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Eggleston RL, Marks RA, Sun X, Yu CL, Zhang K, Nickerson N, Hu X, Caruso V, Kovelman I. Lexical Morphology as a Source of Risk and Resilience for Learning to Read With Dyslexia: An fNIRS Investigation. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2024; 67:2269-2282. [PMID: 38924392 PMCID: PMC11253800 DOI: 10.1044/2024_jslhr-23-00293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2023] [Revised: 11/03/2023] [Accepted: 03/27/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024]
Abstract
PURPOSE We examined the neurocognitive bases of lexical morphology in children of varied reading abilities to understand the role of meaning-based skills in learning to read with dyslexia. METHOD Children completed auditory morphological and phonological awareness tasks during functional near-infrared spectroscopy neuroimaging. We first examined the relation between lexical morphology and phonological processes in typically developing readers (Study 1, N = 66, Mage = 8.39), followed by a more focal inquiry into lexical morphology processes in dyslexia (Study 2, N = 50, Mage = 8.62). RESULTS Typical readers exhibited stronger engagement of language neurocircuitry during the morphology task relative to the phonology task, suggesting that morphological analyses involve synthesizing multiple components of sublexical processing. This effect was stronger for more analytically complex derivational affixes (like + ly) than more semantically transparent free base morphemes (snow + man). In contrast, children with dyslexia exhibited stronger activation during the free base condition relative to derivational affix condition. Taken together, the findings suggest that although children with dyslexia may struggle with derivational morphology, they may also use free base morphemes' semantic information to boost word recognition. CONCLUSION This study informs literacy theories by identifying an interaction between reading ability, word structure, and how the developing brain learns to recognize words in speech and print. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.25944949.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Rebecca A. Marks
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
| | - Xin Sun
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Chi-Lin Yu
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
| | - Kehui Zhang
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
- Division of Arts and Sciences, New York University Shanghai, Shanghai, China
| | - Nia Nickerson
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
| | - Xiaosu Hu
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
| | - Valeria Caruso
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
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2
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Keshavarzi M, Di Liberto GM, Gabrielczyk F, Wilson A, Macfarlane A, Goswami U. Atypical speech production of multisyllabic words and phrases by children with developmental dyslexia. Dev Sci 2024; 27:e13428. [PMID: 37381667 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13428] [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: 09/15/2022] [Revised: 05/20/2023] [Accepted: 06/12/2023] [Indexed: 06/30/2023]
Abstract
The prevalent "core phonological deficit" model of dyslexia proposes that the reading and spelling difficulties characterizing affected children stem from prior developmental difficulties in processing speech sound structure, for example, perceiving and identifying syllable stress patterns, syllables, rhymes and phonemes. Yet spoken word production appears normal. This suggests an unexpected disconnect between speech input and speech output processes. Here we investigated the output side of this disconnect from a speech rhythm perspective by measuring the speech amplitude envelope (AE) of multisyllabic spoken phrases. The speech AE contains crucial information regarding stress patterns, speech rate, tonal contrasts and intonational information. We created a novel computerized speech copying task in which participants copied aloud familiar spoken targets like "Aladdin." Seventy-five children with and without dyslexia were tested, some of whom were also receiving an oral intervention designed to enhance multi-syllabic processing. Similarity of the child's productions to the target AE was computed using correlation and mutual information metrics. Similarity of pitch contour, another acoustic cue to speech rhythm, was used for control analyses. Children with dyslexia were significantly worse at producing the multi-syllabic targets as indexed by both similarity metrics for computing the AE. However, children with dyslexia were not different from control children in producing pitch contours. Accordingly, the spoken production of multisyllabic phrases by children with dyslexia is atypical regarding the AE. Children with dyslexia may not appear to listeners to exhibit speech production difficulties because their pitch contours are intact. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Speech production of syllable stress patterns is atypical in children with dyslexia. Children with dyslexia are significantly worse at producing the amplitude envelope of multi-syllabic targets compared to both age-matched and reading-level-matched control children. No group differences were found for pitch contour production between children with dyslexia and age-matched control children. It may be difficult to detect speech output problems in dyslexia as pitch contours are relatively accurate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mahmoud Keshavarzi
