Microstructural asymmetries of the planum temporale predict functional lateralization of auditory-language processing

Abstract

Structural hemispheric asymmetry has long been assumed to guide functional asymmetry of the human brain, but empirical evidence for this compelling hypothesis remains scarce. Recently, it has been suggested that microstructural asymmetries may be more relevant to functional asymmetries than macrostructural asymmetries. To investigate the link between microstructure and function, we analyzed multimodal MRI data in 907 participants. We quantified structural and functional asymmetries of the planum temporale (PT), a cortical area crucial for auditory-language processing. We found associations of functional PT asymmetries and several microstructural asymmetries, such as intracortical myelin content, neurite density, and neurite orientation dispersion. The PT microstructure per se also showed hemispheric-specific coupling with PT functional activity. All these functional-structural associations are highly specific to within-PT functional activity during auditory-language processing. These results suggest that structural asymmetry guides functional lateralization of the same brain area and highlight a critical role of microstructural PT asymmetries in auditory-language processing.