Left-right asymmetry of the temporal and parietal regions in children: based on the medullary pattern of cerebral white matter.

Lateralization of the posterior temporal lobe and inferior parietal lobule in childhood was studied on CT of 276 cases and compared with those in adulthood of 371 cases. CT images were analyzed based on the morphological features of medullary branches of the cerebral white matter. In children below 5 years of age, the left planum temporale was already more posteriorly located than the right in 56%, while the right was more so in 21%. The asymmetry of the middle temporal gyrus was similar to those of the planum temporale. The folding of the inferior parietal lobule was extensive and intricate on the left side in 63% and on the right side in 8% of children, almost identical to those in the adult. The visualization rates of the intraparietal sulcus were lower compared to those of the adult, but the higher visualization of the left side was a common tendency regardless of age. These alterations in left-right asymmetry seemed to be a morphologic substratum indicating the processes of localization of auditory function to those association areas.