1
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Kou JW, Fan LY, Chen HC, Chen SY, Hu X, Zhang K, Kovelman I, Chou TL. Neural substrates of L2-L1 transfer effects on phonological awareness in young Chinese-English bilingual children. Neuroimage 2024; 291:120592. [PMID: 38548037 PMCID: PMC11032115 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120592] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2023] [Revised: 03/24/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024] Open
Abstract
The growing trend of bilingual education between Chinese and English has contributed to a rise in the number of early bilingual children, who were exposed to L2 prior to formal language instruction of L1. The L2-L1 transfer effect in an L1-dominant environment has been well established. However, the threshold of L2 proficiency at which such transfer manifests remains unclear. This study investigated the behavioral and neural processes involved when manipulating phonemes in an auditory phonological task to uncover the transfer effect in young bilingual children. Sixty-two first graders from elementary schools in Taiwan were recruited in this study (29 Chinese monolinguals, 33 Chinese-English bilinguals). The brain activity was measured using fNIRS (functional near-infrared spectroscopy). Bilingual children showed right lateralization to process Chinese and left lateralization to process English, which supports more on the accommodation effect within the framework of the assimilation-accommodation hypothesis. Also, compared to monolinguals, bilingual children showed more bilateral frontal activation in Chinese, potentially reflecting a mixed influence from L2-L1 transfer effects and increased cognitive load of bilingual exposure. These results elucidate the developmental adjustments in the neural substrates associated with early bilingual exposure in phonological processing, offering valuable insights into the bilingual learning process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jia-Wei Kou
- Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Li-Ying Fan
- Department of Education, National Taipei University of Education, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Hsin-Chin Chen
- Department of Psychology, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi, Taiwan
| | - Shiou-Yuan Chen
- Department of Early Childhood Education, University of Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Xiaosu Hu
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Kehui Zhang
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Ioulia Kovelman
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Tai-Li Chou
- Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
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2
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Zhang K, Sun X, Yu CL, Eggleston RL, Marks RA, Nickerson N, Caruso VC, Hu XS, Tardif T, Chou TL, Booth JR, Kovelman I. Phonological and morphological literacy skills in English and Chinese: A cross-linguistic neuroimaging comparison of Chinese-English bilingual and monolingual English children. Hum Brain Mapp 2023. [PMID: 37483170 PMCID: PMC10400794 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2022] [Revised: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 07/05/2023] [Indexed: 07/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Over the course of literacy development, children learn to recognize word sounds and meanings in print. Yet, they do so differently across alphabetic and character-based orthographies such as English and Chinese. To uncover cross-linguistic influences on children's literacy, we asked young Chinese-English simultaneous bilinguals and English monolinguals (N = 119, ages 5-10) to complete phonological and morphological awareness (MA) literacy tasks. Children completed the tasks in the auditory modality in each of their languages during functional near-infrared spectroscopy neuroimaging. Cross-linguistically, comparisons between bilinguals' two languages revealed that the task that was more central to reading in a given orthography, such as phonological awareness (PA) in English and MA in Chinese, elicited less activation in the left inferior frontal and parietal regions. Group comparisons between bilinguals and monolinguals in English, their shared language of academic instruction, revealed that the left inferior frontal was less active during phonology but more active during morphology in bilinguals relative to monolinguals. MA skills are generally considered to have greater language specificity than PA skills. Bilingual literacy training in a skill that is maximally similar across languages, such as PA, may therefore yield greater automaticity for this skill, as reflected in the lower activation in bilinguals relative to monolinguals. This interpretation is supported by negative correlations between proficiency and brain activation. Together, these findings suggest that both the structural characteristics and literacy experiences with a given language can exert specific influences on bilingual and monolingual children's emerging brain networks for learning to read.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kehui Zhang
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Xin Sun
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Chi-Lin Yu
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Rachel L Eggleston
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Rebecca A Marks
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Nia Nickerson
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Valeria C Caruso
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Xiao-Su Hu
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Twila Tardif
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Tai-Li Chou
- Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - James R Booth
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Ioulia Kovelman
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
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3
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Di Pietro SV, Karipidis II, Pleisch G, Brem S. Neurodevelopmental trajectories of letter and speech sound processing from preschool to the end of elementary school. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2023; 61:101255. [PMID: 37196374 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101255] [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: 08/19/2022] [Revised: 03/20/2023] [Accepted: 05/11/2023] [Indexed: 05/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Learning to read alphabetic languages starts with learning letter-speech-sound associations. How this process changes brain function during development is still largely unknown. We followed 102 children with varying reading skills in a mixed-longitudinal/cross-sectional design from the prereading stage to the end of elementary school over five time points (n = 46 with two and more time points, of which n = 16 fully-longitudinal) to investigate the neural trajectories of letter and speech sound processing using fMRI. Children were presented with letters and speech sounds visually, auditorily, and audiovisually in kindergarten (6.7yo), at the middle (7.3yo) and end of first grade (7.6yo), and in second (8.4yo) and fifth grades (11.5yo). Activation of the ventral occipitotemporal cortex for visual and audiovisual processing followed a complex trajectory, with two peaks in first and fifth grades. The superior temporal gyrus (STG) showed an inverted U-shaped trajectory for audiovisual letter processing, a development that in poor readers was attenuated in middle STG and absent in posterior STG. Finally, the trajectories for letter-speech-sound integration were modulated by reading skills and showed differing directionality in the congruency effect depending on the time point. This unprecedented study captures the development of letter processing across elementary school and its neural trajectories in children with varying reading skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- S V Di Pietro
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland; Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Switzerland; URPP Adaptive Brain Circuits in Development and Learning (AdaBD), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - I I Karipidis
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland; Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Switzerland
| | - G Pleisch
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland
| | - S Brem
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland; Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Switzerland; URPP Adaptive Brain Circuits in Development and Learning (AdaBD), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
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4
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Yee J, Yap NT, Mahmud R, Saripan MI. Effects of orthographic transparency on rhyme judgement. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1038630. [PMID: 36949909 PMCID: PMC10026565 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1038630] [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: 09/07/2022] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 03/08/2023] Open
Abstract
This study investigated the influence of multiliteracy in opaque orthographies on phonological awareness. Using a visual rhyme judgement task in English, we assessed phonological processing in three multilingual and multiliterate populations who were distinguished by the transparency of the orthographies they can read in (N = 135; ages 18-40). The first group consisted of 45 multilinguals literate in English and a transparent Latin orthography like Malay; the second group consisted of 45 multilinguals literate in English and transparent orthographies like Malay and Arabic; and the third group consisted of 45 multilinguals literate in English, transparent orthographies, and Mandarin Chinese, an opaque orthography. Results showed that all groups had poorer performance in the two opaque conditions: rhyming pairs with different orthographic endings and non-rhyming pairs with similar orthographic endings, with the latter posing the greatest difficulty. Subjects whose languages consisted of half or more opaque orthographies performed significantly better than subjects who knew more transparent orthographies than opaque orthographies. The findings are consistent with past studies that used the visual rhyme judgement paradigm and suggest that literacy experience acquired over time relating to orthographic transparency may influence performance on phonological awareness tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jia’en Yee
- Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Ngee Thai Yap
- Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia
- *Correspondence: Yap Ngee Thai,
| | - Rozi Mahmud
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - M. Iqbal Saripan
- Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia
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5
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Nathaniel U, Weiss Y, Barouch B, Katzir T, Bitan T. Start shallow and grow deep: The development of a Hebrew reading brain. Neuropsychologia 2022; 176:108376. [PMID: 36181772 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108376] [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: 03/18/2022] [Revised: 08/06/2022] [Accepted: 09/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Brain plasticity implies that readers of different orthographies can have different reading networks. Theoretical models suggest that reading acquisition in transparent orthographies relies on mapping smaller orthographic units to phonology, than reading opaque orthographies; but what are the neural mechanisms underlying this difference? Hebrew has a transparent (pointed) script used for beginners, and a non-transparent script used for skilled readers. The current study examined the developmental changes in brain regions associated with phonological and orthographic processes during reading pointed and un-pointed words. Our results highlight some changes that are universal in reading development, such as a developmental increase in frontal involvement (in bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) pars opercularis), and increase in left asymmetry (in IFG pars opercularis and superior temporal gyrus, STG) of the reading network. Our results also showed a developmental increase in activation in STG, which stands in contrast to previous studies in other orthographies. We further found an interaction of word length and diacritics in bilateral STG and VWFA across both groups. These findings suggest that children slightly adjust their reading depending on orthographic transparency, relying on smaller units when reading a transparent script and on larger units when reading an opaque script. Our results also showed that phonological abilities across groups correlated with activation in the VWFA, regardless of transparency, supporting the continued role of phonology at all levels of orthographic transparency. Our findings are consistent with multiple route reading models, in which both phonological and orthographic processing of multiple size units continue to play a role in children's reading of transparent and opaque scripts during reading development. The results further demonstrate the importance of taking into account differences between orthographies when constructing neural models of reading acquisition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Upasana Nathaniel
- Psychology Department and Institute for Information Processing and Decision Making, University of Haifa, Israel; Integrated Brain and Behavior Center (IBBRC), University of Haifa, Israel.