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Giovanni M Di Liberto
- School of Computer Science and Statistics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
- Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Fiona Gabrielczyk
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Angela Wilson
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Annabel Macfarlane
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Usha Goswami
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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3
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Mandke K, Flanagan S, Macfarlane A, Feltham G, Gabrielczyk F, Wilson AM, Gross J, Goswami U. Neural responses to natural and enhanced speech edges in children with and without dyslexia. Front Hum Neurosci 2023; 17:1200950. [PMID: 37841072 PMCID: PMC10571917 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2023.1200950] [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: 04/05/2023] [Accepted: 08/31/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Sensory-neural studies indicate that children with developmental dyslexia show impairments in processing acoustic speech envelope information. Prior studies suggest that this arises in part from reduced sensory sensitivity to amplitude rise times (ARTs or speech "edges") in the envelope, accompanied by less accurate neural encoding of low-frequency envelope information. Accordingly, enhancing these characteristics of the speech envelope may enhance neural speech processing in children with dyslexia. Here we applied an envelope modulation enhancement (EME) algorithm to a 10-min story read in child-directed speech (CDS), enhancing ARTs and also enhancing low-frequency envelope information. We compared neural speech processing (as measured using MEG) for the EME story with the same story read in natural CDS for 9-year-old children with and without dyslexia. The EME story affected neural processing in the power domain for children with dyslexia, particularly in the delta band (0.5-4 Hz) in the superior temporal gyrus. This may suggest that prolonged experience with EME speech could ameliorate some of the impairments shown in natural speech processing by children with dyslexia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kanad Mandke
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Sheila Flanagan
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Annabel Macfarlane
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Georgia Feltham
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Fiona Gabrielczyk
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Angela M. Wilson
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Joachim Gross
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Usha Goswami
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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4
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Karakoc K, Aslan F, Cildir B, Cengel Kultur E, Turkyilmaz MD. The role of suprathreshold auditory processing abilities in children with specific learning disorder. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 2023; 172:111660. [PMID: 37480808 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijporl.2023.111660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2023] [Revised: 07/11/2023] [Accepted: 07/15/2023] [Indexed: 07/24/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To assess the suprathreshold auditory processing and speech recognition abilities in noise in children with specific learning disorder (SLD). METHODS A group of twenty-five children diagnosed with SLD and a control group of twenty-five neuro-typical children were included in the study. All the participants were between 6-11 years old. To evaluate suprathreshold auditory processing abilities, the participants were given the Temporal Fine Structure (TFS) Sensitivity Test and the Temporal Envelope (TE) Sensitivity Test, as well as the Consonant Identification Test, was administered to evaluate speech recognition ability in noise. In addition, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) intelligence test was applied to children with SLD, and the relationship between WISC-IV intelligence test scores in different skills and suprathreshold auditory processing and speech recognition abilities in noise was investigated. RESULTS Significant differences were found between children diagnosed with SLD and neuro-typical children in terms of suprathreshold auditory processing tasks and speech recognition in noise. Additionally, no correlation was found between suprathreshold auditory processing tasks, speech recognition in noise, and intelligence tests. CONCLUSION Suprathreshold auditory processing and speech recognition abilities in noise were found to be affected in children with SLD. A holistic evaluation including a multidisciplinary approach that includes suprathreshold auditory processing abilities is required for children diagnosed with SLD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kursad Karakoc
- Department of Audiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University, Ankara, Turkey.
