Distinct Structural Connectivity Patterns Associated with Variations in Language Lateralisation

Abstract

Hemispheric asymmetries in white matter tracts are proposed key determinants of language lateralisation, yet evidence in healthy individuals remains inconsistent. This suggests that simple tractography techniques might not be sensitive enough to identify language dominance. Significant insights into the functional organization of the human brain may be achieved by considering networks and brain connectivity, providing more information about discrepancies in people with different hemispheric language dominance. In this study, we examined 285 healthy participants compare their structural connectomes at the whole-brain level and determine the networks responsible for the three different functional language lateralisation groups (typical, atypical and strongly atypical). Probabilistic tractography generated whole-brain tractograms, and white matter fibres were filtered according to anatomical Boolean guidelines. Connectivity matrices with nodes corresponding to supramodal sentence areas in the language atlas and edges weighted by fractional anisotropy (FA) were generated to compare the groups using graph theory and network-based statistic (NBS) approaches. We demonstrated that both atypical (bilateral) and strongly atypical (right-lateralised) lateralisation are characterised by heightened interhemispheric temporal connectivity. Post-hoc analyses showed that strongly atypical individuals exhibited increased temporo-frontal connectivity, while atypical individuals had enhanced temporal and frontal connectivity but lacked temporo-frontal connections. These connectivity patterns diverge from traditional models of hemispheric dominance, suggesting a reliance on integrated bilateral networks in atypically lateralised individuals. This reflects distinct neural mechanisms underlying atypical language organisation, departing from developmental trajectory of typical lateralisation and offering insights into cognitive flexibility and clinical applications.