Neural correlates of phonological processing: Disrupted in children with dyslexia and enhanced in musically trained children

Development strategy of early childhood music education industry: An IFS-AHP-SWOT analysis based on dynamic social network

Early childhood music education has garnered recognition for its unique contribution to cognitive, emotional, and social development in children. Nevertheless, the industry grapples with numerous challenges, including a struggle to adapt traditional educational paradigms to new curriculum reforms, and an excessive emphasis on skill training at the expense of nurturing a love for music and aesthetics in children. To navigate these challenges and explore growth strategies for the early childhood music education industry, we initiated a comprehensive approach that involved distributing surveys to practitioners and parents and engaging experts for insightful discussions. Consequently, we proposed an analytical method based on dynamic social networks in conjunction with Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets (IFS), Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), and Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis, collectively referred to as IFS-AHP-SWOT. This integrated methodology synergizes the capabilities of dynamic social networks, IFS, AHP, and SWOT analysis to offer a nuanced perspective on industry development strategies. The findings underscore that institutions within the early childhood music education industry need to adopt a development strategy that leverages their strengths and opportunities to foster sustainable growth. Ultimately, this research aims to provide critical decision-making support for industry practitioners, policymakers, and researchers, contributing significantly to the ongoing discourse on strategic development in the early childhood music education industry.

Do developmental dyslexia and congenital amusia share underlying impairments?

Developmental dyslexia and congenital amusia have common characteristics. Yet, their possible association in some individuals has been addressed only scarcely. Recently, two converging studies reported a sizable comorbidity rate between these two neurodevelopmental disorders (Couvignou et al., Cognitive Neuropsychology 2019; Couvignou & Kolinsky, Neuropsychologia 2021). However, the reason for their association remains unclear. Here, we investigate the hypothesis of shared underlying impairments between dyslexia and amusia. Fifteen dyslexic children with amusia (DYS+A), 15 dyslexic children without amusia (DYS-A), and two groups of 25 typically developing children matched on either chronological age (CA) or reading level (RL) were assessed with a behavioral battery aiming to investigate phonological and pitch processing capacities at auditory memory, perceptual awareness, and attentional levels. Overall, our results suggest that poor auditory serial-order memory increases susceptibility to comorbidity between dyslexia and amusia and may play a role in the development of the comorbid phenotype. In contrast, the impairments observed in the DYS+A children for auditory item memory, perceptual awareness, and attention might be a consequence of their reduced reading experience combined with weaker musical skills. Comparing DYS+A and DYS-A children suggests that the latter are more resourceful and/or have more effective compensatory strategies, or that their phenotype results from a different developmental trajectory. We will discuss the relevance of these findings for delving into the etiology of these two developmental disorders and address their implications for future research and practice.

The effect of non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation on memory recall in reading: A pilot study

Expert reading acquisition is marked by fluent, effortless decoding, and adequate comprehension skills and is required for modern daily life. In spite of its importance, many individuals struggle with reading comprehension even when decoding skills are adequate. Unfortunately, effective reading comprehension interventions are limited, especially for adults. A growing body of research suggests that non-invasive transcutaneous stimulation of the auricular vagus nerve (taVNS) may drive neural plasticity for low-level reading skills such as speech sound perception and letter-sound learning, but it is unknown whether taVNS can improve higher level skills as well. Thus, the current pilot study was designed to evaluate the effect of taVNS paired with passage reading on reading comprehension performance. Twenty-four typically developing young adults were recruited and screened for baseline reading and working memory skills. Participants received either sham or active taVNS while reading short passages out loud. Immediately following each passage, participants answered a series of test questions that required either direct recall of passage details or more complete comprehension of the passage content. While taVNS did not improve the mechanics of reading (e.g., reading rate or accuracy), there was a significant effect of active taVNS on test performance. This effect was driven by significant improvement on accuracy for memory questions while there was no effect of taVNS on comprehension question accuracy. These findings suggest that taVNS may be beneficial for enhancing memory, but its efficacy may be limited in higher cognitive domains.