| | - Yael Weiss
- Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Bechor Barouch
- Psychology Department and Institute for Information Processing and Decision Making, University of Haifa, Israel
| | - Tami Katzir
- Department of Learning Disabilities, The E.J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities, University of Haifa, Israel
| | - Tali Bitan
- Psychology Department and Institute for Information Processing and Decision Making, University of Haifa, Israel; Integrated Brain and Behavior Center (IBBRC), University of Haifa, Israel; Department of Speech Language Pathology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
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6
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Li A, Yang R, Qu J, Dong J, Gu L, Mei L. Neural representation of phonological information during Chinese character reading. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 43:4013-4029. [PMID: 35545935 PMCID: PMC9374885 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25900] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2022] [Revised: 04/04/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous studies have revealed that phonological processing of Chinese characters elicited activation in the left prefrontal cortex, bilateral parietal cortex, and occipitotemporal regions. However, it is controversial what role the left middle frontal gyrus plays in Chinese character reading, and whether the core regions (e.g., the left superior temporal gyrus and supramarginal gyrus) for phonological processing of alphabetic languages are also involved in Chinese character reading. To address these questions, the present study used both univariate and multivariate analysis (i.e., representational similarity analysis, RSA) to explore neural representations of phonological information during Chinese character reading. Participants were scanned while performing a reading aloud task. Univariate activation analysis revealed a widely distributed network for word reading, including the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, lateral temporal cortex, and occipitotemporal cortex. More importantly, RSA showed that the left prefrontal (i.e., the left middle frontal gyrus and left inferior frontal gyrus) and bilateral occipitotemporal areas (i.e., the left inferior and middle temporal gyrus and bilateral fusiform gyrus) represented phonological information of Chinese characters. These results confirmed the importance of the left middle frontal gyrus and regions in ventral pathway in representing phonological information of Chinese characters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aqian Li
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.,School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Rui Yang
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.,School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jing Qu
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.,School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jie Dong
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.,School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Lala Gu
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.,School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Leilei Mei
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
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7
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Neergaard KD, Xu H, German JS, Huang CR. Database of word-level statistics for Mandarin Chinese (DoWLS-MAN). Behav Res Methods 2022; 54:987-1009. [PMID: 34405389 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-021-01620-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
In this article we present the Database of Word-Level Statistics for Mandarin Chinese (DoWLS-MAN). The database addresses the lack of agreement in phonological syllable segmentation specific to Mandarin by offering phonological features for each lexical item according to 16 schematic representations of the syllable (8 with tone and 8 without tone). Those lexical statistics that differ per phonological word and nonword due to changes in syllable segmentation are of the variant category and include subtitle lexical frequency, phonological neighborhood density measures, homophone density, and network science measures. The invariant characteristics consist of each items' lexical tone, phonological transcription, and syllable structure among others. The goal of DoWLS-MAN is to provide researchers both the ability to choose stimuli that are derived from a segmentation schema that supports an existing model of Mandarin speech processing, and the ability to choose stimuli that allow for the testing of hypotheses on phonological segmentation according to multiple schemas. In an exploratory analysis we illustrate how multiple schematic representations of the phonological mental lexicon can aid in hypothesis generation, specifically in terms of phonological processing when reading Chinese orthography. Users of the database can search among over 92,000 words, over 1600 out-of-vocabulary Chinese characters, and 4300 phonological nonwords according to either Chinese orthography, pinyin, or ASCII phonetic script. Users can also generate a list of phonological words and nonwords according to user-defined ranges and categories of lexical characteristics. DoWLS-MAN is available to the public for search or download at https://dowls.site .
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Affiliation(s)
- Karl David Neergaard
- Department of English (E21-1060), University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, S.A.R, China.
| | - Hongzhi Xu
- Institute of Corpus Studies and Application, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China
| | - James S German
- Aix-Marseille Université, LPL, CNRS, Aix-en-Provence, France
| | - Chu-Ren Huang
- Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, S.A.R, China
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8
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Romanovska L, Janssen R, Bonte M. Longitudinal changes in cortical responses to letter-speech sound stimuli in 8-11 year-old children. NPJ SCIENCE OF LEARNING 2022; 7:2. [PMID: 35079026 PMCID: PMC8789908 DOI: 10.1038/s41539-021-00118-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2021] [Accepted: 12/16/2021] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
While children are able to name letters fairly quickly, the automatisation of letter-speech sound mappings continues over the first years of reading development. In the current longitudinal fMRI study, we explored developmental changes in cortical responses to letters and speech sounds across 3 yearly measurements in a sample of 18 8-11 year old children. We employed a text-based recalibration paradigm in which combined exposure to text and ambiguous speech sounds shifts participants' later perception of the ambiguous sounds towards the text. Our results showed that activity of the left superior temporal and lateral inferior precentral gyri followed a non-linear developmental pattern across the measurement sessions. This pattern is reminiscent of previously reported inverted-u-shape developmental trajectories in children's visual cortical responses to text. Our findings suggest that the processing of letters and speech sounds involves non-linear changes in the brain's spoken language network possibly related to progressive automatisation of reading skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linda Romanovska
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Department Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
| | - Roef Janssen
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Department Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Milene Bonte
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Department Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
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9
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Romanovska L, Bonte M. How Learning to Read Changes the Listening Brain. Front Psychol 2021; 12:726882. [PMID: 34987442 PMCID: PMC8721231 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.726882] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2021] [Accepted: 11/23/2021] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Reading acquisition reorganizes existing brain networks for speech and visual processing to form novel audio-visual language representations. This requires substantial cortical plasticity that is reflected in changes in brain activation and functional as well as structural connectivity between brain areas. The extent to which a child's brain can accommodate these changes may underlie the high variability in reading outcome in both typical and dyslexic readers. In this review, we focus on reading-induced functional changes of the dorsal speech network in particular and discuss how its reciprocal interactions with the ventral reading network contributes to reading outcome. We discuss how the dynamic and intertwined development of both reading networks may be best captured by approaching reading from a skill learning perspective, using audio-visual learning paradigms and longitudinal designs to follow neuro-behavioral changes while children's reading skills unfold.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Milene Bonte
- *Correspondence: Linda Romanovska, ; Milene Bonte,
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10
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Wang J, Pines J, Joanisse M, Booth JR. Reciprocal relations between reading skill and the neural basis of phonological awareness in 7- to 9-year-old children. Neuroimage 2021; 236:118083. [PMID: 33878381 PMCID: PMC8361856 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2020] [Revised: 02/25/2021] [Accepted: 04/08/2021] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
By using a longitudinal design and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), our previous study (Wang et al., 2020) found a scaffolding effect of early phonological processing in the superior temporal gyrus (STG) in 6-year-old children on later behavioral reading skill in 7.5-year-old children. Other than this previous study, nothing is known about longitudinal change in the bidirectional relation between reading skill and phonological processing in the brain. To fill this gap, in the current study, we used the same experimental paradigm as in Wang et al. (2020) to measure children's reading skill and brain activity during an auditory phonological awareness task, but with children who were 7.5 years old at Time 1 (T1) and about 1.5 years later when they were 9 years old at Time 2 (T2). The phonological awareness task included both small grain (i.e., onset) and large grain (i.e., rhyme) conditions. In a univariate analysis, we found that better reading skill at T1 predicted lower brain activation in IFG at T2 for onset processing after controlling for brain activation and non-verbal IQ at T1. This suggests that early reading ability reduces the effort of phonemic access, thus supporting the refinement hypothesis. When using general psychophysiological interaction (gPPI), we found that higher functional connectivity from IFG to STG for rhyme processing at T1 predicted better reading skill at T2 after controlling for reading skill and non-verbal IQ at T1. This suggests that the early effectiveness of accessing rhyme representations scaffolds reading acquisition. As both results did not survive multiple comparison corrections, replication of these findings is needed. However, both findings are consistent with prior studies demonstrating that phonological access in the frontal lobe becomes important in older elementary school readers. Moreover, the refinement effect for onsets is consistent with the hypothesis that learning to read allows for better access of small grain phonology, and the scaffolding effect for rhymes supports the idea that reading progresses to larger grain orthography-to-phonology mapping in older skilled readers. The current study, along with our previous study on younger children, indicates that the development of reading skill is associated with (1) the early importance of the quality of the phonological representations to later access of these representations, and (2) early importance of small grain sizes to later development of large grain ones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jin Wang
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
| | - Julia Pines
- Neuroscience Program, College of Arts and Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Marc Joanisse
- Department of Psychology & Brain and Mind Institute, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - James R Booth
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
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11
