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Bertoni S, Andreola C, Mascheretti S, Franceschini S, Ruffino M, Trezzi V, Molteni M, Sali ME, Salandi A, Gaggi O, Palazzi C, Gori S, Facoetti A. Action video games normalise the phonemic awareness in pre-readers at risk for developmental dyslexia. NPJ SCIENCE OF LEARNING 2024; 9:25. [PMID: 38514689 PMCID: PMC10957868 DOI: 10.1038/s41539-024-00230-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2023] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/23/2024]
Abstract
Action video-games (AVGs) could improve reading efficiency, enhancing not only visual attention but also phonological processing. Here we tested the AVG effects upon three consolidated language-based predictors of reading development in a sample of 79 pre-readers at-risk and 41 non-at-risk for developmental dyslexia. At-risk children were impaired in either phonemic awareness (i.e., phoneme discrimination task), phonological working memory (i.e., pseudoword repetition task) or rapid automatized naming (i.e., RAN of colours task). At-risk children were assigned to different groups by using an unequal allocation randomization: (1) AVG (n = 43), (2) Serious Non-Action Video Game (n = 11), (3) treatment-as-usual (i.e., speech therapy, n = 11), and (4) waiting list (n = 14). Pre- and post-training comparisons show that only phonemic awareness has a significantly higher improvement in the AVG group compared to the waiting list, the non-AVG, and the treatment-as-usual groups, as well as the combined active groups (n = 22). This cross-modal plastic change: (i) leads to a recovery in phonemic awareness when compared to the not-at-risk pre-readers; (ii) is present in more than 80% of AVG at-risk pre-readers, and; (iii) is maintained at a 6-months follow-up. The present findings indicate that this specific multisensory attentional training positively affects how phonemic awareness develops in pre-readers at risk for developmental dyslexia, paving the way for innovative prevention programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Bertoni
- Università di Bergamo, Department of Human and Social Sciences, Bergamo, Italy.
- Università di Padova, Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of General Psychology, Padova, Italy.
| | - Chiara Andreola
- Université Paris Cité, Laboratoire de Psychologie de Développement et de l'Éducation de l'Enfant (LaPsyDÉ), UMR CNRS 8240, Paris, France
| | - Sara Mascheretti
- Università di Pavia, Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, Pavia, Italy
- Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, Bosisio Parini, Child Psychopathology Unit, Lecco, Italy
| | | | - Milena Ruffino
- ASST Valle Olona, Neuropsychiatric Unit, Saronno, Varese, Italy
| | - Vittoria Trezzi
- Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, Bosisio Parini, Child Psychopathology Unit, Lecco, Italy
| | - Massimo Molteni
- Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, Bosisio Parini, Child Psychopathology Unit, Lecco, Italy
| | - Maria Enrica Sali
- Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, Bosisio Parini, Child Psychopathology Unit, Lecco, Italy
| | - Antonio Salandi
- Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, Bosisio Parini, Child Psychopathology Unit, Lecco, Italy
| | | | | | - Simone Gori
- Università di Bergamo, Department of Human and Social Sciences, Bergamo, Italy
| | - Andrea Facoetti
- Università di Padova, Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of General Psychology, Padova, Italy.
- Sigmund Freud University, Milano, Italy.
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Dalvand H, Chamani N, Rahsepar-Fard K, Khorrami-Nejad M, Dadgar H. The effect of online visual games on visual perception, oculomotor, and balance skills of children with developmental dyslexia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Int Ophthalmol 2023; 43:5011-5024. [PMID: 37845578 DOI: 10.1007/s10792-023-02904-x] [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] [Received: 11/09/2022] [Accepted: 09/27/2023] [Indexed: 10/18/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE To evaluate the effect of online visual games on the balance, visual perception, and oculomotor skills of children with developmental dyslexia during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS In this single-blind randomized clinical trial, 50 children with developmental dyslexia, aged 7 to 11 years, were recruited from rehabilitation centers in Tehran, Iran, using a convenience sampling strategy. Participants were randomly divided into two groups: intervention (25) and control (25), with close matching based on sex, age, IQ, and type of disease. The interventions consisted of web-based online computer games focusing on visual perception and oculomotor skills. Outcome measures included the Test of Visual Perception Skills-Revised, the Pediatric Balance Scale, and videonystagmography. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV and the Reading and Dyslexia Test were used to evaluate IQ and reading skills, respectively. RESULTS The intervention group exhibited significant post-intervention improvements in the Test of Visual Perception Skills-Revised, tracking gain, saccade latency, and saccade velocity scores (all P < 0.001). In contrast, the control group showed no significant differences in these tests in pre- and post-intervention (all P > 0.05). Notably, post-intervention comparisons between the groups revealed significant differences in smooth pursuit eye movements (P < 0.001), saccade latency (P = 0.027), and saccade velocity (P < 0.001). The Pediatric Balance Scale scores remained unchanged in both groups post-intervention (intervention: P = 0.317; control: P = 0.999). Game face validity was affirmed with impact scores above 1.5 for all items, suggesting that the games were straightforward, clear, and relevant. CONCLUSION Online visual games enhanced oculomotor and visual perception skills in children with dyslexia but did not influence balance skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hamid Dalvand
- Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Rehabilitation, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Niloufar Chamani
- Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Rehabilitation, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
- Department of Neurosciences and Movement Sciences, Faculty of Science and Medicine, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland.
| | | | - Masoud Khorrami-Nejad
- Optometry Department, School of Rehabilitation, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Hooshang Dadgar
- Department of Speech Therapy, School of Rehabilitation, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
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Catronas D, Sousa J, Batista AR, Torres NL, Mesquita A, Folia V, Silva S. Duration perception for visual stimuli is impaired in dyslexia but deficits in visual processing may not be the culprits. Sci Rep 2023; 13:12873. [PMID: 37553469 PMCID: PMC10409714 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-40081-0] [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: 05/13/2023] [Accepted: 08/04/2023] [Indexed: 08/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Dyslexics underperform controls in estimating and comparing time intervals defined by visual stimuli. Accuracy in vision-based duration perception requires efficient processing of visual events because these will define the onset and offset of time intervals. Since dyslexics have difficulties processing dimensions of visual stimuli like luminance contrasts and motion, we do not know the extent to which these visual deficits are responsible for their difficulties in judging time intervals. To address this gap, we asked adults with dyslexia and matched controls to perform an interval comparison task involving five different types of visual stimuli with different levels of challenge regarding luminance contrasts and motion. If the expected disadvantage of dyslexics in visual duration perception increased for stimuli requiring increased luminance or motion processing, this would indicate that visual processing plays a role. Results showed poorer time discrimination in dyslexics, but this disadvantage did not change according to stimulus type. Complementary analyses of oculomotor behavior during the task suggested that the poorer timing performance of dyslexics may relate instead to attention and/or engagement with the task. Our findings strengthen the evidence in favor of visual duration perception deficits in dyslexia, but not the hypothesis that these result from purely visual problems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dinis Catronas
- Psychology Department, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, 4200-135, Porto, Portugal
| | - José Sousa
- Psychology Department, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, 4200-135, Porto, Portugal
| | - Ana Rita Batista
- Psychology Department, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, 4200-135, Porto, Portugal
| | - Nathércia Lima Torres
- Psychology Department, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, 4200-135, Porto, Portugal
| | - Ana Mesquita
- Psychology Department, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, 4200-135, Porto, Portugal
| | - Vasiliki Folia
- Lab of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece.