Dyslexia with and without Irlen syndrome: A study of influence on abilities and brain-derived neurotrophic factor level

The presence of comorbid Irlen syndrome (IS) in children with developmental dyslexia (DD) may have an impact on their reading and cognitive abilities. Furthermore, the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) was reported to be expressed in brain areas involved in cognitive and visual processing. The aim of this study was to evaluate some cognitive abilities of a group of dyslexic children with IS and to measure and compare the plasma BDNF level to dyslexic children without IS and neurotypical (NT) children. The participants were 60 children with DD (30 in the DD + IS group; 30 in the DD group) and 30 NT children. The Irlen reading perceptual scale, the Stanford Binet intelligence scale, 4th ed, the dyslexia assessment test, and the Illinois test of psycholinguistic abilities were used. The BDNF level was measured using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. One-minute writing and visual closure deficits were more prevalent, while phonemic segmentation deficits were less prevalent in the DD + IS group compared to the DD group. The BDNF level in the DD groups was lower than that in NT children (p < 0.001). Some reading and non-reading tasks were influenced by the presence of a coexisting IS. The reduced BDNF level could play a role in the deficits noticed in the abilities of children with DD.

Neural representation of phonological information during Chinese character reading

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.

Distinctive neural correlates of phonological and reading impairment in fetal alcohol-exposed adolescents with and without facial dysmorphology

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) has been linked to atypical brain and cognitive development, including poor academic performance in reading. This study utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging to characterize functional and structural mechanisms mediating reading deficits in 26 adolescents with PAE-related facial dysmorphology (fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)/partial FAS (PFAS)), 29 heavily-exposed (HE) non-syndromal adolescents, in comparison with 19 typically developing controls. The FAS/PFAS and HE groups were balanced in terms of levels of PAE and reading (dis)ability. While neural alterations in the posterior association cortices were evident in both PAE groups, distinctive neural correlates of reading (dis)abilities were observed between adolescents with and without facial dysmorphology. Specifically, compared to the HE and control groups, the syndromal adolescents showed greater activation in the right precentral gyrus during phonological processing and rightward lateralization in an important reading-related tract (inferior longitudinal fasciculus, ILF), suggesting an atypical reliance on the right hemisphere. By contrast, in the HE, better reading skills were positively correlated with neural activation in the left angular gyrus and white matter organization of the left ILF, although the brain function-behavior relation was weaker than among the controls, suggesting less efficient function of the typical reading network. Our findings provide converging evidence at both the neural functional and structural levels for distinctive brain mechanisms underlying atypical reading and phonological processing in PAE adolescents with and without facial dysmorphology.

Speech perception in noise in children with dyslexia: Does speech sound disorder matter?

The aim of this observational cohort study with a control group is to compare consonant perception skills in quiet and in noise in children with typical language and learning development and in children with dyslexia, with and without Speech Sound Disorder (SSD). Three groups were included: A control group of twenty children with normal reading abilities and typical language development, twelve children with dyslexia and typical language development and thirteen children with dyslexia and SSD. All subjects received a consonant recognition test in three different listening conditions (quiet, + 10 and 0 Signal-to-Noise Ratio). In all test conditions, children with dyslexia and SSD had significantly lower consonant recognition scores than the control group and the children with dyslexia and typical language development (p < .0001). The poorer performances observed in children with dyslexia and SSD may be explained by impaired phonological processing underlying both conditions.