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Chao PC, Chen WF, Zevin J, Lee CY. Neural correlates of phonology-to-orthography mapping consistency effects on Chinese spoken word recognition. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2021; 219:104961. [PMID: 33965686 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2021.104961] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2020] [Revised: 02/23/2021] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Previous studies have shown that reading experience reshapes speech processing. The orthography can be implemented in the brain by restructuring the phonological representations or being co-activated during spoken word recognition. This study utilized event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging and functional connectivity analysis to examine the neural mechanism underlying two types of orthographic effects in the Chinese auditory semantic category task, namely phonology-to-orthography consistency (POC) and homophone density (HD). We found that the POC effects originated from the speech network, suggesting that sublexical orthographic information could change the organization of preexisting phonological representations when learning to read. Meanwhile, the HD effects were localized to the left fusiform and lingual gyrus, suggesting that lexical orthographic knowledge may be activated online during spoken word recognition. These results demonstrated the different natures and neural mechanisms for the POC and HD effects on Chinese spoken word recognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pei-Chun Chao
- Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Wei-Fan Chen
- Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Jason Zevin
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Chia-Ying Lee
- Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan; Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, National Central University, Taoyuan, Taiwan; Research Center for Mind, Brain, and Learning, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan; Interdisciplinary Neuroscience, Taiwan International Graduate Program, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
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12
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Zhang Y, Pattamadilok C, Lau DKY, Bakhtiar M, Yim LY, Leung KY, Zhang C. Early Auditory Event-Related Potentials Are Modulated by Alphabetic Literacy Skills in Logographic Chinese Readers. Front Psychol 2021; 12:663166. [PMID: 34393900 PMCID: PMC8358453 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.663166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2021] [Accepted: 07/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The acquisition of an alphabetic orthography transforms speech processing in the human brain. Behavioral evidence shows that phonological awareness as assessed by meta-phonological tasks like phoneme judgment, is enhanced by alphabetic literacy acquisition. The current study investigates the time-course of the neuro-cognitive operations underlying this enhancement as revealed by event-related potentials (ERPs). Chinese readers with and without proficiency in Jyutping, a Romanization system of Cantonese, were recruited for an auditory onset phoneme judgment task; their behavioral responses and the elicited ERPs were examined. Proficient readers of Jyutping achieved higher response accuracy and exhibited more negative-going ERPs in three early ERP time-windows corresponding to the P1, N1, and P2 components. The phonological mismatch negativity component exhibited sensitivity to both onset and rhyme mismatch in the speech stimuli, but it was not modulated by alphabetic literacy skills. The sustained negativity in the P1-N1-P2 time-windows is interpreted as reflecting enhanced phonetic/phonological processing or attentional/awareness modulation associated with alphabetic literacy and phonological awareness skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yubin Zhang
- Department of Linguistics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Chotiga Pattamadilok
- Laboratoire Parole et Langage (LPL), CNRS, Aix Marseille University, Aix-en-Provence, France
| | - Dustin Kai-Yan Lau
- Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
| | - Mehdi Bakhtiar
- Unit of Human Communication, Development, and Information Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Long-Ying Yim
- Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
| | - Ka-Yui Leung
- Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
| | - Caicai Zhang
- Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
- Research Centre for Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
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13
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Bakhtiar M, Mokhlesin M, Pattamadilok C, Politzer-Ahles S, Zhang C. The Effect of Orthographic Transparency on Auditory Word Recognition Across the Development of Reading Proficiency. Front Psychol 2021; 12:691989. [PMID: 34385960 PMCID: PMC8353368 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.691989] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2021] [Accepted: 07/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
A question under debate in psycholinguistics is the nature of the relationship between spoken and written languages. Although it has been extensively shown that orthographic transparency, which varies across writing systems, strongly affects reading performance, its role in speech processing is much less investigated. The present study addressed this issue in Persian, whose writing system provides a possibility to assess the impact of orthographic transparency on spoken word recognition in young children at different stages of reading acquisition. In Persian, the long vowels are systematically present in the script, whereas the spelling correspondence of short vowels is progressively omitted from the script in the course of reading acquisition, thus, turning transparent into opaque spelling. Based on this unique characteristic, we tested 144 monolingual Persian-speaking nonreaders (i.e., preschoolers) and readers (second graders to fifth graders and young adults) in an auditory lexical decision task using transparent and opaque words. Overall, the results showed that, in accordance with the fact that the diacritics of short vowels are progressively omitted during the second year of schooling, the stimuli containing short vowels (opaque words) were recognized more slowly than transparent ones in third graders. Interestingly, there is a hint that the emergence of the transparency effect in the third graders was associated with an overall slower recognition speed in this group compared to their younger peers. These findings indicate that learning opaque spelling-sound correspondence might not only generate interference between the two language codes but also induce a general processing cost in the entire spoken language system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mehdi Bakhtiar
- Unit of Human Communication, Development, and Information Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Maryam Mokhlesin
- Neuromuscular Rehabilitation Research Center, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran
- Department of Speech Therapy, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | | | - Stephen Politzer-Ahles
- Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
| | - Caicai Zhang
- Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
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14
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Kolozsvári OB, Xu W, Gerike G, Parviainen T, Nieminen L, Noiray A, Hämäläinen JA. Coherence Between Brain Activation and Speech Envelope at Word and Sentence Levels Showed Age-Related Differences in Low Frequency Bands. NEUROBIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE (CAMBRIDGE, MASS.) 2021; 2:226-253. [PMID: 37216146 PMCID: PMC10158622 DOI: 10.1162/nol_a_00033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2020] [Accepted: 02/17/2021] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Speech perception is dynamic and shows changes across development. In parallel, functional differences in brain development over time have been well documented and these differences may interact with changes in speech perception during infancy and childhood. Further, there is evidence that the two hemispheres contribute unequally to speech segmentation at the sentence and phonemic levels. To disentangle those contributions, we studied the cortical tracking of various sized units of speech that are crucial for spoken language processing in children (4.7-9.3 years old, N = 34) and adults (N = 19). We measured participants' magnetoencephalogram (MEG) responses to syllables, words, and sentences, calculated the coherence between the speech signal and MEG responses at the level of words and sentences, and further examined auditory evoked responses to syllables. Age-related differences were found for coherence values at the delta and theta frequency bands. Both frequency bands showed an effect of stimulus type, although this was attributed to the length of the stimulus and not the linguistic unit size. There was no difference between hemispheres at the source level either in coherence values for word or sentence processing or in evoked response to syllables. Results highlight the importance of the lower frequencies for speech tracking in the brain across different lexical units. Further, stimulus length affects the speech-brain associations suggesting methodological approaches should be selected carefully when studying speech envelope processing at the neural level. Speech tracking in the brain seems decoupled from more general maturation of the auditory cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Orsolya B. Kolozsvári
- Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Brain Research (CIBR), University of Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Weiyong Xu
- Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Brain Research (CIBR), University of Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Georgia Gerike
- Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Brain Research (CIBR), University of Jyväskylä, Finland
- Niilo Mäki Institute, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Tiina Parviainen
- Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Brain Research (CIBR), University of Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Lea Nieminen
- Centre for Applied Language Studies, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Aude Noiray
- Laboratory for Oral Language Acquisition (LOLA), University of Potsdam, Germany
| | - Jarmo A. Hämäläinen
- Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Brain Research (CIBR), University of Jyväskylä, Finland
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15
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Wang J, Yamasaki BL, Weiss Y, Booth JR. Both frontal and temporal cortex exhibit phonological and semantic specialization during spoken language processing in 7- to 8-year-old children. Hum Brain Mapp 2021; 42:3534-3546. [PMID: 33951259 PMCID: PMC8249890 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2020] [Revised: 03/12/2021] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
A previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study by Weiss et al. (Weiss et al., Human Brain Mapping, 2018, 39, 4334–4348) examined brain specialization for phonological and semantic processing of spoken words in young children who were 5 to 6 years old and found evidence for specialization in the temporal but not the frontal lobe. According to a prominent neurocognitive model of language development (Skeide & Friederici, Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2016, 17, 323–332), the frontal lobe matures later than the temporal lobe. Thus, the current study aimed to examine if brain specialization in the frontal lobe can be observed in a slightly older cohort of children aged 7 to 8 years old using the same experimental and analytical approach as in Weiss et al. (Weiss et al., Human Brain Mapping, 2018, 39, 4334–4348). One hundred and ten typically developing children were recruited and were asked to perform a sound judgment task, tapping into phonological processing, and a meaning judgment task, tapping into semantic processing, while in the MRI scanner. Direct task comparisons showed that these children exhibited language specialization in both the temporal and the frontal lobes, with the left posterior dorsal inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) showing greater activation for the sound than the meaning judgment task, and the left anterior ventral IFG and the left posterior middle temporal gyrus (MTG) showing greater activation for the meaning than the sound judgment task. These findings demonstrate that 7‐ to 8‐year‐old children have already begun to develop a language‐related specialization in the frontal lobe, suggesting that early elementary schoolers rely on both specialized linguistic manipulation and representation mechanisms to perform language tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jin Wang
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Brianna L Yamasaki
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Yael Weiss
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - James R Booth
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
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16
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Romanovska L, Janssen R, Bonte M. Cortical responses to letters and ambiguous speech vary with reading skills in dyslexic and typically reading children. NEUROIMAGE-CLINICAL 2021; 30:102588. [PMID: 33618236 PMCID: PMC7907898 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2021.102588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2020] [Revised: 01/26/2021] [Accepted: 02/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Text recalibrates ambiguous speech perception in children with and without dyslexia. Dyslexia and poorer reading skills are linked to reduced left fusiform activation. Poorer letter-speech sound matching is linked to higher superior temporal activation.