| | - Susana Silva
- Psychology Department, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, 4200-135, Porto, Portugal
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Pellegrino M, Ben-Soussan TD, Paoletti P. A Scoping Review on Movement, Neurobiology and Functional Deficits in Dyslexia: Suggestions for a Three-Fold Integrated Perspective. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2023; 20:3315. [PMID: 36834011 PMCID: PMC9966639 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20043315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2022] [Revised: 02/08/2023] [Accepted: 02/12/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Developmental dyslexia is a common complex neurodevelopmental disorder. Many theories and models tried to explain its symptomatology and find ways to improve poor reading abilities. The aim of this scoping review is to summarize current findings and several approaches and theories, focusing on the interconnectedness between motion, emotion and cognition and their connection to dyslexia. Consequently, we present first a brief overview of the main theories and models regarding dyslexia and its proposed neural correlates, with a particular focus on cerebellar regions and their involvement in this disorder. After examining different types of intervention programs and remedial training, we highlight the effects of a specific structured sensorimotor intervention named Quadrato Motor Training (QMT). QMT utilizes several cognitive and motor functions known to be relevant in developmental dyslexia. We introduce its potential beneficial effects on reading skills, including working memory, coordination and attention. We sum its effects ranging from behavioral to functional, structural and neuroplastic, especially in relation to dyslexia. We report several recent studies that employed this training technique with dyslexic participants, discussing the specific features that distinguish it from other training within the specific framework of the Sphere Model of Consciousness. Finally, we advocate for a new perspective on developmental dyslexia integrating motion, emotion and cognition to fully encompass this complex disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele Pellegrino
- Research Institute for Neuroscience, Education and Didactics, Patrizio Paoletti Foundation for Development and Communication, 06081 Assisi, Italy
| | - Tal Dotan Ben-Soussan
- Research Institute for Neuroscience, Education and Didactics, Patrizio Paoletti Foundation for Development and Communication, 06081 Assisi, Italy
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Liu YF, Qian Y, Bi HY. Visual motion processing in Chinese children with developmental dyslexia: An fMRI study. DYSLEXIA (CHICHESTER, ENGLAND) 2022; 28:431-447. [PMID: 36329601 DOI: 10.1002/dys.1726] [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: 07/29/2021] [Revised: 06/30/2022] [Accepted: 07/21/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Dorsal stream is an important pathway for visual information transmission. As a part of the dorsal pathway, the middle temporal visual motion areas (V5/MT+) are mainly responsible for visual motion processing and the ability of visual motion processing is closely related to reading. Compared with alphabetic scripts, the visual structure of Chinese characters is more complex and there are no clear grapheme-phoneme correspondence rules. So the ability of visual analysis plays an important role in Chinese character processing. This study first investigated the brain activation of Chinese dyslexic children and children of the same chronological age when they observed coherent motion stimuli. ROI analysis indicated that only the activation of left V5/MT+ was significantly weaker in dyslexics than that in the control group. The activity of the magnocellular-dorsal stream was closely related to orthographic awareness in the combined data (two groups) and the typical children. In dyslexia group, the stronger the activation of V5/MT+ was, the worse the phonological awareness, rapid naming performance and orthographic awareness were. In short, Chinese dyslexic children were deficient in the activation of the left V5/MT+ and the activity of the magnocellular-dorsal pathway was closely related to orthographic awareness in Chinese pupils.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu-Fei Liu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Center for Brain Science and Learning Difficulties, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- China Textile and Apparel Press, Beijing, China
| | - Yi Qian
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Center for Brain Science and Learning Difficulties, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Wuxi Institute of Technology, Wuxi, China
| | - Hong-Yan Bi
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Center for Brain Science and Learning Difficulties, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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Battisti A, Lazzaro G, Costanzo F, Varuzza C, Rossi S, Vicari S, Menghini D. Effects of a short and intensive transcranial direct current stimulation treatment in children and adolescents with developmental dyslexia: A crossover clinical trial. Front Psychol 2022; 13:986242. [PMID: 36160506 PMCID: PMC9500580 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.986242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2022] [Accepted: 08/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Developmental Dyslexia (DD) significantly interferes with children’s academic, personal, social, and emotional functioning. Nevertheless, therapeutic options need to be further validated and tested in randomized controlled clinical trials. The use of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been gaining ground in recent years as a new intervention option for DD. However, there are still open questions regarding the most suitable tDCS protocol for young people with DD. The current crossover study tested the effectiveness of a short and intensive tDCS protocol, including the long-term effects, as well as the influence of age and neuropsychological processes at baseline on reading improvements. Twenty-four children and adolescents with DD were randomly assigned to receive active tDCS during the first slot and sham tDCS during the second slot or vice versa. Five consecutive daily sessions of left anodal/right cathodal tDCS set at 1 mA for 20 min were administered over the parieto-occipital regions. Reading measures (text, high frequency word, low frequency word, and non-word lists) and neuropsychological measures (visual-spatial and verbal working memory, phoneme blending, and rapid automatized naming tasks) were collected before, immediately after, 1 week and 1 month later the treatment. Our results showed that only the active tDCS condition improved non-word reading speed immediately after and 1 month later the end of the treatment compared with baseline. In addition, the improvement in non-word reading speed was significantly correlated with age and with neuropsychological measures (verbal working memory and phoneme blending) at baseline but only in the active tDCS condition. The current crossover study contributed to enforce previous effects of tDCS, including long-term effects, on non-word reading speed and to understand the effect of age and neuropsychological processes on reading outcomes. Our findings showed that tDCS could be a low-cost and easy-to-implement treatment option with long-term effects for children and adolescents with DD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Battisti
- Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Neuroscience, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
- Department of Human Science, LUMSA University, Rome, Italy
| | - Giulia Lazzaro
- Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Neuroscience, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Floriana Costanzo
- Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Neuroscience, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Cristiana Varuzza
- Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Neuroscience, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Serena Rossi
- Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Neuroscience, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Stefano Vicari
- Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Neuroscience, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
- Department of Life Science and Public Health, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy
| | - Deny Menghini
- Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Neuroscience, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
- *Correspondence: Deny Menghini,
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Manning C, Hulks V, Tibber MS, Dakin SC. Integration of visual motion and orientation signals in dyslexic children: an equivalent noise approach. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:200414. [PMID: 35592763 PMCID: PMC9066306 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.200414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2020] [Accepted: 04/01/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Dyslexic individuals have been reported to have reduced global motion sensitivity, which could be attributed to various causes including atypical magnocellular or dorsal stream function, impaired spatial integration, increased internal noise and/or reduced external noise exclusion. Here, we applied an equivalent noise experimental paradigm alongside a traditional motion-coherence task to determine what limits global motion processing in dyslexia. We also presented static analogues of the motion tasks (orientation tasks) to investigate whether perceptual differences in dyslexia were restricted to motion processing. We compared the performance of 48 dyslexic and 48 typically developing children aged 8 to 14 years in these tasks and used equivalent noise modelling to estimate levels of internal noise (the precision associated with estimating each element's direction/orientation) and sampling (the effective number of samples integrated to judge the overall direction/orientation). While group differences were subtle, dyslexic children had significantly higher internal noise estimates for motion discrimination, and higher orientation-coherence thresholds, than typical children. Thus, while perceptual differences in dyslexia do not appear to be restricted to motion tasks, motion and orientation processing seem to be affected differently. The pattern of results also differs from that previously reported in autistic children, suggesting perceptual processing differences are condition-specific.
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Affiliation(s)
- Catherine Manning
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, UK
| | - Victoria Hulks
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK
| | - Marc S. Tibber
- Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, UCL, UK
| | - Steven C. Dakin
- School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Auckland, New Zealand
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, UK
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Is there magnocellular facilitation of early neural processes underlying visual word recognition? Evidence from masked repetition priming with ERPs. Neuropsychologia 2022; 170:108230. [PMID: 35395249 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2021] [Revised: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 03/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
An influential theory in the field of visual object recognition proposes that it is the fast magnocellular (M) system that facilitates neural processing of spatially more fine-grained information rather the slower parvocellular (P) system. While written words can be considered as a special type of visual objects, it is unknown whether magnocellular facilitation also plays a role in reading. We used a masked priming paradigm that has been shown to result in neural facilitation in visual word processing and tested whether these facilitating effects are mediated by the magnocellular system. In two experiments, we manipulated the influence of magnocellular and parvocellular systems on visual processing of a contextually predictable target character by contrasting high versus low spatial frequency and luminance versus color contrast, respectively. In addition, unchanged (normal) primes were included in both experiments as a manipulation check. As expected, unchanged primes elicited typical repetition effects in the N1, N250 and P3 components of the ERP in both experiments. In the experiment manipulating spatial contrast, we obtained repetition effects only for the N1 component for both M- and P-biased primes. In the luminance versus color contrast experiment, repetition effects were found in N1 and N250 for both M- and P- biased primes. Furthermore, no interactions were found between M-vs. P-biased prime types and repetition. Together these results indicate that M- and P- information contributes jointly to early neural processes underlying visual word recognition.
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Ebrahimi L, Pouretemad H, Stein J, Alizadeh E, Khatibi A. Enhanced reading abilities is modulated by faster visual spatial attention. ANNALS OF DYSLEXIA 2022; 72:125-146. [PMID: 34510363 DOI: 10.1007/s11881-021-00245-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2021] [Accepted: 08/26/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Research has shown improved reading following visual magnocellular training in individuals with dyslexia. Many studies have demonstrated how the magnocellular pathway controls visual spatial attention. Therefore, we have investigated the relationship between magnocellular pathway and visual spatial attention deficits in dyslexia in order to better understand how magnocellular-based interventions may help children to learn to read. Magnocellular function, visual spatial attention, and reading abilities of thirty elementary school students with dyslexia, aged between 8 and 10, were measured. The experimental group received magnocellular-based visual motion training for 12 sessions, while the control group received neutral sessions. All tests were repeated at the end of the training and after 1 month. The magnocellular functioning, visual spatial attention, and reading abilities of the experimental group improved significantly compared to the controls. Additionally, improvement in reaction time of invalid conditions predicted improvements in saccadic eye movements. We conclude that visual magnocellular training improved saccadic eye movement control, visual spatial orientation, and reading ability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leila Ebrahimi
- Institute for Cognitive & Brain Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, 1983969411, EvinTehran, Iran
| | - Hamidreza Pouretemad
- Institute for Cognitive & Brain Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, 1983969411, EvinTehran, Iran.