Categorical perception and influence of attention on neural consistency in response to speech sounds in adults with dyslexia

Developmental dyslexia is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that is associated with alterations in the behavioral and neural processing of speech sounds, but the scope and nature of that association is uncertain. It has been proposed that more variable auditory processing could underlie some of the core deficits in this disorder. In the current study, magnetoencephalography (MEG) data were acquired from adults with and without dyslexia while they passively listened to or actively categorized tokens from a /ba/-/da/ consonant continuum. We observed no significant group difference in active categorical perception of this continuum in either of our two behavioral assessments. During passive listening, adults with dyslexia exhibited neural responses that were as consistent as those of typically reading adults in six cortical regions associated with auditory perception, language, and reading. However, they exhibited significantly less consistency in the left supramarginal gyrus, where greater inconsistency correlated significantly with worse decoding skills in the group with dyslexia. The group difference in the left supramarginal gyrus was evident only when neural data were binned with a high temporal resolution and was only significant during the passive condition. Interestingly, consistency significantly improved in both groups during active categorization versus passive listening. These findings suggest that adults with dyslexia exhibit typical levels of neural consistency in response to speech sounds with the exception of the left supramarginal gyrus and that this consistency increases during active versus passive perception of speech sounds similarly in the two groups.

Orthographic depth and developmental dyslexia: a meta-analytic study

Cross-cultural studies have suggested that reading deficits in developmental dyslexia (DD) can be moderated by orthographic depth. To further explore this issue and assess the moderating role of orthographic depth in the developmental cognitive trajectories of dyslexic and typical readers, we systematically reviewed 113 studies on DD that were published from 2013 to 2018 and selected 79 in which participants received an official DD diagnosis. Each study was classified according to orthographic depth (deep vs. shallow) and participant age (children vs. adults). We assessed the difference between DD and control groups' performance in reading tasks and in a wide range of cognitive domains associated with reading (phonological awareness (PA), rapid automatized naming (RAN), short-term working memory (WM), and nonverbal reasoning), including age and orthographies as moderators. We found an age-by-orthography interaction effect in word reading accuracy and a significant effect of age in pseudoword reading accuracy, but we found no effect of age and orthographic depth on the fluency parameters. These results suggest that reading speed is a reliable index for discriminating between DD and control groups across European orthographies from childhood to adulthood. A similar pattern of results emerged for PA, RAN, and short-term/WM. Our findings are discussed in relation to their impact on clinical practice while considering the orthographic depth and developmental level.

Convergent and divergent brain structural and functional abnormalities associated with developmental dyslexia

Brain abnormalities in the reading network have been repeatedly reported in individuals with developmental dyslexia (DD); however, it is still not totally understood where the structural and functional abnormalities are consistent/inconsistent across languages. In the current multimodal meta-analysis, we found convergent structural and functional alterations in the left superior temporal gyrus across languages, suggesting a neural signature of DD. We found greater reduction in grey matter volume and brain activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus in morpho-syllabic languages (e.g. Chinese) than in alphabetic languages, and greater reduction in brain activation in the left middle temporal gyrus and fusiform gyrus in alphabetic languages than in morpho-syllabic languages. These language differences are explained as consequences of being DD while learning a specific language. In addition, we also found brain regions that showed increased grey matter volume and brain activation, presumably suggesting compensations and brain regions that showed inconsistent alterations in brain structure and function. Our study provides important insights about the etiology of DD from a cross-linguistic perspective with considerations of consistency/inconsistency between structural and functional alterations.

The Neurological Basis of Developmental Dyslexia and Related Disorders: A Reappraisal of the Temporal Hypothesis, Twenty Years on