| | - Filiz Aslan
- Department of Audiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Bunyamin Cildir
- Department of Speech and Language Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Ebru Cengel Kultur
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Meral Didem Turkyilmaz
- Department of Audiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
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5
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Van Herck S, Economou M, Vanden Bempt F, Glatz T, Ghesquière P, Vandermosten M, Wouters J. Neural synchronization and intervention in pre-readers who later on develop dyslexia. Eur J Neurosci 2023; 57:547-567. [PMID: 36518008 PMCID: PMC10108076 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15894] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2022] [Revised: 11/07/2022] [Accepted: 12/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
A growing number of studies has investigated temporal processing deficits in dyslexia. These studies largely focus on neural synchronization to speech. However, the importance of rise times for neural synchronization is often overlooked. Furthermore, targeted interventions, phonics-based and auditory, are being developed, but little is known about their impact. The current study investigated the impact of a 12-week tablet-based intervention. Children at risk for dyslexia received phonics-based training, either with (n = 31) or without (n = 31) auditory training, or engaged in active control training (n = 29). Additionally, neural synchronization and processing of rise times was longitudinally investigated in children with dyslexia (n = 26) and typical readers (n = 52) from pre-reading (5 years) to beginning reading age (7 years). The three time points in the longitudinal study correspond to intervention pre-test, post-test and consolidation, approximately 1 year after completing the intervention. At each time point neural synchronization was measured to sinusoidal stimuli and pulsatile stimuli with shortened rise times at syllable (4 Hz) and phoneme rates (20 Hz). Our results revealed no impact on neural synchronization at syllable and phoneme rate of the phonics-based and auditory training. However, we did reveal atypical hemispheric specialization at both syllable and phoneme rates in children with dyslexia. This was detected even before the onset of reading acquisition, pointing towards a possible causal rather than consequential mechanism in dyslexia. This study contributes to our understanding of the temporal processing deficits underlying the development of dyslexia, but also shows that the development of targeted interventions is still a work in progress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shauni Van Herck
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of NeurosciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational SciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Brain InstituteKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Maria Economou
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of NeurosciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational SciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Brain InstituteKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Child & Youth Institute (L‐C&Y)KU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Femke Vanden Bempt
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of NeurosciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational SciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Brain InstituteKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Child & Youth Institute (L‐C&Y)KU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Toivo Glatz
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of NeurosciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Institute of Public HealthCharité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt‐Universität zu BerlinBerlinGermany
| | - Pol Ghesquière
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational SciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Brain InstituteKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Child & Youth Institute (L‐C&Y)KU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Maaike Vandermosten
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of NeurosciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Brain InstituteKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Child & Youth Institute (L‐C&Y)KU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Jan Wouters
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of NeurosciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Brain InstituteKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
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6
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Cheviet A, Bonnefond A, Bertrand F, Maumy-Bertrand M, Doignon-Camus N. How visual attention span and phonological skills contribute to N170 print tuning: An EEG study in French dyslexic students. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2022; 234:105176. [PMID: 36063725 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2022.105176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2021] [Revised: 08/17/2022] [Accepted: 08/19/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Developmental dyslexia is a disorder characterized by a sustainable learning deficit in reading. Based on ERP-driven approaches focusing on the visual word form area, electrophysiological studies have pointed a lack of visual expertise for written word recognition in dyslexic readers by contrasting the left-lateralized N170 amplitudes elicited by alphabetic versus non-alphabetic stimuli. Here, we investigated in 22 dyslexic participants and 22 age-matched control subjects how two behavioural abilities potentially affected in dyslexic readers (phonological and visual attention skills) contributed to the N170 expertise during a word detection task. Consistent with literature, dyslexic participants exhibited poorer performance in these both abilities as compared to healthy subjects. At the brain level, we observed (1) an unexpected preservation of the N170 expertise in the dyslexic group suggesting a possible compensatory mechanism and (2) a modulation of this expertise only by phonological skills, providing evidence for the phonological mapping deficit hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexis Cheviet
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom.
| | - Anne Bonnefond
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Strasbourg, INSERM U1114, Strasbourg, France
| | - Frédéric Bertrand
- LIST3N, Université de Technologie de Troyes, Troyes, France; Institut de Recherche Mathématique Avancée, CNRS UMR 7501, Labex IRMIA, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - Myriam Maumy-Bertrand
- LIST3N, Université de Technologie de Troyes, Troyes, France; Institut de Recherche Mathématique Avancée, CNRS UMR 7501, Labex IRMIA, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - Nadège Doignon-Camus
- LISEC UR 2310, University of Strasbourg, University of Haute-Alsace, University of Lorraine, Strasbourg, France
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7
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Marks RA, Eggleston RL, Sun X, Yu CL, Zhang K, Nickerson N, Hu XS, Kovelman I. The neurocognitive basis of morphological processing in typical and impaired readers. ANNALS OF DYSLEXIA 2022; 72:361-383. [PMID: 34255265 PMCID: PMC9663212 DOI: 10.1007/s11881-021-00239-9] [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: 02/15/2021] [Accepted: 06/21/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Morphological awareness, or sensitivity to units of meaning, is an essential component of reading comprehension development. Current neurobiological models of reading and dyslexia have largely been built upon phonological processing models, yet reading for meaning is as essential as reading for sound. To fill this gap, the present study explores the relation between children's neural organization for morphological awareness and successful reading comprehension in typically developing and impaired readers. English-speaking children ages 6-11 (N = 97; mean age = 8.6 years, 25% reading impaired) completed standard literacy assessments as well as an auditory morphological awareness task during functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) neuroimaging, which included root (e.g., PERSON + al) and derivational (e.g., quick + LY) morphology. Regression analyses revealed that children's morphological awareness predicted unique variance in reading comprehension above and beyond demographic factors, vocabulary knowledge, and decoding ability. Neuroimaging analyses further revealed that children with stronger reading comprehension showed greater engagement of brain regions associated with integrating sound and meaning, including left inferior frontal, middle temporal, and inferior parietal regions. This effect was especially notable for the derivational morphology condition that involved manipulating more analytically demanding and semantically abstract units (e.g., un-, -ly, -ion). Together, these findings suggest that successful reading comprehension, and its deficit in dyslexia, may be related to the ability to manipulate morpho-phonological units of word meaning and structure. These results inform theoretical perspectives on literacy and children's neural architecture for learning to read.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca A Marks
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
| | - Rachel L Eggleston
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Xin Sun
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Chi-Lin Yu
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Kehui Zhang
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Nia Nickerson
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Xiao-Su Hu
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
- Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences & Prosthodontics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Ioulia Kovelman
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
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8
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Goswami U. Language acquisition and speech rhythm patterns: an auditory neuroscience perspective. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:211855. [PMID: 35911192 PMCID: PMC9326295 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.211855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2021] [Accepted: 07/04/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
All human infants acquire language, but their brains do not know which language/s to prepare for. This observation suggests that there are fundamental components of the speech signal that contribute to building a language system, and fundamental neural processing mechanisms that use these components, which are shared across languages. Equally, disorders of language acquisition are found across all languages, with the most prevalent being developmental language disorder (approx. 7% prevalence), where oral language comprehension and production is atypical, and developmental dyslexia (approx. 7% prevalence), where written language acquisition is atypical. Recent advances in auditory neuroscience, along with advances in modelling the speech signal from an amplitude modulation (AM, intensity or energy change) perspective, have increased our understanding of both language acquisition and these developmental disorders. Speech rhythm patterns turn out to be fundamental to both sensory and neural linguistic processing. The rhythmic routines typical of childcare in many cultures, the parental practice of singing lullabies to infants, and the ubiquitous presence of BabyTalk (infant-directed speech) all enhance the fundamental AM components that contribute to building a linguistic brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Usha Goswami
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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9
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Van Herck S, Vanden Bempt F, Economou M, Vanderauwera J, Glatz T, Dieudonné B, Vandermosten M, Ghesquière P, Wouters J. Ahead of maturation: Enhanced speech envelope training boosts rise time discrimination in pre-readers at cognitive risk for dyslexia. Dev Sci 2021; 25:e13186. [PMID: 34743382 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2021] [Revised: 09/24/2021] [Accepted: 10/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Dyslexia has frequently been related to atypical auditory temporal processing and speech perception. Results of studies emphasizing speech onset cues and reinforcing the temporal structure of the speech envelope, that is, envelope enhancement (EE), demonstrated reduced speech perception deficits in individuals with dyslexia. The use of this strategy as auditory intervention might thus reduce some of the deficits related to dyslexia. Importantly, reading-skill interventions are most effective when they are provided during kindergarten and first grade. Hence, we provided a tablet-based 12-week auditory and phonics-based intervention to pre-readers at cognitive risk for dyslexia and investigated the effect on auditory temporal processing with a rise time discrimination (RTD) task. Ninety-one pre-readers at cognitive risk for dyslexia (aged 5-6) were assigned to two groups receiving a phonics-based intervention and playing a story listening game either with (n = 31) or without (n = 31) EE or a third group playing control games and listening to non-enhanced stories (n = 29). RTD was measured directly before, directly after and 1 year after the intervention. While the groups listening to non-enhanced stories mainly improved after the intervention during first grade, the group listening to enhanced stories improved during the intervention in kindergarten and subsequently remained stable during first grade. Hence, an EE intervention improves auditory processing skills important for the development of phonological skills. This occurred before the onset of reading instruction, preceding the maturational improvement of these skills, hence potentially giving at risk children a head start when learning to read.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shauni Van Herck
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Femke Vanden Bempt
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Maria Economou
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jolijn Vanderauwera
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Leuven, Belgium.,Université Catholique de Louvain, Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.,Université Catholique de Louvain, Institute of Neuroscience, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Toivo Glatz
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Public Health, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin, Germany
| | - Benjamin Dieudonné
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Maaike Vandermosten
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Pol Ghesquière
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jan Wouters
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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10
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Yan X, Perkins K, Cao F. A hierarchical deficit model of reading disability: Evidence from dynamic causal modelling analysis. Neuropsychologia 2021; 154:107777. [PMID: 33549584 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.107777] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2020] [Revised: 02/01/2021] [Accepted: 02/03/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaohui Yan
- Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-Sen University, China
| | | | - Fan Cao
- Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-Sen University, China.
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11
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Kalashnikova M, Goswami U, Burnham D. Delayed development of phonological constancy in toddlers at family risk for dyslexia. Infant Behav Dev 2019; 57:101327. [PMID: 31207365 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2019.101327] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2018] [Revised: 04/26/2019] [Accepted: 04/27/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Phonological constancy refers to infants' ability to disregard variations in the phonetic realisation of speech sounds that do not indicate lexical contrast, e.g., when listening to accented speech. In typically-developing infants, this ability develops between 15- and 19-months of age, coinciding with the consolidation of infants' native phonological competence and vocabulary growth. Here we investigated the developmental time course of phonological constancy in infants at family risk for developmental dyslexia, using a longitudinal design. Developmental dyslexia is a disorder affecting the acquisition of reading and spelling skills, and it also affects early auditory processing, speech perception, and lexical acquisition. Infants at-risk and not at-risk for dyslexia, based on a family history of dyslexia, participated when they were 15-, 19-, and 26-months of age. Phonological constancy was indexed by comparing at-risk and not at-risk infants' ability to recognise familiar words in two preferential looking tasks: (1) a task using words presented in their native accent, and (2) a task using words presented in a non-native accent. We expected a delay in phonological constancy for the at-risk infants. As predicted, in the non-native accent task, not at-risk infants recognised familiar words by 19 months, but at-risk infants did not. The control infants thus exhibited phonological constancy. By 26 months, at-risk toddlers did show successful word recognition in the native accent task. However, for the non-native accent task at 26 months, neither at-risk nor control infants showed familiar word recognition. These findings are discussed in terms of the impact of family risk for dyslexia on toddlers' consolidation of early phonological and lexical skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Kalashnikova
- BCBL. Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, Donostia, Spain; The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Penrith, Australia.