- Department of Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
| | - John Stein
- Department of Physiology, Anatomy & Genetics, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
| | - Ebrahim Alizadeh
- Department of Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Ali Khatibi
- Centre of Precision Rehabilitation for Spinal Pain, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
- Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
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Freire MR, Pammer K. Reading as A Cultural Tool for Neurocognitive Development: A Complex Interactive Relationship between Reading Acquisition and Visuospatial Development for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. JOURNAL OF COGNITION AND DEVELOPMENT 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/15248372.2022.2037606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Melissa R. Freire
- Research School of Psychology, Australian National University, Australia
| | - Kristen Pammer
- Research School of Psychology, Australian National University, Australia
- School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Australia
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Manning C, Hassall CD, Hunt LT, Norcia AM, Wagenmakers EJ, Snowling MJ, Scerif G, Evans NJ. Visual Motion and Decision-Making in Dyslexia: Reduced Accumulation of Sensory Evidence and Related Neural Dynamics. J Neurosci 2022; 42:121-134. [PMID: 34782439 PMCID: PMC8741156 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1232-21.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2021] [Revised: 09/15/2021] [Accepted: 09/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Children with and without dyslexia differ in their behavioral responses to visual information, particularly when required to pool dynamic signals over space and time. Importantly, multiple processes contribute to behavioral responses. Here we investigated which processing stages are affected in children with dyslexia when performing visual motion processing tasks, by combining two methods that are sensitive to the dynamic processes leading to responses. We used a diffusion model which decomposes response time and accuracy into distinct cognitive constructs, and high-density EEG. Fifty children with dyslexia (24 male) and 50 typically developing children (28 male) 6-14 years of age judged the direction of motion as quickly and accurately as possible in two global motion tasks (motion coherence and direction integration), which varied in their requirements for noise exclusion. Following our preregistered analyses, we fitted hierarchical Bayesian diffusion models to the data, blinded to group membership. Unblinding revealed reduced evidence accumulation in children with dyslexia compared with typical children for both tasks. Additionally, we identified a response-locked EEG component which was maximal over centro-parietal electrodes which indicated a neural correlate of reduced drift rate in dyslexia in the motion coherence task, thereby linking brain and behavior. We suggest that children with dyslexia tend to be slower to extract sensory evidence from global motion displays, regardless of whether noise exclusion is required, thus furthering our understanding of atypical perceptual decision-making processes in dyslexia.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Reduced sensitivity to visual information has been reported in dyslexia, with a lively debate about whether these differences causally contribute to reading difficulties. In this large preregistered study with a blind modeling approach, we combine state-of-the art methods in both computational modeling and EEG analysis to pinpoint the stages of processing that are atypical in children with dyslexia in two visual motion tasks that vary in their requirement for noise exclusion. We find reduced evidence accumulation in children with dyslexia across both tasks, and identify a neural marker, allowing us to link brain and behavior. We show that children with dyslexia exhibit general difficulties with extracting sensory evidence from global motion displays, not just in tasks that require noise exclusion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Catherine Manning
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, OX2 6GG
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom, RG6 6ES
| | - Cameron D Hassall
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, OX3 7JX
| | - Laurence T Hunt
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, OX3 7JX
| | - Anthony M Norcia
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, US
| | - Eric-Jan Wagenmakers
- Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, University of Amsterdam, 1001 NH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Margaret J Snowling
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, OX2 6GG
| | - Gaia Scerif
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, OX2 6GG
| | - Nathan J Evans
- School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072 Australia
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Animal models of developmental dyslexia: Where we are and what we are missing. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 131:1180-1197. [PMID: 34699847 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.10.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2021] [Revised: 10/20/2021] [Accepted: 10/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Developmental dyslexia (DD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder and the most common learning disability among both school-aged children and across languages. Recently, sensory and cognitive mechanisms have been reported to be potential endophenotypes (EPs) for DD, and nine DD-candidate genes have been identified. Animal models have been used to investigate the etiopathological pathways that underlie the development of complex traits, as they enable the effects of genetic and/or environmental manipulations to be evaluated. Animal research designs have also been linked to cutting-edge clinical research questions by capitalizing on the use of EPs. For the present scoping review, we reviewed previous studies of murine models investigating the effects of DD-candidate genes. Moreover, we highlighted the use of animal models as an innovative way to unravel new insights behind the pathophysiology of reading (dis)ability and to assess cutting-edge preclinical models.
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Mascheretti S, Peruzzo D, Andreola C, Villa M, Ciceri T, Trezzi V, Marino C, Arrigoni F. Selecting the Most Relevant Brain Regions to Classify Children with Developmental Dyslexia and Typical Readers by Using Complex Magnocellular Stimuli and Multiple Kernel Learning. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11060722. [PMID: 34071649 PMCID: PMC8228080 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11060722] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2021] [Revised: 05/20/2021] [Accepted: 05/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Increasing evidence supports the presence of deficits in the visual magnocellular (M) system in developmental dyslexia (DD). The M system is related to the fronto-parietal attentional network. Previous neuroimaging studies have revealed reduced/absent activation within the visual M pathway in DD, but they have failed to characterize the extensive brain network activated by M stimuli. We performed a multivariate pattern analysis on a Region of Interest (ROI) level to differentiate between children with DD and age-matched typical readers (TRs) by combining full-field sinusoidal gratings, controlled for spatial and temporal frequencies and luminance contrast, and a coherent motion (CM) sensitivity task at 6%-CML6, 15%-CML15 and 40%-CML40. ROIs spanning the entire visual dorsal stream and ventral attention network (VAN) had higher discriminative weights and showed higher act1ivation in TRs than in children with DD. Of the two tasks, CM had the greatest weight when classifying TRs and children with DD in most of the ROIs spanning these streams. For the CML6, activation within the right superior parietal cortex positively correlated with reading skills. Our approach highlighted the dorsal stream and the VAN as highly discriminative areas between children with DD and TRs and allowed for a better characterization of the "dorsal stream vulnerability" underlying DD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Mascheretti
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy; (C.A.); (M.V.); (V.T.)
- Correspondence: (S.M.); (F.A.)
| | - Denis Peruzzo
- Neuroimaging Lab, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy; (D.P.); (T.C.)
| | - Chiara Andreola
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy; (C.A.); (M.V.); (V.T.)
- Laboratoire de Psychologie de Développement et de l’Éducation de l’Enfant (LaPsyDÉ), Université de Paris, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Martina Villa
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy; (C.A.); (M.V.); (V.T.)
| | - Tommaso Ciceri
- Neuroimaging Lab, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy; (D.P.); (T.C.)
| | - Vittoria Trezzi
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy; (C.A.); (M.V.); (V.T.)
| | - Cecilia Marino
- The Division of Child and Youth Psychiatry at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto, ON M6J 1H4, Canada;
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5T 1R8, Canada
| | - Filippo Arrigoni
- Neuroimaging Lab, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy; (D.P.); (T.C.)
- Correspondence: (S.M.); (F.A.)
