g., Huttenlocher & Dabholkar, 1997). One interpretation of our finding of increased grey matter in the left posterior

IFG (i.e., Broca’s area) in SLI is that cortex in this region has not undergone the normal maturation processes at the same rate as in the sibling or typical groups. Whether this is the cause of the lack of functional specialisation (and activation) of this area, or a consequence IWR-1 solubility dmso of it, remains uncertain. In typical development, the IFG is linked with the STS/G via at least two streams that are important for auditory language processing in the left hemisphere (Rauschecker & Scott, 2009). In our study of SLI, the reduced grey matter and reduced activity in the STS/G occurred bilaterally and was specific to language processing and not more general auditory processes, given similar between group activations in the Reversed Speech condition. Regular firing of neural pathways leads to strengthening,

maintenance, and building of connections, so reductions in volume Palbociclib nmr to the STS/G may derive from underactivity in this area (synaptic elimination; Huttenlocher & Dabholkar, 1997), potentially driven by a system that is less stimulated by speech specific stimuli. Alternatively, a causal hypothesis is that experience has not altered the cortex and that less grey matter in the STS/G underpins the language difficulties. Longitudinal investigations have been informative regarding other developmental disorders and could help distinguish these possibilities (Giedd & Rapoport, 2010). The patterns of activation in the SLI group are more heterogeneous relative to both the unaffected siblings and typical Etomidate groups. This is clearly visible in the laterality indices (see Fig. 6) with a greater number of SLI individuals demonstrating atypical lateralisation (i.e., more bilateral to rightward). This is consistent with the majority of existing research (Bernal and Altman, 2003,

Chiron et al., 1999, Lou et al., 1990, Ors et al., 2005, Shafer et al., 2000 and Whitehouse and Bishop, 2008) and suggests that the reduced activity noted at the group level is not the defining feature. It is worth noting that only one SLI participant shows reliably right-lateralised speech for the comparison of Speech with baseline and with Reversed Speech and for both the frontal and the temporal lobe areas considered. Another left-handed participant with SLI shows more left-lateralised activation for Reversed Speech than Speech resulting in a rightwards LI for the Speech contrast with Reversed Speech. Finally, a few of the right-handed controls (TYP and SIB) and one right-handed individual with SLI also show a pattern of rightwards lateralisation. Further research is needed to examine whether the increased variability in SLI is also seen from stimulus to stimulus or session to session. Our implementation of the covert naming task was designed to be easy so that all participants could provide equivalent behavioural responses.