The purpose of this study was to investigate corpus callosum variability in high intelligence gifted and talented pre-adolescent children. Gifted and talented students are defined as "children and youth who give evidence of high performance capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who require services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop such capabilities." (20 U.S.C. § 8801). The midsagittal section magnetic resonance image of twelve children (mean age = 10.68 years, SE = .30), enrolled in the "gifted and talented" program in their school, were compared against previously published mean-age-matched normal controls (N = 286, weighted mean age = 10.80, SE = .22). The midsagittal images of the corpus callosum were partitioned into seven regions and digitally measured by pixel thresholding. Corresponding regions of the corpus callosum were compared by a two-tailed independent samples approximation t-test. No significant differences were found between the two groups in either the total corpus callosum midsagittal area or the corpus callosum anterior midbody midsagittal area. The corpus callosum midsagittal areas of the genu and splenium were significantly larger in the gifted and talented group compared to the control group (p < .01). The corpus callosum midsagittal areas of the rostrum, rostral body, posterior midbody, and isthmus were significantly smaller in the gifted and talented group compared with the control group (p < .01). The results suggested that a corpus callosum regional profile exhibited by the gifted and talented group may reflect a different cytoarchitecture conducive to aptitudes, abilities, insights, and foresight significantly advanced for their ages compared to children not eligible for enrollment in the program.
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