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14
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Liebig J, Froehlich E, Sylvester T, Braun M, Heekeren HR, Ziegler JC, Jacobs AM. Neural processing of vision and language in kindergarten is associated with prereading skills and predicts future literacy. Hum Brain Mapp 2021; 42:3517-3533. [PMID: 33942958 PMCID: PMC8249894 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2020] [Revised: 03/15/2021] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
The main objective of this longitudinal study was to investigate the neural predictors of reading acquisition. For this purpose, we followed a sample of 54 children from the end of kindergarten to the end of second grade. Preliterate children were tested for visual symbol (checkerboards, houses, faces, written words) and auditory language processing (spoken words) using a passive functional magnetic resonance imaging paradigm. To examine brain-behavior relationships, we also tested cognitive-linguistic prereading skills at kindergarten age and reading performance of 48 of the same children 2 years later. Face-selective response in the bilateral fusiform gyrus was positively associated with rapid automatized naming (RAN). Response to both spoken and written words at preliterate age was negatively associated with RAN in the dorsal temporo-parietal language system. Longitudinally, neural response to faces in the ventral stream predicted future reading fluency. Here, stronger neural activity in inferior and middle temporal gyri at kindergarten age was associated with higher reading performance. Our results suggest that interindividual differences in the neural system of language and reading affect literacy acquisition and thus might serve as a marker for successful reading acquisition in preliterate children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johanna Liebig
- Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Eva Froehlich
- Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Teresa Sylvester
- Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Mario Braun
- Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Universität Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Hauke R Heekeren
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Deparment of Biological Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Johannes C Ziegler
- Aix-Marseille Université and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Laboratoire de Psychologie Cognitive, Marseille, France
| | - Arthur M Jacobs
- Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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15
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Dushanova JA, Tsokov SA. Altered electroencephalographic networks in developmental dyslexia after remedial training: a prospective case-control study. Neural Regen Res 2021; 16:734-743. [PMID: 33063736 PMCID: PMC8067933 DOI: 10.4103/1673-5374.295334] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2020] [Revised: 03/02/2020] [Accepted: 07/22/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Electroencephalographic studies using graph theoretic analysis have found aberrations in functional connectivity in children with developmental dyslexia. However, how the training with visual tasks can change the functional connectivity of the semantic network in developmental dyslexia is still unclear. We looked for differences in local and global topological properties of functional networks between 21 healthy controls and 22 dyslexic children (8-9 years old) before and after training with visual tasks in this prospective case-control study. The minimum spanning tree method was used to construct the subjects' brain networks in multiple electroencephalographic frequency ranges during a visual word/pseudoword discrimination task. We found group differences in the theta, alpha, beta and gamma bands for four graph measures suggesting a more integrated network topology in dyslexics before the training compared to controls. After training, the network topology of dyslexic children had become more segregated and similar to that of the controls. In the θ, α and β1-frequency bands, compared to the controls, the pre-training dyslexics exhibited a reduced degree and betweenness centrality of the left anterior temporal and parietal regions. The simultaneous appearance in the left hemisphere of hubs in temporal and parietal (α, β1), temporal and superior frontal cortex (θ, α), parietal and occipitotemporal cortices (β1), identified in the networks of normally developing children was not present in the brain networks of dyslexics. After training, the hub distribution for dyslexics in the theta and beta1 bands had become similar to that of the controls. In summary, our findings point to a less efficient network configuration in dyslexics compared to a more optimal global organization in the controls. This is the first study to investigate the topological organization of functional brain networks of Bulgarian dyslexic children. Approval for the study was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the Institute of Neurobiology and the Institute for Population and Human Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (approval No. 02-41/12.07.2019) on March 28, 2017, and the State Logopedic Center and the Ministry of Education and Science (approval No. 09-69/14.03.2017) on July 12, 2019.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Stefan A. Tsokov
- Institute of Neurobiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
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16
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Nguyen BN, Kolbe SC, Verghese A, Nearchou C, McKendrick AM, Egan GF, Vidyasagar TR. Visual search efficiency and functional visual cortical size in children with and without dyslexia. Neuropsychologia 2021; 155:107819. [PMID: 33684399 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.107819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2020] [Revised: 01/28/2021] [Accepted: 03/02/2021] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Dyslexia is characterised by poor reading ability. Its aetiology is probably multifactorial, with abnormal visual processing playing an important role. Among adults with normal reading ability, there is a larger representation of central visual field in the primary visual cortex (V1) in those with more efficient visuospatial attention. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that poor reading ability in school-aged children (17 children with dyslexia, 14 control children with normal reading ability) is associated with deficits in visuospatial attention using a visual search task. We corroborated the psychophysical findings with neuroimaging, by measuring the functional size of V1 in response to a central 12° visual stimulus. Consistent with other literature, visual search was impaired and less efficient in the dyslexic children, particularly with more distractor elements in the search array (p = 0.04). We also found atypical interhemispheric asymmetry in functional V1 size in the dyslexia group (p = 0.02). Reading impaired children showed poorer visual search efficiency (p = 0.01), needing more time per unit distractor (higher ms/item). Reading ability was also correlated with V1 size asymmetry (p = 0.03), such that poorer readers showed less left hemisphere bias relative to the right hemisphere. Our findings support the view that dyslexic children have abnormal visuospatial attention and interhemispheric V1 asymmetry, relative to chronological age-matched peers, and that these factors may contribute to inter-individual variation in reading performance in children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bao N Nguyen
- Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
| | - Scott C Kolbe
- Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
| | - Ashika Verghese
- Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
| | - Christine Nearchou
- Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
| | - Allison M McKendrick
- Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
| | - Gary F Egan
- Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
| | - Trichur R Vidyasagar
- Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
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17
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Selective Inhibition of Mirror Invariance for Letters Consolidated by Sleep Doubles Reading Fluency. Curr Biol 2021; 31:742-752.e8. [PMID: 33338430 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.11.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2020] [Revised: 08/18/2020] [Accepted: 11/12/2020] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Mirror invariance is a visual mechanism that enables a prompt recognition of mirror images. This visual capacity emerges early in human development, is useful to recognize objects, faces, and places from both left and right perspectives, and is also present in primates, pigeons, and cephalopods. Notwithstanding, the same visual mechanism has been suspected to be the source of a specific difficulty for a relatively recent human invention-reading-by creating confusion between mirror letters (e.g., b-d in the Latin alphabet). Using an ecologically valid school-based design, we show here that mirror invariance represents indeed a major leash for reading fluency acquisition in first graders. Our causal approach, which specifically targeted mirror invariance inhibition for letters, in a synergic combination with post-training sleep to increase learning consolidation, revealed unprecedented improvement in reading fluency, which became two-times faster. This gain was obtained with as little as 7.5 h of multisensory-motor training to distinguish mirror letters, such as "b" versus "d." The magnitude, automaticity, and duration of this mirror discrimination learning were greatly enhanced by sleep, which keeps the gains perfectly intact even after 4 months. The results were consistently replicated in three randomized controlled trials. They not only reveal an extreme case of cognitive plasticity in humans (i.e., the inhibition in just 3 weeks of a ∼25-million-year-old visual mechanism), that allows adaptation to a cultural activity (reading), but at the same time also show a simple and cost-effective way to unleash the reading fluency potential of millions of children worldwide.
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18
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Beyond Reading Modulation: Temporo-Parietal tDCS Alters Visuo-Spatial Attention and Motion Perception in Dyslexia. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11020263. [PMID: 33669651 PMCID: PMC7922381 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11020263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2020] [Revised: 02/13/2021] [Accepted: 02/16/2021] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental disorder with an atypical activation of posterior left-hemisphere brain reading networks (i.e., temporo-occipital and temporo-parietal regions) and multiple neuropsychological deficits. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a tool for manipulating neural activity and, in turn, neurocognitive processes. While studies have demonstrated the significant effects of tDCS on reading, neurocognitive changes beyond reading modulation have been poorly investigated. The present study aimed at examining whether tDCS on temporo-parietal regions affected not only reading, but also phonological skills, visuo-spatial working memory, visuo-spatial attention, and motion perception in a polarity-dependent way. In a within-subjects design, ten children and adolescents with dyslexia performed reading and neuropsychological tasks after 20 min of exposure to Left Anodal/Right Cathodal (LA/RC) and Right Anodal/Left Cathodal (RA/LC) tDCS. LA/RC tDCS compared to RA/LC tDCS improved text accuracy, word recognition speed, motion perception, and modified attentional focusing in our group of children and adolescents with dyslexia. Changes in text reading accuracy and word recognition speed—after LA/RC tDCS compared to RA/LC—were related to changes in motion perception and in visuo-spatial working memory, respectively. Our findings demonstrated that reading and domain-general neurocognitive functions in a group of children and adolescents with dyslexia change following tDCS and that they are polarity-dependent.
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19
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Investigating the role of temporal processing in developmental dyslexia: Evidence for a specific deficit in rapid visual segmentation. Psychon Bull Rev 2021; 27:724-734. [PMID: 32495210 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-020-01752-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
The current study investigates the role of temporal processing in the visual domain in participants with developmental dyslexia (DD), the most common neurodevelopmental disorder, which is characterized by severe and specific difficulties in learning to read despite normal intelligence and adequate education. Specifically, our aim was to test whether DD is associated with a general impairment of temporal sensory processing or a specific deficit in temporal integration (which ensures stability of object identity and location) or segregation (which ensures sensitivity to changes in visual input). Participants with DD performed a task that measured both temporal integration and segregation using an identical sequence of two displays separated by a varying interstimulus interval (ISI) under two different task instructions. Results showed that participants with DD performed worse in the segregation task, with a shallower slope of the psychometric curve of percentage correct as a function of the ISI between the two target displays. Moreover, we found also a relationship between temporal segregation performance and text, words, and pseudowords reading speeds at the individual level. In contrast, no significant association between reading (dis)ability and temporal integration emerged. The current findings provide evidence for a difference in the fine temporal resolution of visual processing in DD and, considering the growing evidence about a link between visual temporal segregation and neural oscillations at specific frequencies, they support the idea that DD is characterized by an altered oscillatory sampling within the visual system.
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20
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Mascheretti S, Riva V, Feng B, Trezzi V, Andreola C, Giorda R, Villa M, Dionne G, Gori S, Marino C, Facoetti A. The Mediation Role of Dynamic Multisensory Processing Using Molecular Genetic Data in Dyslexia. Brain Sci 2020; 10:brainsci10120993. [PMID: 33339203 PMCID: PMC7765588 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci10120993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2020] [Revised: 12/04/2020] [Accepted: 12/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Although substantial heritability has been reported and candidate genes have been identified, we are far from understanding the etiopathogenetic pathways underlying developmental dyslexia (DD). Reading-related endophenotypes (EPs) have been established. Until now it was unknown whether they mediated the pathway from gene to reading (dis)ability. Thus, in a sample of 223 siblings from nuclear families with DD and 79 unrelated typical readers, we tested four EPs (i.e., rapid auditory processing, rapid automatized naming, multisensory nonspatial attention and visual motion processing) and 20 markers spanning five DD-candidate genes (i.e., DYX1C1, DCDC2, KIAA0319, ROBO1 and GRIN2B) using a multiple-predictor/multiple-mediator framework. Our results show that rapid auditory and visual motion processing are mediators in the pathway from ROBO1-rs9853895 to reading. Specifically, the T/T genotype group predicts impairments in rapid auditory and visual motion processing which, in turn, predict poorer reading skills. Our results suggest that ROBO1 is related to reading via multisensory temporal processing. These findings support the use of EPs as an effective approach to disentangling the complex pathways between candidate genes and behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Mascheretti
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy; (S.M.); (V.R.); (V.T.); (C.A.)
| | - Valentina Riva
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy; (S.M.); (V.R.); (V.T.); (C.A.)
| | - Bei Feng
- École de Psychologie, Laval University, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada; (B.F.); (G.D.)
| | - Vittoria Trezzi
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy; (S.M.); (V.R.); (V.T.); (C.A.)
| | - Chiara Andreola
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy; (S.M.); (V.R.); (V.T.); (C.A.)
