Kayako Matsuo1, Yu-Chun Lo2,
Fang-Cheng Yeh3, Yi-Huan Wu4, Shen-Hsing Annabel Chen5,
Wen-Yih Isaac Tseng1
1Center for Optoelectronic Biomedicine,
National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan; 2Institute
of Biomedical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; 3Department
of Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United
States; 4Department of Medicine, National Taiwan University,
Taipei, Taiwan; 5Division of Psychology, School of Humanities and
Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
We
measured the generalized fractional anisotropy (GFA) of the auditory nerve
(AN) to bilateral Heschl's gyri via the corpus callosum (CC) using diffusion
spectrum imaging (DSI). The individual language asymmetry was determined
using fMRI. The left lateralized AN was found to be related to the leftward language
asymmetry. The mild lateralization in the AN as well as the lower GFA in the
CC tend to have relationship with the bilateral language function. The
findings provide plausible evidence for the degree of conductivity of the AN
as well as the CC in determining language lateralization/asymmetry between
the hemispheres.