One of the proposed issues underlying reading difficulties in dyslexia is insufficiently automatized letter-speech sound associations. In the current fMRI experiment, we employ text-based recalibration to investigate letter-speech sound mappings in 8–10 year-old children with and without dyslexia. Here an ambiguous speech sound /a?a/ midway between /aba/ and /ada/ is combined with disambiguating “aba” or “ada” text causing a perceptual shift of the ambiguous /a?a/ sound towards the text (recalibration). This perceptual shift has been found to be reduced in adults but not in children with dyslexia compared to typical readers. Our fMRI results show significantly reduced activation in the left fusiform in dyslexic compared to typical readers, despite comparable behavioural performance. Furthermore, enhanced audio-visual activation within this region was linked to better reading and phonological skills. In contrast, higher activation in bilateral superior temporal cortex was associated with lower letter-speech sound identification fluency. These findings reflect individual differences during the early stages of reading development with reduced recruitment of the left fusiform in dyslexic readers together with an increased involvement of the superior temporal cortex in children with less automatized letter-speech sound associations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linda Romanovska
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Department Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands.
| | - Roef Janssen
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Department Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Milene Bonte
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Department Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
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17
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Chyl K, Fraga-González G, Brem S, Jednoróg K. Brain dynamics of (a)typical reading development-a review of longitudinal studies. NPJ SCIENCE OF LEARNING 2021; 6:4. [PMID: 33526791 PMCID: PMC7851393 DOI: 10.1038/s41539-020-00081-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2020] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Literacy development is a process rather than a single event and thus should be studied at multiple time points. A longitudinal design employing neuroimaging methods offers the possibility to identify neural changes associated with reading development, and to reveal early markers of dyslexia. The core of this review is a summary of findings from longitudinal neuroimaging studies on typical and atypical reading development. Studies focused on the prediction of reading gains with a single neuroimaging time point complement this review. Evidence from structural studies suggests that reading development results in increased structural integrity and functional specialization of left-hemispheric language areas. Compromised integrity of some of these tracts in children at risk for dyslexia might be compensated by higher anatomical connectivity in the homologous right hemisphere tracts. Regarding function, activation in phonological and audiovisual integration areas and growing sensitivity to print in the ventral occipito-temporal cortex (vOT) seem to be relevant neurodevelopmental markers of successful reading acquisition. Atypical vOT responses at the beginning of reading training and infant auditory brain potentials have been proposed as neuroimaging predictors of dyslexia that can complement behavioral measures. Besides these insights, longitudinal neuroimaging studies on reading and dyslexia are still relatively scarce and small sample sizes raise legitimate concerns about the reliability of the results. This review discusses the challenges of these studies and provides recommendations to improve this research area. Future longitudinal research with larger sample sizes are needed to improve our knowledge of typical and atypical reading neurodevelopment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katarzyna Chyl
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Gorka Fraga-González
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Silvia Brem
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- MR-Center of the Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics and the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Katarzyna Jednoróg
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
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18
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Banaszkiewicz A, Bola Ł, Matuszewski J, Szczepanik M, Kossowski B, Mostowski P, Rutkowski P, Śliwińska M, Jednoróg K, Emmorey K, Marchewka A. The role of the superior parietal lobule in lexical processing of sign language: Insights from fMRI and TMS. Cortex 2020; 135:240-254. [PMID: 33401098 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.10.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2020] [Revised: 09/24/2020] [Accepted: 10/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
There is strong evidence that neuronal bases for language processing are remarkably similar for sign and spoken languages. However, as meanings and linguistic structures of sign languages are coded in movement and space and decoded through vision, differences are also present, predominantly in occipitotemporal and parietal areas, such as superior parietal lobule (SPL). Whether the involvement of SPL reflects domain-general visuospatial attention or processes specific to sign language comprehension remains an open question. Here we conducted two experiments to investigate the role of SPL and the laterality of its engagement in sign language lexical processing. First, using unique longitudinal and between-group designs we mapped brain responses to sign language in hearing late learners and deaf signers. Second, using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in both groups we tested the behavioural relevance of SPL's engagement and its lateralisation during sign language comprehension. SPL activation in hearing participants was observed in the right hemisphere before and bilaterally after the sign language course. Additionally, after the course hearing learners exhibited greater activation in the occipital cortex and left SPL than deaf signers. TMS applied to the right SPL decreased accuracy in both hearing learners and deaf signers. Stimulation of the left SPL decreased accuracy only in hearing learners. Our results suggest that right SPL might be involved in visuospatial attention while left SPL might support phonological decoding of signs in non-proficient signers.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Banaszkiewicz
- Laboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Ł Bola
- Laboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - J Matuszewski
- Laboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - M Szczepanik
- Laboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - B Kossowski
- Laboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - P Mostowski
- Section for Sign Linguistics, Faculty of Polish Studies, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - P Rutkowski
- Section for Sign Linguistics, Faculty of Polish Studies, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - M Śliwińska
- Department of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, UK
| | - K Jednoróg
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - K Emmorey
- Laboratory for Language and Cognitive Neuroscience, San Diego State University, San Diego, USA
| | - A Marchewka
- Laboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
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19
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Syllable-first rather than letter-first to improve phonemic awareness. Sci Rep 2020; 10:22130. [PMID: 33335219 PMCID: PMC7747708 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-79240-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2020] [Accepted: 11/25/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The present study investigates the nature of the spelling-to-sound correspondences taught to enhance phonemic awareness in prereaders. The main assumption in the literature is that learning the alphabetic code through letter-to-phoneme correspondences is the best way to improve phonemic awareness. The alternative syllabic bridge hypothesis, based on the saliency and early availability of syllables, assumes that learning to associate letters to phonological syllables enables phoneme units to be the mirror of the letters and to become accessible, thereby developing phonemic awareness of prereaders. A total of 222 French-speaking prereaders took part in a 4-session learning program based on correspondences either between letters and syllables (letters-to-syllable group) or between letters and phonemes (letter-to-phoneme group), and the fifth last session on coding and decoding. Our results showed a greater increase in phonemic awareness in the letters-to-syllable group than in the letter-to-phoneme group. The present study suggests that teaching prereaders letters-to-syllable correspondences is a key to successful reading.
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20
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Banaszkiewicz A, Matuszewski J, Bola Ł, Szczepanik M, Kossowski B, Rutkowski P, Szwed M, Emmorey K, Jednoróg K, Marchewka A. Multimodal imaging of brain reorganization in hearing late learners of sign language. Hum Brain Mapp 2020; 42:384-397. [PMID: 33098616 PMCID: PMC7776004 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25229] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2020] [Revised: 07/17/2020] [Accepted: 09/30/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The neural plasticity underlying language learning is a process rather than a single event. However, the dynamics of training-induced brain reorganization have rarely been examined, especially using a multimodal magnetic resonance imaging approach, which allows us to study the relationship between functional and structural changes. We focus on sign language acquisition in hearing adults who underwent an 8-month long course and five neuroimaging sessions. We assessed what neural changes occurred as participants learned a new language in a different modality-as reflected by task-based activity, connectivity changes, and co-occurring structural alterations. Major changes in the activity pattern appeared after just 3 months of learning, as indicated by increases in activation within the modality-independent perisylvian language network, together with increased activation in modality-dependent parieto-occipital, visuospatial and motion-sensitive regions. Despite further learning, no alterations in activation were detected during the following months. However, enhanced coupling between left-lateralized occipital and inferior frontal regions was observed as the proficiency increased. Furthermore, an increase in gray matter volume was detected in the left inferior frontal gyrus which peaked at the end of learning. Overall, these results showed complexity and temporal distinctiveness of various aspects of brain reorganization associated with learning of new language in different sensory modality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Banaszkiewicz
- Laboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Jacek Matuszewski
- Laboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Łukasz Bola
- Laboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.,Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.,Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Michał Szczepanik
- Laboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Bartosz Kossowski
- Laboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Paweł Rutkowski
- Section for Sign Linguistics, Faculty of Polish Studies, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Marcin Szwed
- Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
| | - Karen Emmorey
- Laboratory for Language and Cognitive Neuroscience, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA
| | - Katarzyna Jednoróg
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Artur Marchewka
- Laboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
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21
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Shao J, Zhang C. Dichotic Perception of Lexical Tones in Cantonese-Speaking Congenital Amusics. Front Psychol 2020; 11:1411. [PMID: 32733321 PMCID: PMC7358218 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/29/2020] [Accepted: 05/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Congenital amusia is an inborn neurogenetic disorder of musical pitch processing, which also induces impairment in lexical tone perception. However, it has not been examined before how the brain specialization of lexical tone perception is affected in amusics. The current study adopted the dichotic listening paradigm to examine this issue, testing 18 Cantonese-speaking amusics and 18 matched controls on pitch/lexical tone identification and discrimination in three conditions: non-speech tone, low syllable variation, and high syllable variation. For typical listeners, the discrimination accuracy was higher with shorter RT in the left ear regardless of the stimulus types, suggesting a left-ear advantage in discrimination. When the demand of phonological processing increased, as in the identification task, shorter RT was still obtained in the left ear, however, the identification accuracy revealed a bilateral pattern. Taken together, the results of the identification task revealed a reduced LEA or a shift from the right hemisphere to bilateral processing in identification. Amusics exhibited overall poorer performance in both identification and discrimination tasks, indicating that pitch/lexical tone processing in dichotic listening settings was impaired, but there was no evidence that amusics showed different ear preference from controls. These findings provided temporary evidence that although amusics demonstrate deficient neural mechanisms of pitch/lexical tone processing, their ear preference patterns might not be affected. These results broadened the understanding of the nature of pitch and lexical tone processing deficiencies in amusia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Shao
- School of Humanities, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.,Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China
| | - Caicai Zhang
- Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.,Research Centre for Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
