ArticleBrain structure & function2024
Language aptitude is related to the anatomy of the transverse temporal gyri.
Article in Brain structure & function, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Intergenerational transmission of the structure of the auditory cortex and reading skills.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2026Article
- Redefining language networks: connectivity beyond localised regions.Brain structure & function · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Why is it that some people seem to learn new languages faster and more easily than others? The present study investigates the neuroanatomical basis of language learning aptitude, with a focus on the multiplication pattern of the transverse temporal gyrus/gyri (TTG/TTGs) of the auditory cortex. The size and multiplication pattern of the first TTG (i.e., Heschl's gyrus; HG) and of additional posterior TTGs, when present, are highly variable both between brain hemispheres and individuals. Previous work has shown the multiplication pattern of the TTGs to be related to musical and linguistic abilities. Specifically, one study found that high language learning aptitude correlated with more TTGs in the right hemisphere, even though language functions are generally left-lateralized. In this study, we used the recently developed TASH (Toolbox for the Automated Segmentation of Heschl's Gyrus) and MCAI (Multivariate Concavity Amplitude Index) toolboxes to automatically extract structural (e.g., cortical volume, surface area, thickness) and multiplication pattern measures of the TTGs from 82 MRI scans, and related them to participants' language aptitude scores. In contrast to previous results, we found that higher language aptitude was related to fewer TTGs in the right hemisphere and to greater surface area of the first right TTG and of the second left TTG. Furthermore, more languages learned in life were associated with higher language learning aptitude, opening up questions about the structure-function relationship of the TTGs and language learning, and about how language aptitude and language learning are related.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.