- Laboratoire de Psychologie du Développement et de l’Éducation de l’Enfant (LaPsyDÉ), Universitè de Paris, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Roberto Giorda
- Molecular Biology Laboratory, Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy; (R.G.); (M.V.)
| | - Marco Villa
- Molecular Biology Laboratory, Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy; (R.G.); (M.V.)
| | - Ginette Dionne
- École de Psychologie, Laval University, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada; (B.F.); (G.D.)
| | - Simone Gori
- Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, 24100 Bergamo, Italy;
| | - Cecilia Marino
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy; (S.M.); (V.R.); (V.T.); (C.A.)
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5T 1R8, Canada
- The Division of Child and Youth Psychiatry, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto, ON M6J 1H4, Canada
- Correspondence: (C.M.); (A.F.)
| | - Andrea Facoetti
- Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, 35131 Padua, Italy
- Correspondence: (C.M.); (A.F.)
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21
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Ciavarelli A, Contemori G, Battaglini L, Barollo M, Casco C. Dyslexia and the magnocellular-parvocellular coactivaton hypothesis. Vision Res 2020; 179:64-74. [PMID: 33310233 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2020.10.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2020] [Revised: 10/20/2020] [Accepted: 10/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Previous studies showed that the lateral masking of a fast-moving low spatial frequency (SF) target was strong when exerted by static flankers of lower or equal to the target SF and absent when flankers' SF was higher than the target's one. These masking and unmasking effects have been interpreted as due to Magnocellular-Magnocellular (M-M) inhibition and Parvocellular-on-Magnocellular (P-M) disinhibitory coactivation, respectively. Based on the hypothesis that the balance between the two systems is perturbed in Developmental Dyslexia (DD), we asked whether dyslexic children (DDs) behaved differently than Typically Developing children (TDs) in conditions of lateral masking. DDs and TDs performed a motion discrimination task, of a .5c/deg Gabor target moving at 16 deg/sec, either isolated or flanked by static Gabors with a SF of .125, .5 or 2 c/deg (Experiment 1). As a control, they also performed a contrast detection task of a static target, either isolated or flanked (Experiment 2). DDs did not perform any different from TDs with either a static target or an isolated moving target of low spatial frequency, thus suggesting efficient feedforward Magnocellular (M) and Parvocellular (P) processing. Also, DDs showed similar contrast thresholds to TDs in the M-M inhibition condition. Conversely, DDs did not recover from lateral masking in the M-P coactivation condition. In addition, their performance in this condition negatively correlated with non-words accuracy, supporting the suggestion that an inefficient Magno-Parvo coactivation may possibly be associated to both higher visual suppression and reduced perceptual stability during reading.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ambra Ciavarelli
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; Neuro.Vis.U.S. Laboratory, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
| | - Giulio Contemori
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; Neuro.Vis.U.S. Laboratory, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Luca Battaglini
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; Neuro.Vis.U.S. Laboratory, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Michele Barollo
- Neuro.Vis.U.S. Laboratory, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Clara Casco
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; Neuro.Vis.U.S. Laboratory, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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22
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Liu N, Zhao J, Huang C, Xing X, Lu S, Wang Z. Predicting early reading fluency based on preschool measures of low‐level visual temporal processing: A possible mediation by high‐level visual temporal processing skills. INFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/icd.2211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ningyu Liu
- Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition School of Psychology, Capital Normal University Beijing China
| | - Jing Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition School of Psychology, Capital Normal University Beijing China
| | - Chen Huang
- Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition School of Psychology, Capital Normal University Beijing China
| | - Xiaopei Xing
- Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition School of Psychology, Capital Normal University Beijing China
| | - Shan Lu
- Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition School of Psychology, Capital Normal University Beijing China
| | - Zhengyan Wang
- Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition School of Psychology, Capital Normal University Beijing China
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23
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Abstract
Electroencephalographic studies using graph-theoretic analysis have found aberrations in functional connectivity in dyslexics. How visual nonverbal training (VT) can change the functional connectivity of the reading network in developmental dyslexia is still unclear. We studied differences in the local and global topological properties of functional reading networks between controls and dyslexic children before and after VT. The minimum spanning tree method was used to construct the reading networks in multiple electroencephalogram (EEG) frequency bands. Compared to controls, pre-training dyslexics had a higher leaf fraction, tree hierarchy, kappa, and smaller diameter (θ—γ-frequency bands), and therefore, they had a less segregated neural network than controls. After training, the reading-network metrics of dyslexics became similar to controls. In β1 and γ-frequency bands, pre-training dyslexics exhibited a reduced degree and betweenness centrality of hubs in superior, middle, and inferior frontal areas in both brain hemispheres compared to the controls. Dyslexics relied on the left anterior temporal (β1, γ1) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (γ1), while in the right hemisphere, they relied on the occipitotemporal, parietal, (β1), motor (β2, γ1), and somatosensory cortices (γ1). After training, hubs appeared in both hemispheres at the middle occipital (β), parietal (β1), somatosensory (γ1), and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices (γ2), while in the left hemisphere, they appeared at the middle temporal, motor (β1), intermediate (γ2), and inferior frontal cortices (γ1, β2). Language-related brain regions were more active after visual training. They contribute to an understanding of lexical and sublexical representation. The same role has areas important for articulatory processes of reading.
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24
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Liebig J, Friederici AD, Neef NE. Auditory brainstem measures and genotyping boost the prediction of literacy: A longitudinal study on early markers of dyslexia. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2020; 46:100869. [PMID: 33091833 PMCID: PMC7576516 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2020.100869] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2019] [Revised: 09/07/2020] [Accepted: 09/20/2020] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Multi-domain profiles advance retrospective prediction of emergent literacy. DCDC2 and KIAA0319 risk variants influence emergent spelling skills. Combined DYX2 and auditory brainstem measures enhance predictive model fits. Additional benefit of preliterate phonological awareness on predictive power.
Literacy acquisition is impaired in children with developmental dyslexia resulting in lifelong struggle to read and spell. Proper diagnosis is usually late and commonly achieved after structured schooling started, which causes delayed interventions. Legascreen set out to develop a preclinical screening to identify children at risk of developmental dyslexia. To this end we examined 93 preliterate German children, half of them with a family history of dyslexia and half of them without a family history. We assessed standard demographic and behavioral precursors of literacy, acquired saliva samples for genotyping, and recorded speech-evoked brainstem responses to add an objective physiological measure. Reading and spelling was assessed after two years of structured literacy instruction. Multifactorial regression analyses considering demographic information, genotypes, and auditory brainstem encoding, predicted children’s literacy skills to varying degrees. These predictions were improved by adding the standard psychometrics with a slightly higher impact on spelling compared to reading comprehension. Our findings suggest that gene-brain-behavior profiling has the potential to determine the risk of developmental dyslexia. At the same time our results imply the need for a more sophisticated assessment to fully account for the disparate cognitive profiles and the multifactorial basis of developmental dyslexia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johanna Liebig
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstr. 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Angela D Friederici
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstr. 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Nicole E Neef
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstr. 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Georg-August-University, Göttingen, Robert-Koch-Straße 40, 37075 Göttingen, Germany; Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Georg-August-University, Robert-Koch-Str. 40, 37075 Göttingen, Germany.