In a now-classic article published a couple of decades ago (Brain, 2000; 123: 2373-2399), I proposed an "extended temporal processing deficit hypothesis of dyslexia", suggesting that a deficit in temporal processing could explain not only language-related peculiarities usually noticed in dyslexic children, but also a wider range of symptoms related to impaired processing of time in general. In the present review paper, I will revisit this "historical" hypothesis both in the light of a new clinical perspective, including the central yet poorly explained notion of comorbidity, and also taking a new look at the most recent experimental work, mainly focusing on brain imaging data. First, consistent with daily clinical practice, I propose to distinguish three groups of children who fail to learn to read, of fairly equal occurrence, who share the same initial presentation (difficulty in mastering the rules of grapheme-phoneme correspondence) but with differing associated signs and/or comorbid conditions (language disorders in the first group, attentional deficits in the second one, and motor coordination problems in the last one), thus suggesting, at least in part, potentially different triggering mechanisms. It is then suggested, in the light of brain imaging information available to date, that the three main clinical presentations/associations of cognitive impairments that compromise reading skills acquisition correspond to three distinct patterns of miswiring or "disconnectivity" in specific brain networks which have in common their involvement in the process of learning and their heavy reliance on temporal features of information processing. With reference to the classic temporal processing deficit of dyslexia and to recent evidence of an inability of the dyslexic brain to achieve adequate coupling of oscillatory brain activity to the temporal features of external events, a general model is proposed according to which a common mechanism of temporal uncoupling between various disconnected-and/or mis-wired-processors may account for distinct forms of specific learning disorders, with reading impairment being a more or less constant feature. Finally, the potential therapeutic implications of such a view are considered, with special emphasis on methods seeking to enhance cross-modal connectivity between separate brain systems, including those using rhythmic and musical training in dyslexic patients.

A hierarchical deficit model of reading disability: Evidence from dynamic causal modelling analysis

Deficits have been documented in visuo-orthographic processing as well as phonological retrieval/manipulation during visual word reading in individuals with reading disability (RD); however, the relationship between these deficits remains unclear. Previously, we found that during word reading, visuo-orthographic deficit appears to be a neural signature of RD, but deficits in phonological retrieval/manipulation appears to be a consequence of being RD (Cao et al., 2020). Therefore, in the current study, we directly tested the hypothesis that during visual word reading, deficit in phonological retrieval/manipulation may result from weakened input from visuo-orthographic regions, and that this relationship tends to be universal across languages. We conducted a dynamic causal modelling analysis of fMRI data from Chinese-English bilingual children (9-11 years, N = 78) with or without RD during a visual word rhyming judgment task. We found a weaker connection from the left inferior temporal gyrus (ITG) to the left dorsal inferior frontal gyrus (dIFG) in children with RD and reading controls than the connection found in age controls for both Chinese and English. This finding suggests that the phonological deficit at the dIFG may result from weak input from the visuo-orthographic region and this connection appears to be responsive to reading level rather than RD, because the reading-control children were similar to children with RD. We also found that the left ITG was selectively connected with language-specific regions (i.e., the left inferior parietal lobe (IPL) for Chinese and the left ventral inferior frontal gyrus (vIFG) for English) depending on the language being processed; however, this language selectivity was reduced in children with RD, suggesting that decreased language specialization is associated with RD. Using a double control design, our study suggests that during reading, the visuo-orthographic deficit of RD constrains the development of the connection from orthography to phonology and to other language-specific processing due to distorted quantity and quality of reading.

Is Phonological Awareness Related to Pitch, Rhythm, and Speech-in-Noise Discrimination in Young Children?

Purpose Phonological awareness (PA) requires the complex integration of language, speech, and auditory processing abilities. Enhanced pitch and rhythm discrimination have been shown to improve PA and speech-in-noise (SiN) discrimination. The screening of pitch and rhythm discrimination, if nonlinguistic correlates of these abilities, could contribute to screening procedures prior to diagnostic assessment. This research aimed to determine the association of PA abilities with pitch, rhythm, and SiN discrimination in children aged 5-7 years old. Method Forty-one participants' pitch, rhythm, and SiN discrimination and PA abilities were evaluated. To control for confounding factors, including biological and environmental risk exposure and gender differences, typically developing male children from high socioeconomic statuses were selected. Pearson correlation was used to identify associations between variables, and stepwise regression analysis was used to identify possible predictors of PA. Results Correlations of medium strength were identified between PA and pitch, rhythm, and SiN discrimination. Pitch and diotic digit-in-noise discrimination formed the strongest regression model (adjusted R ² = .4213, r = .649) for phoneme-grapheme correspondence. Conclusions The current study demonstrates predictive relationships between the complex auditory discrimination skills of pitch, rhythm, and diotic digit-in-noise recognition and foundational phonemic awareness and phonic skills in young males from high socioeconomic statuses. Pitch, rhythm, and digit-in-noise discrimination measures hold potential as screening measures for delays in phonemic awareness and phonic difficulties and as components of stimulation programs.

