Language Access and Hemispheric Specialization: A Network Neuroscience Framework for Typical and Atypical Language Development.

Abstract

Neural plasticity in early life underpins the emergence of hemispheric specialization, including left-lateralized networks commonly involved in language. In typical development, neural organization becomes progressively more efficient and specialized across hemispheres, with trajectories shaped by early sensory input and linked to later language outcomes. Because human neuroimaging evidence supports a role for language experience across sensory modalities in shaping neural organization, early sensorineural hearing loss provides a model system for disentangling how sensory and language environments independently influence experience-dependent plasticity. Even when overall brain organization is preserved, early sensory deprivation is associated with altered developmental trajectories of hemispheric specialization. Critically, sensory deprivation does not inevitably result in atypical language or neural development, underscoring an important theoretical distinction between auditory and language deprivation. This review integrates findings from neural, behavioral, and clinical research to propose a framework for understanding how early sensory and language experiences shape language-related developmental outcomes.