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25
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Ji Y, Bi HY. Visual Dysfunction in Chinese Children With Developmental Dyslexia: Magnocellular-Dorsal Pathway Deficit or Noise Exclusion Deficit? Front Psychol 2020; 11:958. [PMID: 32581906 PMCID: PMC7290236 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2019] [Accepted: 04/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Many studies have suggested that children with developmental dyslexia (DD) not only show phonological deficit but also have difficulties in visual processing, especially in non-alphabetic languages such as Chinese. However, mechanisms underlying this impairment in vision are still unclear. Visual magnocellular deficit theory suggests that the difficulties in the visual processing of dyslexia are caused by the dysfunction of the magnocellular system. However, some researchers have pointed out that previous studies supporting the magnocellular theory did not control for the role of “noise”. The visual processing difficulties of dyslexia might be related to the noise exclusion deficit. The present study aims to examine these two possible explanations via two experiments. In experiment 1, we recruited 26 Chinese children with DD and 26 chronological age–matched controls (CA) from grades 3 to 5. We compared the Gabor contrast sensitivity between the two groups in high-noise and low-noise conditions. Results showed a significant between-group difference in contrast sensitivity in only the high-noise condition. In experiment 2, we recruited another 29 DD and 29 CA and compared the coherent motion/form sensitivity in the high- and low-noise conditions. Results also showed that DD exhibited lower coherent motion and form sensitivities than CA in the high-noise condition, whereas no evidence was observed that the group difference was significant in the low-noise condition. These results suggest that Chinese children with dyslexia have noise exclusion deficit, supporting the noise exclusion hypothesis. The present study provides evidence for revealing the visual dysfunction of dyslexia from the Chinese perspective. The nature of the perceptual noise exclusion and the relationship between the two theoretical hypotheses are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuzhu Ji
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Center for Brain Science and Learning Difficulties, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Hong-Yan Bi
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Center for Brain Science and Learning Difficulties, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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26
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Efficacy of dynamic visuo-attentional interventions for reading in dyslexic and neurotypical children: A systematic review. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2019; 100:58-76. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.02.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2018] [Revised: 12/10/2018] [Accepted: 02/19/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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27
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Piotrowska B, Willis A. Beyond the global motion deficit hypothesis of developmental dyslexia: A cross-sectional study of visual, cognitive, and socio-economic factors influencing reading ability in children. Vision Res 2019; 159:48-60. [PMID: 30885877 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2019.03.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2018] [Revised: 03/12/2019] [Accepted: 03/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Although primarily conceptualized as a disorder of phonological awareness, developmental dyslexia is often associated with broader problems perceiving and attending to transient or rapidly-moving visual stimuli. However, the extent to which such visual deficits represent the cause or the consequence of dyslexia remains contentious, and very little research has examined the relative contributions of phonological, visual, and other variables to reading performance more broadly. We measured visual sensitivity to global motion (GM) and global form (GF), performance on various language and other cognitive tasks believed to be compromised in dyslexia (phonological awareness, processing speed, and working memory), together with a range of social and demographic variables often omitted in previous research, such as age, gender, non-verbal intelligence, and socio-economic status in an unselected sample (n = 132) of children aged 6-11.5 yrs from two different primary schools in Edinburgh, UK. We found that: (i) Mean GM sensitivity (but not GF) was significantly lower in poor readers (medium effect size); (ii) GM sensitivity accounted for only 3% of the variance in reading scores; (iii) GM sensitivity deficits were observed in only 16% of poor readers; (iv) the best predictors of reading performance were phonological awareness, non-verbal intelligence, and socio-economic status, suggesting the importance of controlling for these in future studies of vision and reading. These findings suggest that developmental dyslexia is unlikely to represent a single category of neurodevelopmental disorder underpinned by lower-level deficits in visual motion processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Piotrowska
- School of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University, 9 Sighthill Ct, Edinburgh EH11 4BN, UK.
| | - Alexandra Willis
- School of Health in Social Science, The University of Edinburgh, Medical School, Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, UK.
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28
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Magnocellular Based Visual Motion Training Improves Reading in Persian. Sci Rep 2019; 9:1142. [PMID: 30718620 PMCID: PMC6361887 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-37753-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2018] [Accepted: 12/12/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The visual magnocellular system is thought to play a crucial role in learning to read. Here therefore, we examined whether magnocellular based training could improve reading in children with visual reading problems. The participants were 24 male primary school students aged between 9–11 (Mean = 9.76, SD = 0.59) with specific reading difficulty. Experimental and control groups were matched for age, sex, educational level, IQ, reading abilities (measured by APRA), magnocellular performance as assessed by a random dot kinematogram (RDK) paradigm and recordings of their saccadic eye movements. The experimental group received twelve magnocellular based visual motion training sessions, twice a week over 6 weeks. During the same period, the control group played a video game with the help of a practitioner. All measures were made just prior to the training and were repeated at the 6th, 12th training session and one month later. The experimental group showed significant improvements in magnocellular function, visual errors and reading accuracy during the course of intervention. Follow-up assessment confirmed that these effects persisted one month later. Impaired magnocellular functioning appeared to be an important cause of poor reading in Persian. Hence magnocellular based training could help many children with specific reading difficulties. Also testing magnocellular function could be used as screening tool for detecting dyslexia before a child begins to fail at school.
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29
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Improving action video games abilities increases the phonological decoding speed and phonological short-term memory in children with developmental dyslexia. Neuropsychologia 2018; 130:100-106. [PMID: 30395809 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.10.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2018] [Revised: 10/08/2018] [Accepted: 10/27/2018] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Learning to read is extremely difficult for about 10% of the children because they are affected by a heritable neurobiological disorder called developmental dyslexia (DD). The causal role of cognitive deficits typically associated to DD can be investigated through intervention studies. It has been demonstrated that visual-attention and reading speed could be simultaneously improved by using action video game (AVG) training both in shallow and deep alphabetic orthographies. Here, in a clinical study we showed that after this general-domain behavioral intervention both the phonological decoding speed and phonological short-term memory were increased only in DD children in which their video game score was improved. These findings confirm that an AVG training enhances the efficiency of both visual and auditory processing. The plasticity of the multi-sensory attentional network could explain the reading and reading-related improvements induced by the AVG training in children with DD.
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30
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Chang YCC, Khan S, Taulu S, Kuperberg G, Brown EN, Hämäläinen MS, Temereanca S. Left-Lateralized Contributions of Saccades to Cortical Activity During a One-Back Word Recognition Task. Front Neural Circuits 2018; 12:38. [PMID: 29867372 PMCID: PMC5964218 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2018.00038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2017] [Accepted: 04/20/2018] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Saccadic eye movements are an inherent component of natural reading, yet their contribution to information processing at subsequent fixation remains elusive. Here we use anatomically-constrained magnetoencephalography (MEG) to examine cortical activity following saccades as healthy human subjects engaged in a one-back word recognition task. This activity was compared with activity following external visual stimulation that mimicked saccades. A combination of procedures was employed to eliminate saccadic ocular artifacts from the MEG signal. Both saccades and saccade-like external visual stimulation produced early-latency responses beginning ~70 ms after onset in occipital cortex and spreading through the ventral and dorsal visual streams to temporal, parietal and frontal cortices. Robust differential activity following the onset of saccades vs. similar external visual stimulation emerged during 150-350 ms in a left-lateralized cortical network. This network included: (i) left lateral occipitotemporal (LOT) and nearby inferotemporal (IT) cortex; (ii) left posterior Sylvian fissure (PSF) and nearby multimodal cortex; and (iii) medial parietooccipital (PO), posterior cingulate and retrosplenial cortices. Moreover, this left-lateralized network colocalized with word repetition priming effects. Together, results suggest that central saccadic mechanisms influence a left-lateralized language network in occipitotemporal and temporal cortex above and beyond saccadic influences at preceding stages of information processing during visual word recognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu-Cherng C Chang
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States
| | - Sheraz Khan
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States.,Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Samu Taulu
- Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States.,Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Gina Kuperberg
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States.,Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States.,Department of Psychology, Tufts University, Medford, MA, United States
| | - Emery N Brown
- Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States.,Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States.,Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States.,Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Matti S Hämäläinen
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States.,Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Simona Temereanca
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States.,Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States.,Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States.,Department of Neuroscience, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States
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31
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Franceschini S, Mascheretti S, Bertoni S, Trezzi V, Andreola C, Gori S, Facoetti A. Sluggish dorsally-driven inhibition of return during orthographic processing in adults with dyslexia. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2018; 179:1-10. [PMID: 29453081 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2018.01.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2017] [Revised: 10/11/2017] [Accepted: 01/29/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Dyslexia (D) is a neurodevelopmental reading disorder characterized by phonological and orthographic deficits. Before phonological decoding, reading requires a specialized orthographic system for parallel letter processing that assigns letter identities to different spatial locations. The magnocellular-dorsal (MD) stream rapidly process the spatial location of visual stimuli controlling visuo-spatial attention. To investigate the visuo-spatial attention efficiency during orthographic processing, inhibition of return (IOR) was measured in adults with and without D in a lexical decision task. IOR is the delay in responding to stimuli displayed in a cued location after a long cue-target interval. Only adults with D did not showed IOR effect during letter-string recognition, despite the typical left-hemisphere specialization for word identification. A specific deficit in coherent-dot-motion perception confirmed an MD-stream disorder in adults with D. Our results suggest that adults with D might develop an efficient visual word form area, but a dorsal-attentional dysfunction impairs their reading fluency.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Franceschini
- Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padova 35131, Italy; Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Bosisio Parini, Lecco 23842, Italy.
| | - S Mascheretti
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Bosisio Parini, Lecco 23842, Italy
| | - S Bertoni
- Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padova 35131, Italy
| | - V Trezzi
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Bosisio Parini, Lecco 23842, Italy
| | - C Andreola
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Bosisio Parini, Lecco 23842, Italy
| | - S Gori
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Bosisio Parini, Lecco 23842, Italy; Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, Bergamo 24129, Italy
| | - A Facoetti
- Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padova 35131, Italy; Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Bosisio Parini, Lecco 23842, Italy
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32
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Taylor CM, Olulade OA, Luetje MM, Eden GF. An fMRI study of coherent visual motion processing in children and adults. Neuroimage 2018; 173:223-239. [PMID: 29477442 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2016] [Revised: 01/24/2018] [Accepted: 02/01/2018] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
There is a large corpus of brain imaging studies examining the dorsal visual pathway, especially area V5/MT during visual motion perception. However, despite evidence suggesting a protracted development of the dorsal visual stream, and a role of this pathway in neurodevelopmental disorders, V5/MT has not been characterized developmentally. Further, experiential factors such as reading acquisition may play a modulating role in any age-dependent changes. Here we used a coherent visual motion detection task to examine V5/MT activity and connectivity in typical participants in two studies: a Cross- Sectional Study comparing adults and children; and a Longitudinal Study of 2nd graders followed into 3rd grade. In the Cross-Sectional Study, a whole-brain analysis revealed no differences between the two groups, whereas a region of interest (ROI) approach identified greater activation in left (right trending) V5/MT in adults compared to children. However, when we measured V5/MT activation individually for each participant, children and adults showed no difference in the location or intensity of activation, although children did exhibit relatively larger extent of V5/MT activation bilaterally. There was also relatively greater functional connectivity in the children between left and right occipitotemporal cortex, including V5/MT. The Longitudinal Study revealed no changes in V5/MT activation for any measures of activation or functional connectivity from 2nd to 3rd grade. Finally, there was no evidence of an association between reading and V5/MT over time, nor predictive power of V5/MT activity for later reading. Together, our results indicate similar V5/MT activity across age groups, with relatively greater extent of V5/MT activation and functional connectivity in children relative to adults, bilaterally. These differences were not apparent over the time course of one year, suggesting that these developmental changes occur over a more protracted period.