Putative protective neural mechanisms in prereaders with a family history of dyslexia who subsequently develop typical reading skills

Developmental dyslexia affects 40-60% of children with a familial risk (FHD+) compared to a general prevalence of 5-10%. Despite the increased risk, about half of FHD+ children develop typical reading abilities (FHD+Typical). Yet the underlying neural characteristics of favorable reading outcomes in at-risk children remain unknown. Utilizing a retrospective, longitudinal approach, this study examined whether putative protective neural mechanisms can be observed in FHD+Typical at the prereading stage. Functional and structural brain characteristics were examined in 47 FHD+ prereaders who subsequently developed typical (n = 35) or impaired (n = 12) reading abilities and 34 controls (FHD-Typical). Searchlight-based multivariate pattern analyses identified distinct activation patterns during phonological processing between FHD+Typical and FHD-Typical in right inferior frontal gyrus (RIFG) and left temporo-parietal cortex (LTPC) regions. Follow-up analyses on group-specific classification patterns demonstrated LTPC hypoactivation in FHD+Typical compared to FHD-Typical, suggesting this neural characteristic as an FHD+ phenotype. In contrast, RIFG showed hyperactivation in FHD+Typical than FHD-Typical, and its activation pattern was positively correlated with subsequent reading abilities in FHD+ but not controls (FHD-Typical). RIFG hyperactivation in FHD+Typical was further associated with increased interhemispheric functional and structural connectivity. These results suggest that some protective neural mechanisms are already established in FHD+Typical prereaders supporting their typical reading development.

Musical Instrument Practice Predicts White Matter Microstructure and Cognitive Abilities in Childhood

Musical training has been associated with advantages in cognitive measures of IQ and verbal ability, as well as neural measures including white matter microstructural properties in the corpus callosum (CC) and the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF). We hypothesized that children who have musical training will have different microstructural properties in the SLF and CC. One hundred children aged 7.9-9.9 years (mean age 8.7) were surveyed for their musical activities, completed neuropsychological testing for general cognitive abilities, and underwent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) as part of a larger study. Children who play a musical instrument for more than 0.5 h per week (n = 34) had higher scores on verbal ability and intellectual ability (standardized scores from the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities), as well as higher axial diffusivity (AD) in the left SLF than those who did not play a musical instrument (n = 66). Furthermore, the intensity of musical practice, quantified as the number of hours of music practice per week, was correlated with axial diffusivity (AD) in the left SLF. Results are not explained by age, sex, socio-economic status, or physical fitness of the participants. The results suggest that the relationship between musical practice and intellectual ability is related to the maturation of white matter pathways in the auditory-motor system. The findings suggest that musical training may be a means of improving cognitive and brain health during development.

Comorbidity of reading disabilities and ADHD: Structural and functional brain characteristics

Reading disabilities (RD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are two of the most common developmental disorders. RD and ADHD frequently co-occur, which raises questions about how the disorders interact and to what extent they can be differentiated. To date, the underlying neural mechanisms leading to RD-ADHD comorbidity (COM) are not understood. In this study, structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were combined with comprehensive behavioral testing in order to characterize the behavior, brain structure, and neural correlates of executive function, phonological processing and reading fluency in 60 children with clinical diagnoses of RD, ADHD, or COM, and controls. Whole-brain analyses of variance were performed on cortical thickness values and on the data of the three fMRI tasks to investigate overall group differences. To validate these findings, a region of interest analysis was performed in regions that have previously been shown to exhibit group differences in children with RD or ADHD using the same paradigms. The neuroimaging results demonstrated structural and functional atypicalities for COM in regions that are frequently associated with deficits in children with isolated ADHD or RD. A combination of shared and distinctive brain alterations between the clinical groups was identified, supporting the multiple deficit model for ADHD, RD, and its comorbidity.