Precision fMRI reveals that the language network exhibits adult-like left-hemispheric lateralization by 4 years of age
Ola Ozernov‐Palchik; Amanda O’Brien; Elizabeth Jiachen Lee; Hilary Richardson; Rachel Romeo; Moshe Poliak; Benjamin Lipkin; Hannah Small · 2026 · Nature Communications
WASTE classifies this as Negative / Null Result Report · AI classification, approximate
The study found no significant effect — useful as a negative control or null benchmark for your own design.
Abstract
In adults, left hemisphere (LH) damage often leads to aphasia, but many cases of early damage leave linguistic processing intact, with a functional language system developing in the right hemisphere. To explain this early apparent equipotentiality of the two hemispheres for language, some have proposed that the language system is more bilateral during early development and becomes increasingly left-lateralized with age. We examined language lateralization using fMRI in two large developmental cohorts (total n=273 children aged 4-16 years; n=107 adults). Strong, adult-like LH lateralization (in
Abstract by Ola Ozernov‐Palchik; Amanda O’Brien; Elizabeth Jiachen Lee; Hilary Richardson; Rachel Romeo; Moshe Poliak; Benjamin Lipkin; Hannah Small, Nature Communications (2026) — licensed CC BY 4.0.
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Metadata source: OpenAlex · DOI 10.1038/s41467-026-72916-5