Selective reorganization of face-processing lateralization in participants with right-lateralized language network

A well-known feature of cortical organization is the lateralization of the language network (LN) to the left hemisphere (LH). Although atypical LN lateralization to the right hemisphere (RH) is well documented, its consequences for other lateralized functions remain poorly understood. Face processing and other category-selective visual areas, which are typically RH-biased, provide key test cases for examining whether atypical LN lateralization is associated with reorganization in other networks. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from the Human Connectome Project (HCP), we identified participants with right-hemisphere language dominance (RHLD) and examined whether category-selective visual areas exhibit reorganized hemispheric biases in these participants relative to those with typical left-hemisphere language dominance (LHLD). The results demonstrated selective reorganization within the face-selective areas: some regions showed a leftward shift in hemispheric bias in RHLD participants, whereas others preserved the canonical RH preference. This pattern indicates that cortical reorganization associated with atypical LN lateralization is region-specific rather than global, consistent with a flexible neural architecture in which hemispheric specialization can be selectively reconfigured. These results clarify how atypical LN lateralization impacts the hemispheric organization of face-selective areas and provide evidence for altered network-level specialization in the cerebral cortex.