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22
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Enge A, Friederici AD, Skeide MA. A meta-analysis of fMRI studies of language comprehension in children. Neuroimage 2020; 215:116858. [PMID: 32304886 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116858] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2020] [Revised: 04/10/2020] [Accepted: 04/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The neural representation of language comprehension has been examined in several meta-analyses of fMRI studies with human adults. To complement this work from a developmental perspective, we conducted a meta-analysis of fMRI studies of auditory language comprehension in human children. Our analysis included 27 independent experiments involving n = 625 children (49% girls) with a mean age of 8.9 years. Activation likelihood estimation and seed-based effect size mapping revealed activation peaks in the pars triangularis of the left inferior frontal gyrus and bilateral superior and middle temporal gyri. In contrast to this distribution of activation in children, previous work in adults found activation peaks in the pars opercularis of the left inferior frontal gyrus and more left-lateralized temporal activation peaks. Accordingly, brain responses during language comprehension may shift from bilateral temporal and left pars triangularis peaks in childhood to left temporal and pars opercularis peaks in adulthood. This shift could be related to the gradually increasing sensitivity of the developing brain to syntactic information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Enge
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103, Leipzig, Germany; Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 12489, Berlin, Germany
| | - Angela D Friederici
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Michael A Skeide
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
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23
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Zheng W, Wang Y, Wang X. The Effect of Salience on Chinese Pun Comprehension: A Visual World Paradigm Study. Front Psychol 2020; 11:116. [PMID: 32116922 PMCID: PMC7011777 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2019] [Accepted: 01/15/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The present study adopted the printed-word visual world paradigm to investigate the salience effect on Chinese pun comprehension. In such an experiment, participants listen to a spoken sentence while looking at a visual display of four printed words (including a semantic competitor, a phonological competitor, and two unrelated distractors). Previous studies based on alphabetic languages have found robust phonological effects (participants fixated more at phonological competitors than distractors during the unfolding of the spoken target words), while controversy remains regarding the existence of a similar semantic effect. A recent Chinese study reported reliable semantic effects in two experiments using this paradigm, suggesting that Chinese participants could actively map the semantic input from the auditory modality with the semantic information retrieved from printed words. In light of their study, we designed an experiment with two conditions: a replication condition to test the validity of using the printed-word world paradigm in Chinese semantic research, and a pun condition to assess the role played by salience during pun comprehension. Indeed, global analyses have revealed robust semantic effects in both experimental conditions, where participants were found more attracted to the semantic competitors than to the distractors with the emergence of target words. More importantly, the local analyses from the pun condition have shown that the participants were more attracted to the semantic competitors related to the salient meaning of the ambiguous word in a pun than to those related to the less salient meanings within 200 ms after target word offset. This finding suggests that the salient meaning of the ambiguous word in a pun is activated and assessed faster than its less salient counterpart. The initial advantage observed in the present study is consistent with the prediction of the graded salience hypothesis rather than the direct access model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Zheng
- School of International Studies, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yizhen Wang
- School of International Studies, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xiaolu Wang
- School of International Studies, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
- School of Foreign Language Studies, Ningbo Institute of Technology, Zhejiang University, Ningbo, China
- School of Humanities and Communication Arts, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia
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24
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Lytle MN, McNorgan C, Booth JR. A longitudinal neuroimaging dataset on multisensory lexical processing in school-aged children. Sci Data 2019; 6:329. [PMID: 31862878 PMCID: PMC6925263 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-019-0338-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2019] [Accepted: 11/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Here we describe the open access dataset entitled “Longitudinal Brain Correlates of Multisensory Lexical Processing in Children” hosted on OpenNeuro.org. This dataset examines reading development through a longitudinal multimodal neuroimaging and behavioral approach, including diffusion-weighted and T1-weighted structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), task based functional MRI, and a battery of psycho-educational assessments and parental questionnaires. Neuroimaging, psycho-educational testing, and functional task behavioral data were collected from 188 typically developing children when they were approximately 10.5 years old (session T1). Seventy children returned approximately 2.5 years later (session T2), of which all completed longitudinal follow-ups of psycho-educational testing, and 49 completed neuroimaging and functional tasks. At session T1 participants completed auditory, visual, and audio-visual word and pseudo-word rhyming judgment tasks in the scanner. At session T2 participants completed visual word and pseudo-word rhyming judgement tasks in the scanner. Measurement(s) | reading and spelling ability • intelligence • brain • brain physiology trait | Technology Type(s) | psychoeducational test administration • magnetic resonance imaging • functional magnetic resonance imaging • Diffusion Weighted Imaging | Factor Type(s) | age • reading disability • type of task • parental educational level | Sample Characteristic - Organism | Homo sapiens |
Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data: 10.6084/m9.figshare.11298188
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Affiliation(s)
- Marisa N Lytle
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
| | - Chris McNorgan
- Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, USA
| | - James R Booth
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
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Ip KI, Marks RA, Hsu LSJ, Desai N, Kuan JL, Tardif T, Kovelman L. Morphological processing in Chinese engages left temporal regions. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2019; 199:104696. [PMID: 31655417 PMCID: PMC6876548 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2019.104696] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2017] [Revised: 06/28/2019] [Accepted: 09/12/2019] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Morphological awareness, the ability to manipulate the smallest units of meaning, is critical for Chinese literacy. This is because Chinese characters typically reflect the morphemic, or morpho-syllabic units of language. Yet, the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying Chinese speakers' morphological processing remain understudied. Proficient readers (N = 14) completed morphological and phonological judgment tasks in Chinese, in both auditory and visual modalities, during fMRI imaging. Key to our inquiry were patterns of activation in left temporal regions, especially the superior temporal gyrus, which is critical for phonological processing and reading success. The findings revealed that morphological tasks elicited robust activation in superior and middle temporal regions commonly associated with automated phonological and lexico-semantic analyses. In contrast, the rhyme judgment task elicited greater activation in left frontal lobe regions, reflecting the analytical complexity of sound-to-print mapping in Chinese. The findings suggest that left temporal regions are sensitive to salient morpho-syllabic characteristics of a given language.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ka I Ip
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States
| | - Rebecca A Marks
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States
| | - Lucy Shih-Ju Hsu
- Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
| | - Nikita Desai
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States
| | - Ji Ling Kuan
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States
| | - Twila Tardif
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States
| | - Loulia Kovelman
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States; Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, 300 North Ingalls, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States.
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Łuniewska M, Chyl K, Dębska A, Banaszkiewicz A, Żelechowska A, Marchewka A, Grabowska A, Jednoróg K. Children With Dyslexia and Familial Risk for Dyslexia Present Atypical Development of the Neuronal Phonological Network. Front Neurosci 2019; 13:1287. [PMID: 31849595 PMCID: PMC6895138 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2019.01287] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2019] [Accepted: 11/13/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Learning to read changes the brain language system. Phonological processing is the language domain most crucial for reading, but it is still unknown how reading acquisition modifies the neural phonological network in children who either develop dyslexia or are at risk of dyslexia. For the two first years of formal education, we followed 90 beginning readers with (n = 55) and without (n = 35) familial risk of dyslexia who became typical readers (n = 70) or developed dyslexia (n = 20). We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify the neural correlates of phonological awareness using an auditory rhyme judgment task. This task was applied when participants were starting formal education, and repeated 2 years later. By applying two alternative group splits, we analyzed the effects of dyslexia and the effects of familial risk of dyslexia separately. We found that the phonological brain network undergoes reorganization during the first 2 years of formal education. This process proceeds differently depending on the presence of a familial history of dyslexia and reading impairment. Typical readers without risk for dyslexia activate structures responsible for phonological processing already at the beginning of literacy. This group shows reduced brain activation over time during phonological processing, perhaps due to automatization of phonological skills. Children who develop reading impairment present a delay in the development of phonological structures such as the bilateral superior temporal gyri, left middle temporal gyrus, right insula and right frontal cortex, where we observed time and group interaction. Finally, typical readers with familial risk of dyslexia also present an atypical development of the neural phonological structures, visible both at the beginning of reading instruction and 2 years later. These children used a presumably efficient neural mechanism of phonological processing, based on the activation of the precentral and postcentral gyri, and achieved a typical level of phonological awareness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Magdalena Łuniewska
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Katarzyna Chyl
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Agnieszka Dębska
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Anna Banaszkiewicz
- Laboratory of Brain Imaging, Neurobiology Center, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Agata Żelechowska
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
- RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Artur Marchewka
- Laboratory of Brain Imaging, Neurobiology Center, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Anna Grabowska
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
- Faculty of Psychology, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Katarzyna Jednoróg
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
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Neergaard KD, Luo J, Huang CR. Phonological network fluency identifies phonological restructuring through mental search. Sci Rep 2019; 9:15984. [PMID: 31690737 PMCID: PMC6831682 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-52433-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2019] [Accepted: 10/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
We investigated network principles underlying mental search through a novel phonological verbal fluency task. Post exclusion, 95 native-language Mandarin speakers produced as many items that differed by a single lexical tone as possible within one minute. Their verbal productions were assessed according to several novel graded fluency measures, and network science measures that accounted for the structure, cohesion and interconnectedness of lexical items. A multivariate regression analysis of our participants' language backgrounds included their mono- or multi-lingual status, English proficiency, and fluency in other Chinese languages/dialects. Higher English proficiency predicted lower error rates and greater interconnectedness, while higher fluency in other Chinese languages/dialects revealed lower successive similarity and lower network coherence. This inverse relationship between English and other Chinese languages/dialects provides evidence of the restructuring of the phonological mental lexicon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karl David Neergaard
- University of Macau, Department of English, Macau S.A.R., China.
