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Appel M, Hasin D, Farah R, Horowitz-Kraus T. Greater utilization of executive functions networks when listening to stories with visual stimulation is related to lower reading abilities in children. Brain Cogn 2024; 177:106161. [PMID: 38696928 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2024.106161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2023] [Revised: 03/31/2024] [Accepted: 04/16/2024] [Indexed: 05/04/2024]
Abstract
Narrative comprehension relies on basic sensory processing abilities, such as visual and auditory processing, with recent evidence for utilizing executive functions (EF), which are also engaged during reading. EF was previously related to the "supporter" of engaging the auditory and visual modalities in different cognitive tasks, with evidence of lower efficiency in this process among those with reading difficulties in the absence of a visual stimulus (i.e. while listening to stories). The current study aims to fill out the gap related to the level of reliance on these neural circuits while visual aids (pictures) are involved during story listening in relation to reading skills. Functional MRI data were collected from 44 Hebrew-speaking children aged 8-12 years while listening to stories with vs without visual stimuli (i.e., pictures). Functional connectivity of networks supporting reading was defined in each condition and compared between the conditions against behavioral reading measures. Lower reading skills were related to greater functional connectivity values between EF networks (default mode and memory networks), and between the auditory and memory networks for the stories with vs without the visual stimulation. A greater difference in functional connectivity between the conditions was related to lower reading scores. We conclude that lower reading skills in children may be related to a need for greater scaffolding, i.e., visual stimulation such as pictures describing the narratives when listening to stories, which may guide future intervention approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michal Appel
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Technion - IIT, Haifa, Israel
| | - Daria Hasin
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Technion - IIT, Haifa, Israel
| | - Rola Farah
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Technion - IIT, Haifa, Israel; Educational Neuroimaging Group, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion - IIT, Haifa, Israel
| | - Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Technion - IIT, Haifa, Israel; Educational Neuroimaging Group, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion - IIT, Haifa, Israel.
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Church JA. The Brain's Control Networks in Reading: Insights From Cross-Task Studies of Youth. MIND, BRAIN AND EDUCATION : THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL MIND, BRAIN, AND EDUCATION SOCIETY 2023; 17:257-266. [PMID: 38745918 PMCID: PMC11091959 DOI: 10.1111/mbe.12372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2022] [Accepted: 06/04/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
Humans engage multiple brain systems to read successfully, including using regions important for vision, language, and control. Control refers to the set of executive processes in the brain that guide moment-to-moment behavior in service of our goals. There is a growing appreciation for the role of the brain's control system in reading comprehension, in reading skill change over time, and in those who have difficulty with the reading process. One way to understand the brain's control engagement in reading may be to study control engagement across multiple tasks in order to study consistencies, or cross-task similarities, relative to reading-specific variations. In this commentary, I briefly summarize some of our recent work studying the brain's control networks across different tasks (e.g., when reading, or doing different executive function tasks). I then review our findings of when control activation does or does not relate to measures of reading ability, and reading growth over time. The utility of cross-task comparisons in neuroimaging is noted, as well as the need to better understand multiple sources of heterogeneity in our developmental samples. I end by discussing a few of the many future directions for further study of the brain with regard to the brain's control processing and academic achievement.
