1
|
Beck J, Chyl K, Dębska A, Łuniewska M, van Atteveldt N, Jednoróg K. Letter-speech sound integration in typical reading development during the first years of formal education. Child Dev 2024; 95:e236-e252. [PMID: 38396333 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.14080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/25/2024]
Abstract
This study investigated the neural basis of letter and speech sound (LS) integration in 53 typical readers (35 girls, all White) during the first 2 years of reading education (ages 7-9). Changes in both sensory (multisensory vs unisensory) and linguistic (congruent vs incongruent) aspects of LS integration were examined. The left superior temporal cortex and bilateral inferior frontal cortex showed increasing activation for multisensory over unisensory LS over time, driven by reduced activation to speech sounds. No changes were noted in the congruency effect. However, at age nine, heightened activation to incongruent over congruent LS pairs were observed, correlating with individual differences in reading development. This suggests that the incongruency effect evolves at varying rates depending on reading skills.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Joanna Beck
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS), Warsaw, Poland
- Bioimaging Research Center, Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Warsaw, Poland, Kajetany, Mazovia, Poland
| | - Katarzyna Chyl
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS), Warsaw, Poland
- Educational Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Agnieszka Dębska
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS), Warsaw, Poland
| | - Magdalena Łuniewska
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS), Warsaw, Poland
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Nienke van Atteveldt
- Department of Clinical Developmental Psychology & Institute LEARN!, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Katarzyna Jednoróg
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS), Warsaw, Poland
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Hutton JS, Dudley J, DeWitt T, Horowitz-Kraus T. Neural Signature of Rhyming Ability During Story Listening in Preschool-Age Children. Brain Connect 2024; 14:294-303. [PMID: 38756082 DOI: 10.1089/brain.2023.0083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Purpose: Rhyming is a phonological skill that typically emerges in the preschool-age range. Prosody/rhythm processing involves right-lateralized temporal cortex, yet the neural basis of rhyming ability in young children is unclear. The study objective was to use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to quantify neural correlates of rhyming abilities in preschool-age children. Method: Healthy pre-kindergarten child-parent dyads were recruited for a study visit including MRI and the Preschool and Primary Inventory of Phonological Awareness (PIPA) rhyme subtest. MRI included an fMRI task where the child listened to a rhymed and unrhymed story without visual stimuli. fMRI data were processed using the CONN functional connectivity (FC) toolbox, with FC computed between 132 regions of interest (ROI) across the brain. Associations between PIPA score and FC during the rhymed versus unrhymed story were compared accounting for age, sex, and maternal education. Results: In total, 45 children completed MRI (age 54 ± 8 months, 37-63; 19M 26F). Median maternal education was college graduate. FC between ROIs in posterior default mode (imagery) and right fronto-parietal (executive function) networks was more strongly positively associated with PIPA score during the rhymed compared with the unrhymed story [F(2,39) = 10.95, p-FDR = 0.043], as was FC between ROIs in right-sided language (prosody) and dorsal attention networks [F(2,39) = 9.85, p-FDR = 0.044]. Conclusions: Preschool-age children with better rhyming abilities had stronger FC between ROIs supporting attention and prosody and also between ROIs supporting executive function and imagery, suggesting rhyme as a catalyst for attention, visualization, and comprehension. These represent novel neural biomarkers of nascent phonological skills.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- John S Hutton
- Division of General and Community Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
- Reading and Literacy Discovery Center, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
- Division of General and Community Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA
| | - Jonathan Dudley
- Reading and Literacy Discovery Center, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
- Pediatric Neuroimaging Research Consortium, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
| | - Thomas DeWitt
- Division of General and Community Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
- Reading and Literacy Discovery Center, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
| | - Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus
- Educational Neuroimaging Group, Education in Science and Technology, Biomedical Engineering, Technion, Haifa, Israel
- Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Marks RA, Eggleston R, Kovelman I. Brain bases of morphological awareness and longitudinal word reading outcomes. J Exp Child Psychol 2024; 238:105802. [PMID: 37924662 PMCID: PMC10918614 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2023.105802] [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: 06/22/2023] [Revised: 09/11/2023] [Accepted: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 11/06/2023]
Abstract