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Affiliation(s)
- C M Taylor
- Center for the Study of Learning, Department of Pediatrics, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA
| | - O A Olulade
- Center for the Study of Learning, Department of Pediatrics, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA
| | - M M Luetje
- Center for the Study of Learning, Department of Pediatrics, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA
| | - G F Eden
- Center for the Study of Learning, Department of Pediatrics, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA.
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33
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Rendall AR, Perrino PA, LoTurco JJ, Fitch RH. Evaluation of visual motion perception ability in mice with knockout of the dyslexia candidate susceptibility gene Dcdc2. GENES BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR 2018; 18:e12450. [PMID: 29232042 DOI: 10.1111/gbb.12450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2017] [Revised: 12/08/2017] [Accepted: 12/08/2017] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Developmental dyslexia is a heritable disability characterized by difficulties in learning to read and write. The neurobiological and genetic mechanisms underlying dyslexia remain poorly understood; however, several dyslexia candidate risk genes have been identified. One of these candidate risk genes-doublecortin domain containing 2 (DCDC2)-has been shown to play a role in neuronal migration and cilia function. At a behavioral level, variants of DCDC2 have been associated with impairments in phonological processing, working memory and reading speed. Additionally, a specific mutation in DCDC2 has been strongly linked to deficits in motion perception-a skill subserving reading abilities. To further explore the relationship between DCDC2 and dyslexia, a genetic knockout (KO) of the rodent homolog of DCDC2 (Dcdc2) was created. Initial studies showed that Dcdc2 KOs display deficits in auditory processing and working memory. The current study was designed to evaluate the association between DCDC2 and motion perception, as these skills have not yet been assessed in the Dcdc2 KO mouse model. We developed a novel motion perception task, utilizing touchscreen technology and operant conditioning. Dcdc2 KOs displayed deficits on the Pairwise Discrimination task specifically as motion was added to visual stimuli. Following behavioral assessment, brains were histologically prepared for neuroanatomical analysis of the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). The cumulative distribution showed that Dcdc2 KOs exhibited more small neurons and fewer larger neurons in the LGN. Results compliment findings that DCDC2 genetic alteration results in anomalies in visual motion pathways in a subpopulation of dyslexic patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- A R Rendall
- Department of Psychology/Behavioral Neuroscience and Institute for Systems Genomics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
| | - P A Perrino
- Department of Psychology/Behavioral Neuroscience and Institute for Systems Genomics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
| | - J J LoTurco
- Department of Physiology and Neurobiology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
| | - R H Fitch
- Department of Psychology/Behavioral Neuroscience and Institute for Systems Genomics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
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34
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Mascheretti S, Gori S, Trezzi V, Ruffino M, Facoetti A, Marino C. Visual motion and rapid auditory processing are solid endophenotypes of developmental dyslexia. GENES BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR 2017; 17:70-81. [PMID: 28834383 DOI: 10.1111/gbb.12409] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2017] [Revised: 07/19/2017] [Accepted: 08/14/2017] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Although a genetic component is known to have an important role in the etiology of developmental dyslexia (DD), we are far from understanding the molecular etiopathogenetic pathways. Reduced measures of neurobiological functioning related to reading (dis)ability, i.e. endophenotypes (EPs), are promising targets for gene finding and the elucidation of the underlying mechanisms. In a sample of 100 nuclear families with DD (229 offspring) and 83 unrelated typical readers, we tested whether a set of well-established, cognitive phenotypes related to DD [i.e. rapid auditory processing (RAP), rapid automatized naming (RAN), multisensory nonspatial attention and visual motion processing] fulfilled the criteria of the EP construct. Visual motion and RAP satisfied all testable criteria (i.e. they are heritable, associate with the disorder, co-segregate with the disorder within a family and represent reproducible measures) and are therefore solid EPs of DD. Multisensory nonspatial attention satisfied three of four criteria (i.e. it associates with the disorder, co-segregates with the disorder within a family and represents a reproducible measure) and is therefore a potential EP for DD. Rapid automatized naming is heritable but does not meet other criteria of the EP construct. We provide the first evidence of a methodologically and statistically sound approach for identifying EPs for DD to be exploited as a solid alternative basis to clinical phenotypes in neuroscience.
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Affiliation(s)
- S. Mascheretti
- Child Psychopathology Unit; Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea; Bosisio Parini Italy
| | - S. Gori
- Child Psychopathology Unit; Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea; Bosisio Parini Italy
- Department of Human and Social Sciences; University of Bergamo; Bergamo Italy
| | - V. Trezzi
- Child Psychopathology Unit; Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea; Bosisio Parini Italy
| | - M. Ruffino
- Child Psychopathology Unit; Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea; Bosisio Parini Italy
| | - A. Facoetti
- Child Psychopathology Unit; Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea; Bosisio Parini Italy
- Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of General Psychology; University of Padua; Padua Italy
| | - C. Marino
- Child Psychopathology Unit; Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea; Bosisio Parini Italy
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health; University of Toronto; ON Canada
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35
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Abstract
It is well established that visual sensitivity to motion is correlated with reading skills. Yet, the causal relationship between motion sensitivity and reading skills has been debated for more than thirty years. One hypothesis posits that dyslexia is caused by deficits in the motion processing pathway. An alternative hypothesis explains the motion processing deficit observed in dyslexia as the consequence of a lack, or poor quality, of reading experience. Here we used an intensive reading intervention program to test the causal relationship between learning to read and motion processing in children. Our data show that, while the reading intervention enhanced reading abilities, learning to read did not affect motion sensitivity. Motion sensitivity remained stable over the course of the intervention. Furthermore, the motion sensitivity deficit did not negatively impact the learning process. Children with poor motion sensitivity showed the same improvement in reading skills as children with typical motion sensitivity. Our findings call into question the view that motion processing deficits are due to poor reading experience. We propose that the correlation between the two measures arises from other common mechanisms, or that motion processing deficits are among a collection of correlated risk factors for reading difficulties.
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36
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Lawton T, Shelley-Tremblay J. Training on Movement Figure-Ground Discrimination Remediates Low-Level Visual Timing Deficits in the Dorsal Stream, Improving High-Level Cognitive Functioning, Including Attention, Reading Fluency, and Working Memory. Front Hum Neurosci 2017; 11:236. [PMID: 28555097 PMCID: PMC5430030 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2017] [Accepted: 04/24/2017] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine whether neurotraining to discriminate a moving test pattern relative to a stationary background, figure-ground discrimination, improves vision and cognitive functioning in dyslexics, as well as typically-developing normal students. We predict that improving the speed and sensitivity of figure-ground movement discrimination (PATH to Reading neurotraining) acts to remediate visual timing deficits in the dorsal stream, thereby improving processing speed, reading fluency, and the executive control functions of attention and working memory in both dyslexic and normal students who had PATH neurotraining more than in those students who had no neurotraining. This prediction was evaluated by measuring whether dyslexic and normal students improved on standardized tests of cognitive skills following neurotraining exercises, more than following computer-based guided reading (Raz-Kids (RK)). The neurotraining used in this study was visually-based training designed to improve magnocellular function at both low and high levels in the dorsal stream: the input to the executive control networks coding working memory and attention. This approach represents a paradigm shift from the phonologically-based treatment for dyslexia, which concentrates on high-level speech and reading areas. This randomized controlled-validation study was conducted by training the entire second and third grade classrooms (42 students) for 30 min twice a week before guided reading. Standardized tests were administered at the beginning and end of 12-weeks of intervention training to evaluate improvements in academic skills. Only movement-discrimination training remediated both low-level visual timing deficits and high-level cognitive functioning, including selective and sustained attention, reading fluency and working memory for both dyslexic and normal students. Remediating visual timing deficits in the dorsal stream revealed the causal role of visual movement discrimination training in improving high-level cognitive functions such as attention, reading acquisition and working memory. This study supports the hypothesis that faulty timing in synchronizing the activity of magnocellular with parvocellular visual pathways in the dorsal stream is a fundamental cause of dyslexia and being at-risk for reading problems in normal students, and argues against the assumption that reading deficiencies in dyslexia are caused by phonological or language deficits, requiring a paradigm shift from phonologically-based treatment of dyslexia to a visually-based treatment. This study shows that visual movement-discrimination can be used not only to diagnose dyslexia early, but also for its successful treatment, so that reading problems do not prevent children from readily learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teri Lawton
- Cognitive Neuroscience Research and Remediation, Perception Dynamics InstituteEncinitas, CA, USA
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37
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Sigurdardottir HM, Danielsdottir HB, Gudmundsdottir M, Hjartarson KH, Thorarinsdottir EA, Kristjánsson Á. Problems with visual statistical learning in developmental dyslexia. Sci Rep 2017; 7:606. [PMID: 28377626 PMCID: PMC5428689 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-00554-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2016] [Accepted: 03/02/2017] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Previous research shows that dyslexic readers are impaired in their recognition of faces and other complex objects, and show hypoactivation in ventral visual stream regions that support word and object recognition. Responses of these brain regions are shaped by visual statistical learning. If such learning is compromised, people should be less sensitive to statistically likely feature combinations in words and other objects, and impaired visual word and object recognition should be expected. We therefore tested whether people with dyslexia showed diminished capability for visual statistical learning. Matched dyslexic and typical readers participated in tests of visual statistical learning of pairs of novel shapes that frequently appeared together. Dyslexic readers on average recognized fewer pairs than typical readers, indicating some problems with visual statistical learning. These group differences were not accounted for by differences in intelligence, ability to remember individual shapes, or spatial attention paid to the stimuli, but other attentional problems could play a mediating role. Deficiencies in visual statistical learning may in some cases prevent appropriate experience-driven shaping of neuronal responses in the ventral visual stream, hampering visual word and object recognition.
