Language comprehension in nonspeaking children with severe cerebral palsy: Neuroanatomical substrate?

•Comprehension of spoken language differs between MRI patterns of severe CP.•In our severely affected population, we found no relation between GM areas and spoken language comprehension.•Damage to especially WM areas is associated with adverse effect on language comprehension outcomes.•Language comprehension was most affected in children with WM lesions in the subcortical and then periventricular areas.