- Aix-Marseille University, Laboratoire Parole et Langage, Aix-en-Provence, 13100, France.
| | - Jin Luo
- University of Groningen, Erasmus+ Mundus Joint Master Degree in Clinical Linguistics, 9712, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Chu-Ren Huang
- The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, Hong Kong S.A.R., China
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Chyl K, Dębska A, Łuniewska M, Marchewka A, Kossowski B, Pugh KR, Jednoróg K. Reading Acquisition in Children: Developmental Processes and Dyslexia-Specific Effects. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2019; 58:948-960. [PMID: 30768401 PMCID: PMC6606402 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2018.11.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2018] [Revised: 11/09/2018] [Accepted: 11/30/2018] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Decreased activation to print in the left ventral, dorsal, and anterior pathways has been implicated in readers with dyslexia (DRs) but also is characteristic for typical beginning readers. Because most studies have compared DRs with their age-matched peers, the observed results could represent a dyslexia phenotype or a developmental delay. This study aimed to disentangle reading and dyslexia effects using 2 control groups matched for age and skill and a longitudinal design. METHOD Brain response for print was compared in DRs and typical readers (TRs) who, at the beginning of schooling (time point 1 [TP]; 6-7 years old), read on average 3 words per minute, as did DRs at TP1, but improved their reading to an average level, and advanced readers (ARs) who at TP1 read as well as DRs 2 years later (TP3; 8-9 years old). The TR and DR groups were tracked longitudinally to observe neurodevelopmental changes. RESULTS At TP1, DRs did not differ from TRs. Over time, only TRs developed a neural circuit for reading in the left inferior frontal and fusiform gyri. At TP3, DRs exhibited hypo-activation in these areas compared with age-matched (TRs at TP3) and reading-matched (ARs at TP1) controls. At TP3, TRs showed hypo-activation in the left frontal and bilateral ventral occipital regions compared with ARs, but these effects were nonoverlapping with DR hypo-activations and are partly explained by IQ. CONCLUSION Decreased activation of the left fusiform and inferior frontal gyri to print in DRs results from an atypical developmental trajectory of reading and cannot be explained solely by lower reading skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katarzyna Chyl
- Polish Academy of Sciences, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Agnieszka Dębska
- Polish Academy of Sciences, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Magdalena Łuniewska
- Polish Academy of Sciences, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland., Warsaw University, Poland
| | - Artur Marchewka
- Polish Academy of Sciences, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Bartosz Kossowski
- Polish Academy of Sciences, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Kenneth R. Pugh
- Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT; Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT; and the University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
| | - Katarzyna Jednoróg
- Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
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Reading and spelling skills are differentially related to phonological processing: Behavioral and fMRI study. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2019; 39:100683. [PMID: 31377570 PMCID: PMC6969364 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2019.100683] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2019] [Revised: 07/05/2019] [Accepted: 07/17/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The manuscript reports a study on a large sample (N = 170) of Polish speaking 8-13 year old children, whose brain activation was measured in relation to tasks that require auditory phonological processing. We aimed to relate brain activation to individual differences in reading and spelling. We found that individual proficiency in both reading and spelling significantly correlated with activation of the left ventral occipito-temporal cortex encompassing the Visual Word Form Area which has been implicated in automatic orthographic activations. Reading but not spelling was found to correlate with activation in the left anterior dorsal stream (anterior supramarginal and postcentral gyri). Our results indicate that the level of both reading and spelling is related to activity in areas involved in the storage of fine-grained orthographic representations. However, only the reading level is uniquely related to activity of regions responsible for the articulation, motor planning and grapheme-to-phoneme correspondence, which form the basis for effective decoding skill.
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30
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Romanovska L, Janssen R, Bonte M. Reading-Induced Shifts in Speech Perception in Dyslexic and Typically Reading Children. Front Psychol 2019; 10:221. [PMID: 30792685 PMCID: PMC6374624 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2018] [Accepted: 01/22/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
One of the proposed mechanisms underlying reading difficulties observed in developmental dyslexia is impaired mapping of visual to auditory speech representations. We investigate these mappings in 20 typically reading and 20 children with dyslexia aged 8–10 years using text-based recalibration. In this paradigm, the pairing of visual text and ambiguous speech sounds shifts (recalibrates) the participant’s perception of the ambiguous speech in subsequent auditory-only post-test trials. Recent research in adults demonstrated this text-induced perceptual shift in typical, but not in dyslexic readers. Our current results instead show significant text-induced recalibration in both typically reading children and children with dyslexia. The strength of this effect was significantly linked to the strength of perceptual adaptation effects in children with dyslexia but not typically reading children. Furthermore, additional analyses in a sample of typically reading children of various reading levels revealed a significant link between recalibration and phoneme categorization. Taken together, our study highlights the importance of considering dynamic developmental changes in reading, letter-speech sound coupling and speech perception when investigating group differences between typical and dyslexic readers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linda Romanovska
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Department Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Roef Janssen
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Department Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Milene Bonte
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Department Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
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31
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Weiss Y, Cweigenberg HG, Booth JR. Neural specialization of phonological and semantic processing in young children. Hum Brain Mapp 2018; 39:4334-4348. [PMID: 29956400 PMCID: PMC6261343 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2018] [Revised: 06/04/2018] [Accepted: 06/05/2018] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
This study aimed to examine early specialization of brain regions for phonological and semantic processing of spoken language in young children. Thirty-five typically developing children aged from 5 to 6 years performed auditory phonological (same sound judgment) and semantic (related meaning judgment) word-level tasks. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined specialization within the language network, by conducting three levels of analysis. First, we directly compared activation between tasks and found a greater sound judgment as compared to meaning judgment activation in left superior temporal gyrus (STG) and supramarginal gyrus. In contrast, greater meaning judgment as compared to sound judgment task activation was found in left middle temporal gyrus (MTG). Second, we examined the brain-behavior correlations and found that phonological skill was correlated with the task difference in activation in left superior temporal sulcus, whereas semantic skill was correlated with the task difference in activation in left MTG. Third, we compared between two experimental conditions within each task and found a parametric effect in left STG for the sound judgment task, and a parametric effect in left MTG for the meaning judgment task. The results of this study indicate that, by the age of 5-6 years, typically developing children already show some specialization of temporo-parietal brain regions for phonological and semantic processes. However, there were no task differences in the left inferior frontal gyrus suggesting that the frontal cortex may not yet be specialized in this age range, which is consistent with the delayed maturation of the frontal cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yael Weiss
- Department of Psychology, Children's Research CenterUniversity of Texas at AustinAustinTexas
| | - Hannah G. Cweigenberg
- Department of Psychology, Children's Research CenterUniversity of Texas at AustinAustinTexas
| | - James R. Booth
- Department of Psychology and Human DevelopmentVanderbilt UniversityNashvilleTennessee
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32
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Suárez-Pellicioni M, Booth JR. Fluency in symbolic arithmetic refines the approximate number system in parietal cortex. Hum Brain Mapp 2018; 39:3956-3971. [PMID: 30024084 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2018] [Revised: 05/04/2018] [Accepted: 05/09/2018] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate, using a brain measure of approximate number system (ANS) acuity, whether the precision of the ANS is crucial for the development of symbolic numerical abilities (i.e., scaffolding hypothesis) and/or whether the experience with symbolic number processing refines the ANS (i.e., refinement hypothesis). To this aim, 38 children solved a dot comparison task inside the scanner when they were approximately 10-years old (Time 1) and once again approximately 2 years later (Time 2). To study the scaffolding hypothesis, a regression analysis was carried out by entering ANS acuity at T1 as the predictor and symbolic math performance at T2 as the dependent measure. Symbolic math performance, visuospatial WM and full IQ (all at T1) were entered as covariates of no interest. In order to study the refinement hypothesis, the regression analysis included symbolic math performance at T1 as the predictor and ANS acuity at T2 as the dependent measure, while ANS acuity, visuospatial WM and full IQ (all at T1) were entered as covariates of no interest. Our results supported the refinement hypothesis, by finding that the higher the initial level of symbolic math performance, the greater the intraparietal sulcus activation was at T2 (i.e., more precise representation of quantity). To the best of our knowledge, our finding constitutes the first evidence showing that expertise in the manipulation of symbols, which is a cultural invention, has the power to refine the neural representation of quantity in the evolutionarily ancient, approximate system of quantity representation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - James R Booth
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, 37203-5721
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Ip KI, Hsu LSJ, Arredondo MM, Tardif T, Kovelman I. Brain bases of morphological processing in Chinese-English bilingual children. Dev Sci 2017; 20:10.1111/desc.12449. [PMID: 27523024 PMCID: PMC5309206 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2015] [Accepted: 03/30/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Can bilingual exposure impact children's neural circuitry for learning to read? To answer this question, we investigated the brain bases of morphological awareness, one of the key spoken language abilities for learning to read in English and Chinese. Bilingual Chinese-English and monolingual English children (N = 22, ages 7-12) completed morphological tasks that best characterize each of their languages: compound morphology in Chinese (e.g. basket + ball = basketball) and derivational morphology in English (e.g. re + do = redo). In contrast to monolinguals, bilinguals showed greater activation in the left middle temporal region, suggesting that bilingual exposure to Chinese impacts the functionality of brain regions supporting semantic abilities. Similar to monolinguals, bilinguals showed greater activation in the left inferior frontal region [BA 45] in English than Chinese, suggesting that young bilinguals form language-specific neural representations. The findings offer new insights to inform bilingual and cross-linguistic models of language and literacy acquisition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ka I Ip
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor MI, 48109
| | - Lucy Shih-Ju Hsu
- Department of Psychology, University of Hong Kong, Centennial Campus, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong
| | - Maria M. Arredondo
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor MI, 48109
| | - Twila Tardif
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor MI, 48109
- Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, 300 North Ingalls, Ann Arbor MI, 48109
| | - Ioulia Kovelman
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor MI, 48109
- Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, 300 North Ingalls, Ann Arbor MI, 48109
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Reading-induced shifts of perceptual speech representations in auditory cortex. Sci Rep 2017; 7:5143. [PMID: 28698606 PMCID: PMC5506038 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-05356-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2017] [Accepted: 05/30/2017] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Learning to read requires the formation of efficient neural associations between written and spoken language. Whether these associations influence the auditory cortical representation of speech remains unknown. Here we address this question by combining multivariate functional MRI analysis and a newly-developed ‘text-based recalibration’ paradigm. In this paradigm, the pairing of visual text and ambiguous speech sounds shifts (i.e. recalibrates) the perceptual interpretation of the ambiguous sounds in subsequent auditory-only trials. We show that it is possible to retrieve the text-induced perceptual interpretation from fMRI activity patterns in the posterior superior temporal cortex. Furthermore, this auditory cortical region showed significant functional connectivity with the inferior parietal lobe (IPL) during the pairing of text with ambiguous speech. Our findings indicate that reading-related audiovisual mappings can adjust the auditory cortical representation of speech in typically reading adults. Additionally, they suggest the involvement of the IPL in audiovisual and/or higher-order perceptual processes leading to this adjustment. When applied in typical and dyslexic readers of different ages, our text-based recalibration paradigm may reveal relevant aspects of perceptual learning and plasticity during successful and failing reading development.