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Di Giusto V, Purpura G, Zorzi CF, Blonda R, Brazzoli E, Meriggi P, Reina T, Rezzonico S, Sala R, Olivieri I, Cavallini A. Virtual reality rehabilitation program on executive functions of children with specific learning disorders: a pilot study. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1241860. [PMID: 37637891 PMCID: PMC10457143 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1241860] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2023] [Accepted: 07/25/2023] [Indexed: 08/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Background The application of Virtual Reality (VR) in the field of rehabilitation has been widely studied, because it has already proven to be an effective intervention for a variety of physical and cognitive conditions. Nevertheless, its application in pediatric rehabilitation is more recent. This pilot study aims to examine whether a VR-rehabilitation program may have positive effects on the Executive Functions (EFs) of children with Specific Learning Disorders (SLD). Materials and methods Twenty-four children with diagnosis of SLD participated to the study (range 7-11 years) and performed the VR-training across 6 weeks in the CARE Lab, that was designed with appropriate structural measures and ad hoc fittings, to hide the sophisticated technology necessary to allow the child to experience a rehabilitative setting with recreational and semi-immersive features. Children were evaluated across three main time-points: T0, assessment of cognitive level and EFs immediately before the start of the intervention; T1, assessment of EFs immediately after the end of VR intervention; T2, follow-up of EFs after 6 months from the end of the VR intervention. The rehabilitation programs were customized according to clinical needs and/or single patient's characteristics, proposing different games with variable complexity levels. Results Results showed that scores for visual attention, inhibition, flexibility, and planning abilities were significantly higher than before the intervention, and the most part of these ameliorations were maintained after 6 months. Conclusion These findings provide important inputs for the development of new innovative rehabilitation interventions for children with SLD that must be founded in ecological and evidence-based approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Giulia Purpura
- School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | | | | | | | | | - Tarjn Reina
- IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi, Milan, Italy
| | | | - Roberta Sala
- IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi, Milan, Italy
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Marks RA, Norton RT, Mesite L, Fox AB, Christodoulou JA. Risk and resilience correlates of reading among adolescents with language-based learning disabilities during COVID-19. READING AND WRITING 2022; 36:401-428. [PMID: 36406629 PMCID: PMC9649401 DOI: 10.1007/s11145-022-10361-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/11/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
UNLABELLED Students with language-based learning disabilities (LBLD) can face elevated socio-emotional well-being challenges in addition to literacy challenges. We examined the prevalence of risk and resilience factors among adolescents with LBLD (N = 93), ages 16-18, and the association with reading performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected at the start and end of the first fully remote academic year of COVID-19 (2020-2021). Participants completed standardized word and text reading measures, as well as self-report surveys of executive functions (EF), and socio-emotional skills associated with resilience (grit, growth mindset, self-management, self-efficacy, and social awareness) or risk (anxiety, depression, COVID-19 related PTSD, and perceived COVID-19 impact). Survey data at the start of the school year (Time 1) captured three underlying factors associated with socioemotional risk, socioemotional resilience, and regulation (i.e., EF). Path analyses revealed that students' Time 2 oral reading scores were significantly and uniquely predicted by socioemotional resilience, even when controlling for word-level reading at Time 1. Socioemotional risk, EF, and perceived COVID-19 impact were not directly related to Time 2 oral reading scores; however, students' resilience mediated the associations between risk and reading outcomes. These results demonstrate that adolescents' mental health concerns, self-regulatory ability, and socioemotional resilience were all associated with their experiences of the COVID-19-related stress. However, despite the high-risk context of the pandemic, and socio-emotional challenges faced by students with LBLD, our findings indicate that resilience directly predicts end-of-year reading outcomes and mediates the impact of socioemotional risk on achievement. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11145-022-10361-8.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca A. Marks
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, MGH Institute of Health Professions, 36 First Avenue, Boston, MA 02129 USA
| | - Rachel T. Norton
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, MGH Institute of Health Professions, 36 First Avenue, Boston, MA 02129 USA
| | - Laura Mesite
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, MGH Institute of Health Professions, 36 First Avenue, Boston, MA 02129 USA
| | - Annie B. Fox
- School of Healthcare Leadership, MGH Institute of Health Professions, 36 First Avenue, Boston, MA 02129 USA
| | - Joanna A. Christodoulou
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, MGH Institute of Health Professions, 36 First Avenue, Boston, MA 02129 USA
