated for several language measures. Dorsal (e.g., arcuate fasciculus) and ventral (e.g., uncinate fasciculus) language tracts and white matter of the cerebellar peduncles were modelled in 21 children with DLD between eight and 13 years of age and compared to that of 21 age-matched typically developing children. Children also completed an extensive language assessment, including overall language performance, vocabulary and word learning. Fixel-based metrics of the informative tracts (>50 significant fixels in comparisons between groups) were regressed with the different language measures. Children with DLD showed differences in fiber (density) cross-section in the uncinate, arcuate and superior longitudinal fasciculi. An association was found between these differences and overall language and/or vocabulary performance. Further, there was a relation between fixel metrics of the dorsal tracts and immediate recall of learned words. Our findings suggest that white matter differences in DLD could be associated with morphological differences in fiber cross-section. Further, atypical structural white matter properties may contribute to the observed language impairments. Our findings suggest that fixel-based analysis is a promising technique to detect fiber-specific differences in children with DLD. (Copyright © 2026 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of competing interest None. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Developmental language disorder; Dorsal stream; Fixel-based analysis; Ventral stream; Word learning |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260615 Date Completed: 20260808 Latest Revision: 20260808 |
| Update Code: | 20260809 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.cortex.2026.05.012 |
| PMID: | 42296669 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1973-8102 |
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| DOI: | 10.1016/j.cortex.2026.05.012 |