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Morphometry of the corpus callosum in Chinese children: relationship with gender and academic performance

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Abstract

Background: The corpus callosum has been widely studied, but no study has demonstrated whether its size and shape have any relationship with language and calculation performance. Objective: To examine the morphometry of the corpus callosum of normal Chinese children and its relationship with gender and academic performance. Materials and methods: One hundred primary school children (63 boys, 37 girls; age 6.5–10 years) were randomly selected and the standardized academic performance for each was ascertained. On the mid-sagittal section of a brain MRI, the length, height and total area of the corpus callosum and its thickness at different sites were measured. These were correlated with sex and academic performance. Results: Apart from the normal average dimension of the different parts of the corpus callosum, thickness at the body-splenium junction in the average-to-good performance group was significantly greater than the below-average performance group in Chinese language (P=0.005), English language (P=0.02) and mathematics (P=0.01). The remainder of the callosal thickness showed no significant relationship with academic performance. There was no significant sex difference in the thickness of any part of the corpus callosum. Conclusions: These findings raise the suggestion that language and mathematics proficiency may be related to the morphometry of the fibre connections in the posterior parietal lobes.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grant number 1999/0308 from the Quality Education Fund, Hong Kong, SAR.

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Author notes

  1. Kit Sum Agnes Au

    Present address: Department of Psychology, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Organ Imaging, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, Hong Kong, SAR

    Wing Hung Alex Ng & Yu Lung Chan

  2. Neurocognitive Science and Language Education Project, Hong Kong

    Yu Lung Chan, Kit Sum Agnes Au, Ka Wai David Yeung, Ting Fai Kwan & Cho Yee To

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  1. Wing Hung Alex Ng
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  2. Yu Lung Chan
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  3. Kit Sum Agnes Au
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Correspondence to Yu Lung Chan.

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Ng, W.H.A., Chan, Y.L., Au, K.S.A. et al. Morphometry of the corpus callosum in Chinese children: relationship with gender and academic performance. Pediatr Radiol 35, 565–571 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-004-1336-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-004-1336-z

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