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Fong CYC, Ho CSH. Executive functions in Chinese kindergarten children with early reading problems. DYSLEXIA (CHICHESTER, ENGLAND) 2022; 28:325-341. [PMID: 35586880 DOI: 10.1002/dys.1714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2020] [Revised: 03/16/2022] [Accepted: 05/04/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Learning to read Chinese is a complex task that draws on a range of executive function (EF) skills since early development. However, no studies have examined EF as a potential contributing factor to early reading problems among Chinese children. The present longitudinal study identified 48 poor readers and 48 normal readers among a sample of 190 Chinese children at the end of kindergarten. Measures of EF skills (working memory, inhibition control, and cognitive flexibility) and reading outcomes (word reading, sentence reading fluency, and sentence reading comprehension) were administered to the children. The two groups were retrospectively compared on the EF measures after age and nonverbal IQ were considered. Poor readers were found to perform significantly worse than normal readers in all the examined EF skills. Correlation and regression results revealed a relatively different nature of the relationship between EF and reading in poor readers as compared with normal readers. Inhibition control predicted reading outcomes in poor readers only, while cognitive flexibility predicted reading outcomes in normal readers only. Working memory was significantly correlated to word reading in poor readers and to reading comprehension in normal readers. The results are discussed in terms of the special characteristics of the Chinese language.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cathy Yui-Chi Fong
- Department of Early Childhood Education, The Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Connie Suk-Han Ho
- Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR
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Farah R, Glukhovsky N, Rosch K, Horowitz-Kraus T. Structural white matter characteristics for working memory and switching/inhibition in children with reading difficulties: The role of the left superior longitudinal fasciculus. Netw Neurosci 2022; 6:897-915. [PMID: 36605413 PMCID: PMC9810373 DOI: 10.1162/netn_a_00257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2021] [Accepted: 06/02/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Reading difficulties (RDs) are characterized by slow and inaccurate reading as well as additional challenges in cognitive control (i.e., executive functions, especially in working memory, inhibition, and visual attention). Despite evidence demonstrating differences in these readers' language and visual processing abilities, white matter differences associated with executive functions (EFs) difficulties in children with RDs are scarce. Structural correlates for reading and EFs in 8- to 12-year-old children with RDs versus typical readers (TRs) were examined using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data. Results suggest that children with RDs showed significantly lower reading and EF abilities versus TRs. Lower fractional anisotropy (FA) in left temporo-parietal tracts was found in children with RDs, who also showed positive correlations between reading and working memory and switching/inhibition scores and FA in the left superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF). FA in the left SLF predicted working memory performance mediated by reading ability in children with RDs but not TRs. Our findings support alterations in white matter tracts related to working memory, switching/inhibition, and overall EF challenges in children with RDs and the linkage between working memory difficulties and FA alterations in the left SLF in children with RDs via reading.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rola Farah
- Educational Neuroimaging Group, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Noam Glukhovsky
- Educational Neuroimaging Group, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Keri Rosch
- Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus
- Educational Neuroimaging Group, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel,Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA,* Corresponding Author:
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Lancaster HS, Li J, Gray S. Selective visual attention skills differentially predict decoding and reading comprehension performance across reading ability profiles. JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN READING 2021; 44:715-734. [PMID: 35557998 PMCID: PMC9090198 DOI: 10.1111/1467-9817.12368] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between selective visual attention (SVA), reading decoding, listening comprehension and reading comprehension in children with and without a reading disorder. METHODS We used longitudinal data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. We split children into four groups: Typical Readers, Dyslexics, Poor Comprehenders and Comorbid Reading Disorder. We included measures of single word reading, nonword reading, spelling, phonological processing, vocabulary, receptive language, nonverbal intelligence, selective attention and reading comprehension. We used analysis of variance, correlations and structural equation modelling to examine the relationship between SVA and reading. We fit two possible models: SVA Indirect and SVA Direct. The difference between these models was the inclusion of a direct path from SVA to reading comprehension. RESULTS We examined an indirect model, where SVA predicted reading comprehension through word decoding and listening comprehension, and a direct model, which included a pathway from SVA to reading comprehension. Based on our analysis of variance and correlation results, we collapsed the Dyslexic, Poor Comprehenders and Comorbid Reading Disorder groups for the structural equation modelling. We found evidence that for Typical Readers, an indirect model was the best fit, whereas the direct model was the best model for children with a reading disorder. CONCLUSIONS Selective visual attention is related to reading comprehension. This relationship differs for children with and without a reading disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hope Sparks Lancaster
- Center of Childhood Deafness, Language, and Learning, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Omaha, NE, USA and Program of Speech and Hearing Science, College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA
| | - Jing Li
- H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Shelley Gray
- Program of Speech and Hearing Science, College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA
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