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35
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Li Y, Zhang L, Xia Z, Yang J, Shu H, Li P. The Relationship between Intrinsic Couplings of the Visual Word Form Area with Spoken Language Network and Reading Ability in Children and Adults. Front Hum Neurosci 2017; 11:327. [PMID: 28690507 PMCID: PMC5481365 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00327] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2017] [Accepted: 06/06/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Reading plays a key role in education and communication in modern society. Learning to read establishes the connections between the visual word form area (VWFA) and language areas responsible for speech processing. Using resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) and Granger Causality Analysis (GCA) methods, the current developmental study aimed to identify the difference in the relationship between the connections of VWFA-language areas and reading performance in both adults and children. The results showed that: (1) the spontaneous connectivity between VWFA and the spoken language areas, i.e., the left inferior frontal gyrus/supramarginal gyrus (LIFG/LSMG), was stronger in adults compared with children; (2) the spontaneous functional patterns of connectivity between VWFA and language network were negatively correlated with reading ability in adults but not in children; (3) the causal influence from LIFG to VWFA was negatively correlated with reading ability only in adults but not in children; (4) the RSFCs between left posterior middle frontal gyrus (LpMFG) and VWFA/LIFG were positively correlated with reading ability in both adults and children; and (5) the causal influence from LIFG to LSMG was positively correlated with reading ability in both groups. These findings provide insights into the relationship between VWFA and the language network for reading, and the role of the unique features of Chinese in the neural circuits of reading.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Li
- National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal UniversityBeijing, China.,Department of Cognitive Science and ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Macquarie UniversitySydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Linjun Zhang
- Faculty of Linguistic Sciences and KIT-BLCU MEG Laboratory for Brain Science, Beijing Language and Culture UniversityBeijing, China
| | - Zhichao Xia
- National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal UniversityBeijing, China
| | - Jie Yang
- Department of Cognitive Science and ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Macquarie UniversitySydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Hua Shu
- National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal UniversityBeijing, China
| | - Ping Li
- Department of Psychology and Center for Brain, Behavior and Cognition, Pennsylvania State University University Park, PA, United States
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36
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Cao F, Sussman BL, Rios V, Yan X, Wang Z, Spray GJ, Mack RM. Different mechanisms in learning different second languages: Evidence from English speakers learning Chinese and Spanish. Neuroimage 2017; 148:284-295. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.01.042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2016] [Revised: 01/08/2017] [Accepted: 01/17/2017] [Indexed: 10/20/2022] Open
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37
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Fraga González G, Žarić G, Tijms J, Bonte M, van der Molen MW. Contributions of Letter-Speech Sound Learning and Visual Print Tuning to Reading Improvement: Evidence from Brain Potential and Dyslexia Training Studies. Brain Sci 2017; 7:E10. [PMID: 28106790 PMCID: PMC5297299 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci7010010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2016] [Revised: 12/20/2016] [Accepted: 01/09/2017] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
We use a neurocognitive perspective to discuss the contribution of learning letter-speech sound (L-SS) associations and visual specialization in the initial phases of reading in dyslexic children. We review findings from associative learning studies on related cognitive skills important for establishing and consolidating L-SS associations. Then we review brain potential studies, including our own, that yielded two markers associated with reading fluency. Here we show that the marker related to visual specialization (N170) predicts word and pseudoword reading fluency in children who received additional practice in the processing of morphological word structure. Conversely, L-SS integration (indexed by mismatch negativity (MMN)) may only remain important when direct orthography to semantic conversion is not possible, such as in pseudoword reading. In addition, the correlation between these two markers supports the notion that multisensory integration facilitates visual specialization. Finally, we review the role of implicit learning and executive functions in audiovisual learning in dyslexia. Implications for remedial research are discussed and suggestions for future studies are presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gorka Fraga González
- Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1018 WS, The Netherlands.
- Rudolf Berlin Center, Amsterdam 1018 WS, The Netherlands.
| | - Gojko Žarić
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht 6200 MD, The Netherlands.
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Maastricht University, Maastricht 6200 MD, The Netherlands.
| | - Jurgen Tijms
- Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1018 WS, The Netherlands.
- Rudolf Berlin Center, Amsterdam 1018 WS, The Netherlands.
- IWAL Institute, Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1001 EW, The Netherlands.
| | - Milene Bonte
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht 6200 MD, The Netherlands.
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Maastricht University, Maastricht 6200 MD, The Netherlands.
| | - Maurits W van der Molen
- Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1018 WS, The Netherlands.
- Amsterdam Brain and Cognition, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1018 WT, The Netherlands.
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38
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I Karipidis I, Pleisch G, Röthlisberger M, Hofstetter C, Dornbierer D, Stämpfli P, Brem S. Neural initialization of audiovisual integration in prereaders at varying risk for developmental dyslexia. Hum Brain Mapp 2016; 38:1038-1055. [PMID: 27739608 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2016] [Revised: 09/12/2016] [Accepted: 10/04/2016] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Learning letter-speech sound correspondences is a major step in reading acquisition and is severely impaired in children with dyslexia. Up to now, it remains largely unknown how quickly neural networks adopt specific functions during audiovisual integration of linguistic information when prereading children learn letter-speech sound correspondences. Here, we simulated the process of learning letter-speech sound correspondences in 20 prereading children (6.13-7.17 years) at varying risk for dyslexia by training artificial letter-speech sound correspondences within a single experimental session. Subsequently, we acquired simultaneously event-related potentials (ERP) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans during implicit audiovisual presentation of trained and untrained pairs. Audiovisual integration of trained pairs correlated with individual learning rates in right superior temporal, left inferior temporal, and bilateral parietal areas and with phonological awareness in left temporal areas. In correspondence, a differential left-lateralized parietooccipitotemporal ERP at 400 ms for trained pairs correlated with learning achievement and familial risk. Finally, a late (650 ms) posterior negativity indicating audiovisual congruency of trained pairs was associated with increased fMRI activation in the left occipital cortex. Taken together, a short (<30 min) letter-speech sound training initializes audiovisual integration in neural systems that are responsible for processing linguistic information in proficient readers. To conclude, the ability to learn grapheme-phoneme correspondences, the familial history of reading disability, and phonological awareness of prereading children account for the degree of audiovisual integration in a distributed brain network. Such findings on emerging linguistic audiovisual integration could allow for distinguishing between children with typical and atypical reading development. Hum Brain Mapp 38:1038-1055, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iliana I Karipidis
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Switzerland.,University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Neuroscience Center Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Georgette Pleisch
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Switzerland.,University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Neuroscience Center Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Martina Röthlisberger
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Christoph Hofstetter
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Dario Dornbierer
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Philipp Stämpfli
- MR-Center of the University Hospital for Psychiatry, University of Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Silvia Brem
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Switzerland.,University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Neuroscience Center Zurich, Switzerland
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39
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Krafnick AJ, Tan LH, Flowers DL, Luetje MM, Napoliello EM, Siok WT, Perfetti C, Eden GF. Chinese Character and English Word processing in children's ventral occipitotemporal cortex: fMRI evidence for script invariance. Neuroimage 2016; 133:302-312. [PMID: 27012502 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.03.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2015] [Revised: 03/09/2016] [Accepted: 03/10/2016] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Learning to read is thought to involve the recruitment of left hemisphere ventral occipitotemporal cortex (OTC) by a process of "neuronal recycling", whereby object processing mechanisms are co-opted for reading. Under the same theoretical framework, it has been proposed that the visual word form area (VWFA) within OTC processes orthographic stimuli independent of culture and writing systems, suggesting that it is universally involved in written language. However, this "script invariance" has yet to be demonstrated in monolingual readers of two different writing systems studied under the same experimental conditions. Here, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we examined activity in response to English Words and Chinese Characters in 1st graders in the United States and China, respectively. We examined each group separately and found the readers of English as well as the readers of Chinese to activate the left ventral OTC for their respective native writing systems (using both a whole-brain and a bilateral OTC-restricted analysis). Critically, a conjunction analysis of the two groups revealed significant overlap between them for native writing system processing, located in the VWFA and therefore supporting the hypothesis of script invariance. In the second part of the study, we further examined the left OTC region responsive to each group's native writing system and found that it responded equally to Object stimuli (line drawings) in the Chinese-reading children. In English-reading children, the OTC responded much more to Objects than to English Words. Together, these results support the script invariant role of the VWFA and also support the idea that the areas recruited for character or word processing are rooted in object processing mechanisms of the left OTC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony J Krafnick
- Center for the Study of Learning, Georgetown University Medical Center, 4000 Reservoir Road, Building D Suite 150, Washington, DC 20057, USA.
| | - Li-Hai Tan
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Room 409, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Building for Interdisciplinary Research, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
| | - D Lynn Flowers
- Center for the Study of Learning, Georgetown University Medical Center, 4000 Reservoir Road, Building D Suite 150, Washington, DC 20057, USA.
| | - Megan M Luetje
- Center for the Study of Learning, Georgetown University Medical Center, 4000 Reservoir Road, Building D Suite 150, Washington, DC 20057, USA.
| | - Eileen M Napoliello
- Center for the Study of Learning, Georgetown University Medical Center, 4000 Reservoir Road, Building D Suite 150, Washington, DC 20057, USA.
| | - Wai-Ting Siok
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Room 409, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Building for Interdisciplinary Research, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
| | - Charles Perfetti
- University of Pittsburgh, Learning Research and Development Center, 3939 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.
| | - Guinevere F Eden
- Center for the Study of Learning, Georgetown University Medical Center, 4000 Reservoir Road, Building D Suite 150, Washington, DC 20057, USA.
