Cognitive mechanisms underlying the associations between inattention and reading abilities

Childhood Physical Health and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Modifiable Factors

Although neurobiologic and genetic factors figure prominently in the development of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), adverse physical health experiences and conditions encountered during childhood may also play a role. Poor health is known to impact the developing brain with potential lifelong implications for behavioral issues. In attempt to better understand the relationship between childhood physical health and the onset and presence of ADHD symptoms, we summarized international peer-reviewed articles documenting relationships between a select group of childhood diseases or health events (e.g., illnesses, injuries, syndromes) and subsequent ADHD outcomes among children ages 0-17 years. Drawing on a larger two-phase systematic review, 57 longitudinal or retrospective observational studies (1978-2021) of childhood allergies, asthma, eczema, head injury, infection, or sleep problems and later ADHD diagnosis or symptomatology were identified and subjected to meta-analysis. Significant associations were documented between childhood head injuries, infections, and sleep problems with both dichotomous and continuous measures of ADHD, and between allergies with dichotomous measures of ADHD. We did not observe significant associations between asthma or eczema with ADHD outcomes. Heterogeneity detected for multiple associations, primarily among continuously measured outcomes, underscores the potential value of future subgroup analyses and individual studies. Collectively, these findings shed light on the importance of physical health in understanding childhood ADHD. Possible etiologic links between physical health factors and ADHD are discussed, as are implications for prevention efforts by providers, systems, and communities.

Attentional modulation of neural sound tracking in children with and without dyslexia

Auditory selective attention forms an important foundation of children's learning by enabling the prioritisation and encoding of relevant stimuli. It may also influence reading development, which relies on metalinguistic skills including the awareness of the sound structure of spoken language. Reports of attentional impairments and speech perception difficulties in noisy environments in dyslexic readers are also suggestive of the putative contribution of auditory attention to reading development. To date, it is unclear whether non-speech selective attention and its underlying neural mechanisms are impaired in children with dyslexia and to which extent these deficits relate to individual reading and speech perception abilities in suboptimal listening conditions. In this EEG study, we assessed non-speech sustained auditory selective attention in 106 7-to-12-year-old children with and without dyslexia. Children attended to one of two tone streams, detecting occasional sequence repeats in the attended stream, and performed a speech-in-speech perception task. Results show that when children directed their attention to one stream, inter-trial-phase-coherence at the attended rate increased in fronto-central sites; this, in turn, was associated with better target detection. Behavioural and neural indices of attention did not systematically differ as a function of dyslexia diagnosis. However, behavioural indices of attention did explain individual differences in reading fluency and speech-in-speech perception abilities: both these skills were impaired in dyslexic readers. Taken together, our results show that children with dyslexia do not show group-level auditory attention deficits but these deficits may represent a risk for developing reading impairments and problems with speech perception in complex acoustic environments. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Non-speech sustained auditory selective attention modulates EEG phase coherence in children with/without dyslexia Children with dyslexia show difficulties in speech-in-speech perception Attention relates to dyslexic readers' speech-in-speech perception and reading skills Dyslexia diagnosis is not linked to behavioural/EEG indices of auditory attention.

Searching the underlying mechanisms of specific learning disorder: An emotion recognition and social cognition aspect for Turkish clinical youth population

This study aimed to investigate impairments in social cognition in youth with specific learning disorder (SLD) through a cross sectional study. Eighty six adolescents which include of 43 SLD and 43 typically developing (TD) children completed a battery of tests to analyze social cognition, emotional process and clinical psychopathological profile. SLD group performed significantly worse than healthy controls in facial ER total accuracy score (Cohen d = .77) and Stroop interference (Cohen d = .92). In individual emotion analyses, patients with SLD have a very high deficiency in recognition of angry faces (Cohen d = .89). Between-group difference was also significant for Stroop congruent and facilitation scores (Cohen d = .99). The Specific Learning Disorder Symptom Check List-Parent Form scores were significant -and only- predictor of the model which for total accuracy score of facial recognition. The results of this study supported an impairment in emotion recognition and executive functions in adolescents with SLD but causality seems still unclear.

How Learning to Read Changes the Listening Brain

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.

Inattention Symptoms are Predictors of Neuropsychological Functioning in Children from 3rd and 4th Grades

Symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity, arranged along a continuum, are commonly associated with neuropsychological and academic deficits, even in the general population. The aim of this study is to analyze how Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms are associated with the performance in neuropsychological and academic abilities (phonological processing, processing speed/automatic attention, executive functions, reading, and spelling) in school-age children. The sample consisted of 216 children from 3^rd and 4^th grades (M = 8.94 years old, SD =.71) from public elementary schools of two Brazilian capitals. Pearson correlation and Multiple Linear Regression analysis were performed. Inattention symptoms were the only predictors of performance in phonological processing (phoneme suppression and rapid automatized naming of letters), processing speed/automatic attention, executive functions, such as inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility, and reading fluency. Beta values ranged from .14 to .27, and the largest value was related to an inhibitory control task. Inattention, and not hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms, seems to affect neuropsychological functions even in non-clinical diagnosed children. Contributions and future directions are discussed.

Cognitive and Behavioural Weaknesses in Children with Reading Disorder and AD(H)D

Working memory capacity, an essential prerequisite for language learning and the development of arithmetic skills, has been reported as deficient in children with reading disorder (RD) and attention deficit (hyperactivity) disorder (AD(H)D). However, few studies to date have explored potential associations of working memory impairments and foreign language learning, mathematical skills and school achievement in these groups, in particular in children with a comorbidity of both. In the present study, we assessed working memory, language learning, arithmetic fluency and academic achievement in children (N = 166; Mage = 14.3, range 8-18 y), including typically-developing children (n = 89), subjects with RD (n = 27), AD(H)D (n = 43), and a comorbidity (n = 15). While children with AD(H)D performed similar to typically developing children on all tasks, RD children performed weakly on various language learning and working memory tasks, with major deficits in non-word span, phonetic memory and vocabulary learning. Combining weaknesses of the two groups, children with a comorbidity further performed significantly worse on arithmetic skills, learning of sound-symbol combinations and simple digit span forward. The findings suggest a reconsideration of working memory and learning impairments in AD(H)D, while highlighting the additional weaknesses of comorbid children and pointing out severe foreign language learning difficulties in RD children.