Domain-General Brain Networks Support Language Development

Abstract

Understanding the neural basis of verbal intelligence across development requires disentangling the contributions of domain-general and language-selective brain systems. Although language is often considered a domain-specific function, complex language tasks also engage domain-general networks, such as the Default-Mode (DM) and Multiple-Demand (MD) systems. Yet how these systems contribute to the maturation of verbal competence remains poorly understood. Here, we examined this question using gray matter volume measures in an accelerated longitudinal dataset of children and adolescents from Beijing (N = 170), using the Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI) from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale as a benchmark for verbal abilities. We observed that individual differences in VCI were more strongly associated with structural maturation of domain-general networks (DM and MD) than with the language-selective network, and that these effects varied with age. Targeted validation in an independent cohort from Chongqing (N = 150) confirmed significant contributions of domain-general networks in adolescence (13-15 years), highlighting the robustness of these developmental effects. These findings suggest that domain-general cortical systems play a critical and previously underappreciated role in the emergence of verbal intelligence during adolescence, with implications for understanding how large-scale brain networks support the development of abstract verbal reasoning.