Children's spoken language skills are essential to the development of the "reading brain," or the neurocognitive systems that underlie successful literacy. Morphological awareness, or sensitivity to the smallest units of meaning, is a language skill that facilitates fluent recognition of meaning in print. Yet despite the growing evidence that morphology is integral to literacy success, associations among morphological awareness, literacy acquisition, and brain development remain largely unexplored. To address this gap, we conducted a longitudinal investigation with 75 elementary school children (5-11 years of age) who completed an auditory morphological awareness neuroimaging task at Time 1 as well as literacy assessments at both Time 1 and Time 2 (1.5 years later). Findings reveal longitudinal brain-behavior associations between morphological processing at Time 1 and reading outcomes at Time 2. First, activation in superior temporal brain regions involved in word segmentation was associated with both future reading skill and steeper reading gains over time. Second, a wider array of brain regions across the language network were associated with polymorphemic word reading as compared with broader word reading skill (reading both simple and complex words). Together, these findings reinforce the importance of word segmentation skills in learning to read and highlight the importance of considering complex word reading skills in building comprehensive neurocognitive models of literacy. This study fills a gap in our knowledge of how processing meaningful units in speech may help to explain differences in children's reading development over time and informs ongoing theoretical questions about the role of morphology in learning to read.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca A Marks
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
4
|
Wang J, Joanisse MF, Booth JR. Learning to Read Strengthens Functional Connectivity Between the Ventral Occipitotemporal Cortex and the Superior Temporal Gyrus During an Auditory Phonological Awareness Task. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2023; 66:4532-4546. [PMID: 37870878 PMCID: PMC10715841 DOI: 10.1044/2023_jslhr-23-00337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2023] [Revised: 08/21/2023] [Accepted: 09/02/2023] [Indexed: 10/24/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE It is often assumed that phonological awareness only reflects children's phonological skill. However, orthographic representations have been found to be automatically involved during phonological awareness tasks, which we refer to as automatic orthographic activation. Although previous longitudinal neural studies have addressed how phonological processing during phonological awareness tasks is bidirectionally related to reading skill in developing children, we do not know how automatic orthographic activation plays a role in reading skill. METHOD To address this gap, we measured 40 children's reading skill and brain activity during an auditory phonological task at two time points using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Children were 5.5 to 6.5 years old at the first time point and were followed up approximately 1.5 years later when they were 7 to 8 years old. RESULTS We found that earlier reading skill predicted children's later functional connectivity during onset processing between the left superior temporal gyrus, a phonological region, and the left posterior ventral occipitotemporal cortex, an orthographic region representing letters. CONCLUSION This finding, together with previous studies, suggests that learning to read influences phonological awareness not only by refining phonological representations but also via strengthening the automatic mapping between phonemes and letters during spoken language processing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jin Wang
- Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
| | - Marc F. Joanisse
- Department of Psychology and Brain and Mind Institute, The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
| | - James R. Booth
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Church JA. The Brain's Control Networks in Reading: Insights From Cross-Task Studies of Youth. MIND, BRAIN AND EDUCATION : THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL MIND, BRAIN, AND EDUCATION SOCIETY 2023; 17:257-266. [PMID: 38745918 PMCID: PMC11091959 DOI: 10.1111/mbe.12372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2022] [Accepted: 06/04/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
Humans engage multiple brain systems to read successfully, including using regions important for vision, language, and control. Control refers to the set of executive processes in the brain that guide moment-to-moment behavior in service of our goals. There is a growing appreciation for the role of the brain's control system in reading comprehension, in reading skill change over time, and in those who have difficulty with the reading process. One way to understand the brain's control engagement in reading may be to study control engagement across multiple tasks in order to study consistencies, or cross-task similarities, relative to reading-specific variations. In this commentary, I briefly summarize some of our recent work studying the brain's control networks across different tasks (e.g., when reading, or doing different executive function tasks). I then review our findings of when control activation does or does not relate to measures of reading ability, and reading growth over time. The utility of cross-task comparisons in neuroimaging is noted, as well as the need to better understand multiple sources of heterogeneity in our developmental samples. I end by discussing a few of the many future directions for further study of the brain with regard to the brain's control processing and academic achievement.
Collapse
|
6
|
Wang J, Yamasaki BL, Booth JR. Phonological and Semantic Specialization in 9- to 10-Year-Old Children During Auditory Word Processing. NEUROBIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE (CAMBRIDGE, MASS.) 2023; 4:297-317. [PMID: 37229511 PMCID: PMC10205156 DOI: 10.1162/nol_a_00099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2022] [Accepted: 12/29/2022] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
One of the core features of brain maturation is functional specialization. Previous research has found that 7- to 8-year-old children start to specialize in both the temporal and frontal lobes. However, as children continue to develop their phonological and semantic skills rapidly until approximately 10 years old, it remained unclear whether any changes in specialization later in childhood would be detected. Thus, the goal of the current study was to examine phonological and semantic specialization in 9- to 10-year-old children during auditory word processing. Sixty-one children were included in the analysis. They were asked to perform a sound judgment task and a meaning judgment task, each with both hard and easy conditions to examine parametric effects. Consistent with previous results from 7- to 8-year-old children, direct task comparisons revealed language specialization in both the temporal and frontal lobes in 9- to 10-year-old children. Specifically, the left dorsal inferior frontal gyrus showed greater activation for the sound than the meaning task whereas the left middle temporal gyrus showed greater activation for the meaning than the sound task. Interestingly, in contrast to the previously reported finding that 7- to 8-year-old children primarily engage a general control region during the harder condition for both tasks, we showed that 9- to 10-year-old children recruited language-specific regions to process the more difficult task conditions. Specifically, the left superior temporal gyrus showed greater activation for the phonological parametric manipulation whereas the left ventral inferior frontal gyrus showed greater activation for the semantic parametric manipulation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jin Wang
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
- Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
| | - Brianna L. Yamasaki
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
- Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
| | - James R. Booth
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Wang J, Tong F, Joanisse MF, Booth JR. A sculpting effect of reading on later representational quality of phonology revealed by multi-voxel pattern analysis in young children. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2023; 239:105252. [PMID: 36934461 PMCID: PMC10115136 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2023.105252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2022] [Revised: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 03/09/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Using univariate analysis, a previous study by Wang et al. (2020) found a scaffolding effect of earlier phonological representation in superior temporal gyrus (STG) on later reading skill but failed to observe a sculpting effect of earlier reading on later phonological representation. The current study applied multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) to examine if both scaffolding and sculpting effects were present in young children. We found that better initial reading skill predicted higher decoding coefficient of brain activity patterns for phonological representations in STG. This sculpting effect was present only for decoding small grain sizes (phonemes) and in younger children (6- to 7.5-year-olds), as we did not find any effects for large grain sizes (rhymes) or older children (7.5- to 9.5-year-olds). Although a scaffolding effect was not observed, the current study provides the first neural evidence of how earlier reading sculpts later phonological awareness in beginning readers.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jin Wang
- Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA; Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
| | - Frank Tong
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Marc F 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
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Wagley N, Booth JR. Neural pathways of phonological and semantic processing and its relations to children's reading skills. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:984328. [PMID: 36312011 PMCID: PMC9597189 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.984328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2022] [Accepted: 09/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Behavioral research shows that children's phonological ability is strongly associated with better word reading skills, whereas semantic knowledge is strongly related to better reading comprehension. However, most neuroscience research has investigated how brain activation during phonological and semantic processing is related to word reading skill. This study examines if connectivity during phonological processing in the dorsal inferior frontal gyrus (dIFG) to posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG) pathway is related to word reading skill, whereas connectivity during semantic processing in the ventral inferior frontal gyrus (vIFG) to posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG) pathway is related to reading comprehension skill. We used behavioral and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from a publicly accessible dataset on OpenNeuro.org. The research hypotheses and analytical plan were pre-registered on the Open Science Framework. Forty-six children ages 8-15 years old were included in the final analyses. Participants completed an in-scanner reading task tapping into phonology (i.e., word rhyming) and semantics (i.e., word meaning) as well as standardized measures of word reading and reading comprehension skill. In a series of registered and exploratory analyses, we correlated connectivity coefficients from generalized psychophysiological interactions (gPPI) with behavioral measures and used z-scores to test the equality of two correlation coefficients. Results from the preregistered and exploratory analyses indicated weak evidence that functional connectivity of dIFG to pSTG during phonological processing is positively correlated with better word reading skill, but no evidence that connectivity in the vIFG-pMTG pathway during semantic processing is related to better reading comprehension skill. Moreover, there was no evidence to support the differentiation between the dorsal pathway's relation to word reading and the ventral pathway's relation to reading comprehension skills. Our finding suggesting the importance of phonological processing to word reading is in line with prior behavioral and neurodevelopmental models.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Neelima Wagley