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38
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Giovagnoli G, Vicari S, Tomassetti S, Menghini D. The Role of Visual-Spatial Abilities in Dyslexia: Age Differences in Children's Reading? Front Psychol 2016; 7:1997. [PMID: 28066311 PMCID: PMC5174111 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01997] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2016] [Accepted: 12/08/2016] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Reading is a highly complex process in which integrative neurocognitive functions are required. Visual-spatial abilities play a pivotal role because of the multi-faceted visual sensory processing involved in reading. Several studies show that children with developmental dyslexia (DD) fail to develop effective visual strategies and that some reading difficulties are linked to visual-spatial deficits. However, the relationship between visual-spatial skills and reading abilities is still a controversial issue. Crucially, the role that age plays has not been investigated in depth in this population, and it is still not clear if visual-spatial abilities differ across educational stages in DD. The aim of the present study was to investigate visual-spatial abilities in children with DD and in age-matched normal readers (NR) according to different educational stages: in children attending primary school and in children and adolescents attending secondary school. Moreover, in order to verify whether visual-spatial measures could predict reading performance, a regression analysis has been performed in younger and older children. The results showed that younger children with DD performed significantly worse than NR in a mental rotation task, a more-local visual-spatial task, a more-global visual-perceptual task and a visual-motor integration task. However, older children with DD showed deficits in the more-global visual-perceptual task, in a mental rotation task and in a visual attention task. In younger children, the regression analysis documented that reading abilities are predicted by the visual-motor integration task, while in older children only the more-global visual-perceptual task predicted reading performances. Present findings showed that visual-spatial deficits in children with DD were age-dependent and that visual-spatial abilities engaged in reading varied across different educational stages. In order to better understand their potential role in affecting reading, a comprehensive description and a multi-componential evaluation of visual-spatial abilities is needed with children with DD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Giovagnoli
- Department of Neuroscience, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCSRome, Italy
- Department of Human Studies, LUMSA UniversityRome, Italy
| | - Stefano Vicari
- Department of Neuroscience, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCSRome, Italy
| | - Serena Tomassetti
- Department of Neuroscience, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCSRome, Italy
| | - Deny Menghini
- Department of Neuroscience, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCSRome, Italy
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Kruk RS, Luther Ruban C. Beyond Phonology: Visual Processes Predict Alphanumeric and Nonalphanumeric Rapid Naming in Poor Early Readers. JOURNAL OF LEARNING DISABILITIES 2016; 51:18-31. [PMID: 27899738 DOI: 10.1177/0022219416678406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Visual processes in Grade 1 were examined for their predictive influences in nonalphanumeric and alphanumeric rapid naming (RAN) in 51 poor early and 69 typical readers. In a lagged design, children were followed longitudinally from Grade 1 to Grade 3 over 5 testing occasions. RAN outcomes in early Grade 2 were predicted by speeded and nonspeeded visual processing measures, after controlling for initial (Grade 1) RAN, matrix reasoning, phonological awareness, and word decoding abilities. A predictive influence of backward visual masking-a speeded visual discrimination task-was found for nonalphanumeric RAN in early Grade 2 but not for alphanumeric RAN or subsequent RAN ability in Grades 2 and 3. A nonspeeded predictor involving controlled visual attention accounted for significant variance in early Grade 2 RAN in the poor early reader group. Results are discussed in relation to Wolf, Bowers, and Biddle's conceptualization of rapid naming-in particular, on the roles of visual processes in speeded low and nonspeeded high spatial frequency visual information in predicting RAN.
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Qian Y, Bi Y, Wang X, Zhang YW, Bi HY. Visual dorsal stream is associated with Chinese reading skills: A resting-state fMRI study. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2016; 160:42-49. [PMID: 27474853 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2016.07.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2015] [Revised: 06/18/2016] [Accepted: 07/17/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
The present study explored the relationship between visual dorsal stream and Chinese reading by resting-state fMRI technique. We collected the resting-state brain activities and reading skills of Chinese-speaking adult readers. The results showed that the values of amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF) in right posterior parietal cortex (PPC) and left visual middle temporal area (MT) (two regions of dorsal stream) were significantly correlated with rapid naming (RAN) speed, and the ALFF values of right PPC were correlated with orthographic awareness (OA). Further resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) analysis revealed that RAN speed was related to RSFCs between dorsal stream areas and reading areas (e.g., left fusiform gyrus, bilateral middle occipital gyrus). OA was correlated with RSFCs between right PPC and left middle occipital gyrus. It suggested that spontaneous activities of visual dorsal stream, as well as connection between it and reading-related areas, were highly associated with Chinese reading skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Qian
- Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; School of Humanities, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yanchao Bi
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Xiaosha Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Yi-Wei Zhang
- School of Labor and Human Resources, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100086, China
| | - Hong-Yan Bi
- Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
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Lawton T. Improving Dorsal Stream Function in Dyslexics by Training Figure/Ground Motion Discrimination Improves Attention, Reading Fluency, and Working Memory. Front Hum Neurosci 2016; 10:397. [PMID: 27551263 PMCID: PMC4976098 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2016] [Accepted: 07/25/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
There is an ongoing debate about whether the cause of dyslexia is based on linguistic, auditory, or visual timing deficits. To investigate this issue three interventions were compared in 58 dyslexics in second grade (7 years on average), two targeting the temporal dynamics (timing) of either the auditory or visual pathways with a third reading intervention (control group) targeting linguistic word building. Visual pathway training in dyslexics to improve direction-discrimination of moving test patterns relative to a stationary background (figure/ground discrimination) significantly improved attention, reading fluency, both speed and comprehension, phonological processing, and both auditory and visual working memory relative to controls, whereas auditory training to improve phonological processing did not improve these academic skills significantly more than found for controls. This study supports the hypothesis that faulty timing in synchronizing the activity of magnocellular with parvocellular visual pathways is a fundamental cause of dyslexia, and argues against the assumption that reading deficiencies in dyslexia are caused by phonological deficits. This study demonstrates that visual movement direction-discrimination can be used to not only detect dyslexia early, but also for its successful treatment, so that reading problems do not prevent children from readily learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teri Lawton
- Perception Dynamics InstituteDel Mar, CA, USA
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California, San DiegoLa Jolla, CA, USA
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42
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Ozernov-Palchik O, Yu X, Wang Y, Gaab N. Lessons to be learned: how a comprehensive neurobiological framework of atypical reading development can inform educational practice. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2016; 10:45-58. [PMID: 27766284 DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2016.05.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Dyslexia is a heritable reading disorder with an estimated prevalence of 5-17%. A multiple deficit model has been proposed that illustrates dyslexia as an outcome of multiple risks and protective factors interacting at the genetic, neural, cognitive, and environmental levels. Here we review the evidence on each of these levels and discuss possible underlying mechanisms and their reciprocal interactions along a developmental timeline. Current and potential implications of neuroscientific findings for contemporary challenges in the field of dyslexia, as well as for reading development and education in general, are then discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ola Ozernov-Palchik
- Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Children's Hospital Boston, MA 02115, United States; Center for Reading and Language Research, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, United States
| | - Xi Yu
- Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Children's Hospital Boston, MA 02115, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - Yingying Wang
- Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Children's Hospital Boston, MA 02115, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - Nadine Gaab
- Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Children's Hospital Boston, MA 02115, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States; Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States
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43
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Snowling MJ, