  Secondly, most adults suffering infarcts in the left hemisphere  language areas do in fact recover at least some degree of language  competence and many recover substantially normal competence,  especially with treatment (Holland et al. 1996). This is thought to  be due both to the regeneration of damaged speech areas and to  compensatory development in other areas, particularly in the right  hemisphere (Karbe et al. 1998). Similar processes seem to be at work in young children with left hemisphere damage. Muller et al. 1999,  for instance, document significant relearning of language, together  with increased right-hemisphere involvement in language tasks, after  left-hemisphere lesions in both children (&lt;10) years) and adults  (&gt;20 years).