Genetic correlates of intra- and interhemispheric resting state functional language connectivity

Which genes contribute to making the human brain capable of language? We analyzed resting state fMRI and genetic single nucleotide polymorphism data of 30,660 people in the UK biobank and found 15 regions in the human DNA that relate to the brain language network. We link two genomic regions on chromosome 3 (EPHA3 and TBC1D5) to left-right differences in that network. All implicated genes tend to be more expressed during prenatal development. Therefore some genetic influences likely affect language network functional connectivity in the embryo and the fetus.