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40
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Bonte M, Ley A, Scharke W, Formisano E. Developmental refinement of cortical systems for speech and voice processing. Neuroimage 2016; 128:373-384. [PMID: 26777479 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.01.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2015] [Revised: 12/15/2015] [Accepted: 01/06/2016] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Milene Bonte
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience and Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
| | - Anke Ley
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience and Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Wolfgang Scharke
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience and Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Elia Formisano
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience and Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands
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41
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Cao F, Brennan C, Booth JR. The brain adapts to orthography with experience: evidence from English and Chinese. Dev Sci 2015; 18:785-98. [PMID: 25444089 PMCID: PMC4934123 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2014] [Accepted: 08/05/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we examined the process of language specialization in the brain by comparing developmental changes in two contrastive orthographies: Chinese and English. In a visual word rhyming judgment task, we found a significant interaction between age and language in left inferior parietal lobule and left superior temporal gyrus, which was due to greater developmental increases in English than in Chinese. Moreover, we found that higher skill only in English children was correlated with greater activation in left inferior parietal lobule. These findings suggest that the regions associated with phonological processing are essential in English reading development. We also found greater developmental increases in English than in Chinese in left inferior temporal gyrus, suggesting refinement of this region for fine-grained word form recognition. In contrast, greater developmental increases in Chinese than in English were found in right middle occipital gyrus, suggesting the importance of holistic visual-orthographic analysis in Chinese reading acquisition. Our results suggest that the brain adapts to the special features of the orthography by engaging relevant brain regions to a greater degree over development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fan Cao
- Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Christine Brennan
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
| | - James R. Booth
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
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42
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Arredondo MM, Ip KI, Shih Ju Hsu L, Tardif T, Kovelman I. Brain bases of morphological processing in young children. Hum Brain Mapp 2015; 36:2890-2900. [PMID: 25930011 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.22815/full] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2014] [Revised: 04/07/2015] [Accepted: 04/08/2015] [Indexed: 05/20/2023] Open
Abstract
How does the developing brain support the transition from spoken language to print? Two spoken language abilities form the initial base of child literacy across languages: knowledge of language sounds (phonology) and knowledge of the smallest units that carry meaning (morphology). While phonology has received much attention from the field, the brain mechanisms that support morphological competence for learning to read remain largely unknown. In the present study, young English-speaking children completed an auditory morphological awareness task behaviorally (n = 69, ages 6-12) and in fMRI (n = 16). The data revealed two findings: First, children with better morphological abilities showed greater activation in left temporoparietal regions previously thought to be important for supporting phonological reading skills, suggesting that this region supports multiple language abilities for successful reading acquisition. Second, children showed activation in left frontal regions previously found active in young Chinese readers, suggesting morphological processes for reading acquisition might be similar across languages. These findings offer new insights for developing a comprehensive model of how spoken language abilities support children's reading acquisition across languages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria M Arredondo
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Ka I Ip
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Lucy Shih Ju Hsu
- Department of Psychology, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
| | - Twila Tardif
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
- Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Ioulia Kovelman
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
- Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
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43
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Arredondo MM, Ip KI, Shih Ju Hsu L, Tardif T, Kovelman I. Brain bases of morphological processing in young children. Hum Brain Mapp 2015; 36:2890-900. [PMID: 25930011 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.22815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2014] [Revised: 04/07/2015] [Accepted: 04/08/2015] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
How does the developing brain support the transition from spoken language to print? Two spoken language abilities form the initial base of child literacy across languages: knowledge of language sounds (phonology) and knowledge of the smallest units that carry meaning (morphology). While phonology has received much attention from the field, the brain mechanisms that support morphological competence for learning to read remain largely unknown. In the present study, young English-speaking children completed an auditory morphological awareness task behaviorally (n = 69, ages 6-12) and in fMRI (n = 16). The data revealed two findings: First, children with better morphological abilities showed greater activation in left temporoparietal regions previously thought to be important for supporting phonological reading skills, suggesting that this region supports multiple language abilities for successful reading acquisition. Second, children showed activation in left frontal regions previously found active in young Chinese readers, suggesting morphological processes for reading acquisition might be similar across languages. These findings offer new insights for developing a comprehensive model of how spoken language abilities support children's reading acquisition across languages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria M Arredondo
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Ka I Ip
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Lucy Shih Ju Hsu
- Department of Psychology, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
| | - Twila Tardif
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
- Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Ioulia Kovelman
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
- Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
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44
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Dehaene S, Cohen L, Morais J, Kolinsky R. Illiterate to literate: behavioural and cerebral changes induced by reading acquisition. Nat Rev Neurosci 2015; 16:234-44. [PMID: 25783611 DOI: 10.1038/nrn3924] [Citation(s) in RCA: 310] [Impact Index Per Article: 34.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
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45
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Smith AC, Monaghan P, Huettig F. Literacy effects on language and vision: Emergent effects from an amodal shared resource (ASR) computational model. Cogn Psychol 2014; 75:28-54. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cogpsych.2014.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2014] [Revised: 07/21/2014] [Accepted: 07/24/2014] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
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46
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Schild U, Becker ABC, Friedrich CK. Processing of syllable stress is functionally different from phoneme processing and does not profit from literacy acquisition. Front Psychol 2014; 5:530. [PMID: 24917838 PMCID: PMC4042081 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2013] [Accepted: 05/13/2014] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Speech is characterized by phonemes and prosody. Neurocognitive evidence supports the separate processing of each type of information. Therefore, one might suggest individual development of both pathways. In this study, we examine literacy acquisition in middle childhood. Children become aware of the phonemes in speech at that time and refine phoneme processing when they acquire an alphabetic writing system. We test whether an enhanced sensitivity to phonemes in middle childhood extends to other aspects of the speech signal, such as prosody. To investigate prosodic processing, we used stress priming. Spoken stressed and unstressed syllables (primes) preceded spoken German words with stress on the first syllable (targets). We orthogonally varied stress overlap and phoneme overlap between the primes and onsets of the targets. Lexical decisions and Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) for the targets were obtained for pre-reading preschoolers, reading pupils and adults. The behavioral and ERP results were largely comparable across all groups. The fastest responses were observed when the first syllable of the target word shared stress and phonemes with the preceding prime. ERP stress priming and ERP phoneme priming started 200 ms after the target word onset. Bilateral ERP stress priming was characterized by enhanced ERP amplitudes for stress overlap. Left-lateralized ERP phoneme priming replicates previously observed reduced ERP amplitudes for phoneme overlap. Groups differed in the strength of the behavioral phoneme priming and in the late ERP phoneme priming effect. The present results show that enhanced phonological processing in middle childhood is restricted to phonemes and does not extend to prosody. These results are indicative of two parallel processing systems for phonemes and prosody that might follow different developmental trajectories in middle childhood as a function of alphabetic literacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ulrike Schild
- Developmental Psychology, University of Tübingen Tübingen, Germany
| | - Angelika B C Becker
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg Hamburg, Germany
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47
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van Atteveldt N, Ansari D. How symbols transform brain function: A review in memory of Leo Blomert. Trends Neurosci Educ 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tine.2014.04.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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48
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Richlan F. Functional neuroanatomy of developmental dyslexia: the role of orthographic depth. Front Hum Neurosci 2014; 8:347. [PMID: 24904383 PMCID: PMC4033006 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2014] [Accepted: 05/08/2014] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Orthographic depth (OD) (i.e., the complexity, consistency, or transparency of grapheme-phoneme correspondences in written alphabetic language) plays an important role in the acquisition of reading skills. Correspondingly, developmental dyslexia is characterized by different behavioral manifestations across languages varying in OD. This review focuses on the question of whether these different behavioral manifestations are associated with different functional neuroanatomical manifestations. It provides a review and critique of cross-linguistic brain imaging studies of developmental dyslexia. In addition, it includes an analysis of state-of-the-art functional neuroanatomical models of developmental dyslexia together with orthography-specific predictions derived from these models. These predictions should be tested in future brain imaging studies of typical and atypical reading in order to refine the current neurobiological understanding of developmental dyslexia, especially with respect to orthography-specific and universal aspects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabio Richlan
- Centre for Neurocognitive Research and Department of Psychology, University of SalzburgSalzburg, Austria
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