The brain is one of largest and most complex organs in the human being, and depending who you ask, is the most  fascinating things we possess as humans. Along with mediating every conscious and unconscious process in our bodies, the brain also possesses an incredible ability called neuroplasticity. The research by Carlson, Sugden, Brooks, and Kirton (2019) that I’m reviewing is concerned with functional plasticity, which is the ability for the brain to transfer functions from one side of the brain (called a hemisphere) to the other. More specifically, the research is concerned with the transferring of language from the left side of the brain to the right in children who have suffered a stroke during pregnancy, or just before birth (also known as a perinatal stroke).

To give a little bit of necessary background information to help understand the results of the research, the brain is split into two distinct sides, the left and right hemispheres. In a typically developed adult, a process called lateralization occur, meaning that the left and right hemispheres each have their own unique functions. Typically, the left is reserved for the logical side of things, including language which is imperative to this research. Whereas the right hemisphere deals with more creative and spatial intelligence. What is also important to note is that it takes time for the brain to complete this lateralization. The question being asked by the current study is, what happens to language if the left or right hemisphere is damaged from birth? To answer these questions, they used brain scans to note any considerable changes in activity within the brain, which they label “functional connectivity.” They found a few very interesting results.

Since language networks are not presented at birth, that is, babies do not begin speaking language coming out of the womb, will babies with hemispheric damage from a perinatal stroke develop language the same as a baby without suffering the same damage. The answer they found was yes. Although some development impairments were found from children who suffered from perinatal strokes, the most noticeable being processing speed of language, brain scans showed that their functional connectivity was not significantly different than those children who would be considered to have developed “typically”. Meaning both groups, the perinatal stroke group and typically developed children (those who did not suffer a perinatal group) both were able to develop language relatively equally. If you’re wondering, “how is that possible?” the answer is neuroplasticity! Which leads into the next major question of the research asking if there was a difference that occurred in language development between children who suffered perinatal stroke in their left hemisphere, or their right hemisphere. Remember, language is typically found in the left hemisphere of adults, so then would language simply not develop in a child suffering from damage to the left hemisphere? Amazingly, no difference in language was found between those who suffered left hemispheric damage from those who suffered right hemispheric damage. To compensate for the absence of an undamaged left hemisphere, children who suffered left hemispheric damage developed language in their right hemisphere and those with right hemispheric damage developed language in their left hemisphere. Again, we see functional neuroplasticity at work by the brain transferring the functions of the damaged left hemisphere to the undamaged right hemisphere, so effectively, in fact, that there were no differences in functional connectivity when compared to the typically developed children.

The developing brain benefits significantly more from neuroplasticity than an adult brain. The research under study proficiently demonstrated the abilities of neuroplasticity of a damaged infants’ brain. As well as it demonstrates the typical growth patterns of the human brain, language being designated for the left hemisphere for example, but also its capability of adapting through damage to provide a human with the necessary tools of being human.

Reference

Carlson, H., Sugden, C., Brooks, B., & Kirton, A. (2019). Functional connectivity of language networks after perinatal                    stroke. NeuroImage: Clinical, 23, 101861.