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
| | | |
Collapse
|
9
|
Wang J, Lytle MN, Weiss Y, Yamasaki BL, Booth JR. A longitudinal neuroimaging dataset on language processing in children ages 5, 7, and 9 years old. Sci Data 2022; 9:4. [PMID: 35013348 PMCID: PMC8748964 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-021-01106-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2021] [Accepted: 12/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
This dataset examines language development with a longitudinal design and includes diffusion- and T1-weighted structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), task-based functional MRI (fMRI), and a battery of psycho-educational assessments and parental questionnaires. We collected data from 5.5-6.5-year-old children (ses-5) and followed them up when they were 7-8 years old (ses-7) and then again at 8.5-10 years old (ses-9). To increase the sample size at the older time points, another cohort of 7-8-year-old children (ses-7) were recruited and followed up when they were 8.5-10 years old (ses-9). In total, 322 children who completed at least one structural and functional scan were included. Children performed four fMRI tasks consisting of two word-level tasks examining phonological and semantic processing and two sentence-level tasks investigating semantic and syntactic processing. The MRI data is valuable for examining changes over time in interactive specialization due to the use of multiple imaging modalities and tasks in this longitudinal design. In addition, the extensive psycho-educational assessments and questionnaires provide opportunities to explore brain-behavior and brain-environment associations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jin Wang
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37212, USA.
| | - Marisa N Lytle
- Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16801, USA
| | - Yael Weiss
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
| | - Brianna L Yamasaki
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37212, USA
| | - James R Booth
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37212, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Xia Z, Wang C, Hancock R, Vandermosten M, Hoeft F. Development of thalamus mediates paternal age effect on offspring reading: A preliminary investigation. Hum Brain Mapp 2021; 42:4580-4596. [PMID: 34219304 PMCID: PMC8410543 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2020] [Revised: 05/31/2021] [Accepted: 06/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The importance of (inherited) genetic impact in reading development is well established. De novo mutation is another important contributor that is recently gathering interest as a major liability of neurodevelopmental disorders, but has been neglected in reading research to date. Paternal age at childbirth (PatAGE) is known as the most prominent risk factor for de novo mutation, which has been repeatedly shown by molecular genetic studies. As one of the first efforts, we performed a preliminary investigation of the relationship between PatAGE, offspring's reading, and brain structure in a longitudinal neuroimaging study following 51 children from kindergarten through third grade. The results showed that greater PatAGE was significantly associated with worse reading, explaining an additional 9.5% of the variance after controlling for a number of confounds-including familial factors and cognitive-linguistic reading precursors. Moreover, this effect was mediated by volumetric maturation of the left posterior thalamus from ages 5 to 8. Complementary analyses indicated the PatAGE-related thalamic region was most likely located in the pulvinar nuclei and related to the dorsal attention network by using brain atlases, public datasets, and offspring's diffusion imaging data. Altogether, these findings provide novel insights into neurocognitive mechanisms underlying the PatAGE effect on reading acquisition during its earliest phase and suggest promising areas of future research.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zhichao Xia
- Department of Psychiatry and Weill Institute for NeurosciencesUniversity of CaliforniaSan FranciscoCaliforniaUSA
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain ResearchBeijing Normal UniversityBeijingChina
- School of Systems ScienceBeijing Normal UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Cheng Wang
- Department of Psychiatry and Weill Institute for NeurosciencesUniversity of CaliforniaSan FranciscoCaliforniaUSA
| | - Roeland Hancock
- Department of Psychological Sciences and Brain Imaging Research CenterUniversity of ConnecticutStorrsConnecticutUSA
| | - Maaike Vandermosten
- Department of Psychiatry and Weill Institute for NeurosciencesUniversity of CaliforniaSan FranciscoCaliforniaUSA
- Department of NeuroscienceExperimental ORL, KU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Fumiko Hoeft
- Department of Psychiatry and Weill Institute for NeurosciencesUniversity of CaliforniaSan FranciscoCaliforniaUSA
- Department of Psychological Sciences and Brain Imaging Research CenterUniversity of ConnecticutStorrsConnecticutUSA
- Haskins LaboratoriesNew HavenConnecticutUSA
- Department of NeuropsychiatryKeio University School of MedicineShinjuku‐kuTokyoJapan
| |
Collapse
|