| | - Usha Goswami
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Denis Burnham
- The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Penrith, Australia
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Law JM, De Vos A, Vanderauwera J, Wouters J, Ghesquière P, Vandermosten M. Grapheme-Phoneme Learning in an Unknown Orthography: A Study in Typical Reading and Dyslexic Children. Front Psychol 2018; 9:1393. [PMID: 30158886 PMCID: PMC6103482 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2018] [Accepted: 07/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
In this study, we examined the learning of new grapheme-phoneme correspondences in individuals with and without dyslexia. Additionally, we investigated the relation between grapheme-phoneme learning and measures of phonological awareness, orthographic knowledge and rapid automatized naming, with a focus on the unique joint variance of grapheme-phoneme learning to word and non-word reading achievement. Training of grapheme-phoneme associations consisted of a 20-min training program in which eight novel letters (Hebrew) needed to be paired with speech sounds taken from the participant's native language (Dutch). Eighty-four third grade students, of whom 20 were diagnosed with dyslexia, participated in the training and testing. Our results indicate a reduced ability of dyslexic readers in applying newly learned grapheme-phoneme correspondences while reading words which consist of these novel letters. However, we did not observe a significant independent contribution of grapheme-phoneme learning to reading outcomes. Alternatively, results from the regression analysis indicate that failure to read may be due to differences in phonological and/or orthographic knowledge but not to differences in the grapheme-phoneme-conversion process itself.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy M Law
- School of Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom.,Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Astrid De Vos
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Laboratory for Experimental ORL, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jolijn Vanderauwera
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Laboratory for Experimental ORL, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jan Wouters
- Laboratory for Experimental ORL, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Pol Ghesquière
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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13
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Goswami U. A Neural Basis for Phonological Awareness? An Oscillatory Temporal-Sampling Perspective. CURRENT DIRECTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2017. [DOI: 10.1177/0963721417727520] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Individual differences in phonological awareness, or speech-sound awareness, between children predict reading and spelling development across languages. Recent advances in our understanding of the neural basis of speech encoding suggest one possible sensory and neural basis for these individual differences. This article describes an oscillatory theoretical perspective based on sampling of the speech stream by networks of cells that vary in excitability at different temporal rates. These variations in neural excitability (oscillations) may align to similar energy variations (such as amplitude modulations, AMs) in speech, helping to encode the signal. Indeed, cell networks in auditory cortex form an oscillatory hierarchy, which mirrors an AM hierarchy found in rhythmic speech. Mappings between these hierarchies may support parsing of the speech signal into phonological units. Oscillations at approximately 2 Hz may help identify stressed syllables, used to convey meaning in all languages, while oscillations at approximately 5 Hz may help identify syllables. Behavioral research suggests that the rhythmic patterning of stressed syllables may provide an acoustic “skeleton” for phonological development across languages. As well as helping to explain individual differences, an oscillatory framework offers new targets for improving children’s phonological development, for example, via multimodal rhythmic activities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Usha Goswami
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge
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14
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Germano GD, César ABPDC, Capellini SA. Screening Protocol for Early Identification of Brazilian Children at Risk for Dyslexia. Front Psychol 2017; 8:1763. [PMID: 29163246 PMCID: PMC5664173 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2017] [Accepted: 09/22/2017] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Early identification of students at risk of dyslexia has been an educational challenge in the past years. This research had two main goals. First, we aimed to develop a screening protocol for early identification of Brazilian children at risk for dyslexia; second, we aimed to identify the predictive variables of this protocol using Principal Component Analysis. The major step involved in developing this protocol was the selection of variables, which were chosen based on the literature review and linguistic criteria. The screening protocol was composed of seven cognitive-linguistic skills: Letter naming; Phonological Awareness (which comprises the following subtests: Rhyme production, Rhyme identification, Syllabic segmentation, Production of words from a given phoneme, Phonemic Synthesis, and Phonemic analysis); Phonological Working memory, Rapid naming Speed; Silent reading; Reading of words and non-words; and Auditory Comprehension of sentences from pictures. A total of 149 children, aged from 6 years to 6 and 11, of both genders who were enrolled in the 1st grade of elementary public schools were submitted to the screening protocol. Principal Component Analysis revealed four factors, accounting for 64.45% of the variance of the Protocol variables: first factor ("pre-reading"), second factor ("decoding"), third factor ("Reading"), and fourth factor "Auditory processing." The factors found corroborate those reported in the National and International literature and have been described as early signs of dyslexia and reading problems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giseli D. Germano
