Handedness and cerebral anatomical asymmetries in young adult males
NeuroImage. 2006-02-01; 29(4): 1066-1079
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.08.031
Read on PubMed
1. Neuroimage. 2006 Feb 15;29(4):1066-79. Epub 2005 Sep 28.
Handedness and cerebral anatomical asymmetries in young adult males.
Hervé PY(1), Crivello F, Perchey G, Mazoyer B, Tzourio-Mazoyer N.
Author information:
(1)Groupe d’Imagerie Neurofonctionnelle (GIN, UMR 6194, CNRS, CEA, Universités de
Caen et Paris 5, GIP Cyceron), Boulevard Henri Becquerel, BP 5229, 14074, Caen
Cedex, France.
Using voxel-based morphometry, we measured the cerebral anatomical asymmetries in
a sample of 56 young right-handed males and then compared voxelwise asymmetry
indices of these subjects to those of 56 young left-handed males. In the
right-handed, the clusters of grey matter asymmetry corresponding to the leftward
occipital petalia and planum temporale asymmetries were retrieved. Strong
rightward temporo-parietal asymmetries were also observed, but the rightward grey
matter asymmetry in the frontal lobe was less massive than previously described.
Group comparisons of left- and right-handed subjects’ asymmetry maps, performed
at a statistical threshold not corrected for multiple comparisons, revealed
significant effects of handedness on this pattern of anatomical asymmetry in
frontal regions, notably in the lower central and precentral sulci, and also in
the planum temporale, with right-handed subjects being more leftward asymmetric.
Concerning white matter, although almost no focal differences between left- and
right-handed subjects were detected, volumetric analyses at the hemispheric level
revealed a leftward asymmetry, which happened to be significantly less marked in
the left-handed. This latter result, together with the pattern of leftward white
matter asymmetries, suggested that anatomical correlates of the left hemispheric
specialization for language would exist in white matter. In the population we
studied, differences in anatomical asymmetry between left- and right-handed
subjects provided structural arguments for a greater functional ambilaterality in
left-handed subjects.
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.08.031
PMID: 16198126 [Indexed for MEDLINE]