- Investigation Learning Disabilities Laboratory, Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, São Paulo State University “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), Marília, Brazil
- Department of Special Education, São Paulo State University “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), Marília, Brazil
| | - Alexandra B. P. de C. César
- Investigation Learning Disabilities Laboratory, Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, São Paulo State University “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), Marília, Brazil
- Speech and Hearing Sciences Department, São Paulo State University “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), Marília, Brazil
| | - Simone A. Capellini
- Investigation Learning Disabilities Laboratory, Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, São Paulo State University “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), Marília, Brazil
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Horowitz-Kraus T. Familial history of reading difficulty is associated with diffused bilateral brain activation during reading and greater association with visual attention abilities. ANNALS OF DYSLEXIA 2017; 67:281-298. [PMID: 29098513 DOI: 10.1007/s11881-017-0144-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2016] [Accepted: 05/05/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Reading difficulty (RD; or dyslexia) is a heritable condition characterized by slow, inaccurate reading accompanied by executive dysfunction, specifically with respect to visual attention. The current study was designed to examine the effect of familial history of RD on the relationship between reading and visual attention abilities in children with RD using a functional MRI reading task. Seventy-one children with RD participated in the study. Based on parental reports of the existence of RD in one or both of each child's parents, children with RD were divided into two groups: (1) those with a familial history of RD and (2) those without a familial history of RD. Reading and visual attention measures were collected from all participants. Functional MRI data during word reading was acquired in 30 participants of the entire cohort. Children with or without a familial history of RD demonstrated below-average reading and visual attention scores, with greater interaction between these measures in the group with a familial history of RD. Greater bilateral and diffused activation during word reading also were found in this group. We suggest that a familial history of RD is related to greater association between lower reading abilities and visual attention abilities. Parental history of RD therefore may be an important preschool screener (before reading age) to prompt early intervention focused on executive functions and reading-related skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus
- Educational Neuroimaging Center, Faculty of Eduucation in Science and Technology, Technion, Mt Carmel, Haifa, Israel.
- Reading and Literacy Discovery Center and the Pediatric Neuroimaging Research Consortium, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
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Law JM, Vandermosten M, Ghesquière P, Wouters J. Predicting Future Reading Problems Based on Pre-reading Auditory Measures: A Longitudinal Study of Children with a Familial Risk of Dyslexia. Front Psychol 2017; 8:124. [PMID: 28223953 PMCID: PMC5293743 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2016] [Accepted: 01/17/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose: This longitudinal study examines measures of temporal auditory processing in pre-reading children with a family risk of dyslexia. Specifically, it attempts to ascertain whether pre-reading auditory processing, speech perception, and phonological awareness (PA) reliably predict later literacy achievement. Additionally, this study retrospectively examines the presence of pre-reading auditory processing, speech perception, and PA impairments in children later found to be literacy impaired. Method: Forty-four pre-reading children with and without a family risk of dyslexia were assessed at three time points (kindergarten, first, and second grade). Auditory processing measures of rise time (RT) discrimination and frequency modulation (FM) along with speech perception, PA, and various literacy tasks were assessed. Results: Kindergarten RT uniquely contributed to growth in literacy in grades one and two, even after controlling for letter knowledge and PA. Highly significant concurrent and predictive correlations were observed with kindergarten RT significantly predicting first grade PA. Retrospective analysis demonstrated atypical performance in RT and PA at all three time points in children who later developed literacy impairments. Conclusions: Although significant, kindergarten auditory processing contributions to later literacy growth lack the power to be considered as a single-cause predictor; thus results support temporal processing deficits' contribution within a multiple deficit model of dyslexia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy M Law
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven Leuven, Belgium
| | - Maaike Vandermosten
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU LeuvenLeuven, Belgium; Laboratory for Experimental ORL, Department of Neuroscience, KU LeuvenLeuven, Belgium
| | - Pol Ghesquière
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jan Wouters
- Laboratory for Experimental ORL, Department of Neuroscience, KU Leuven Leuven, Belgium
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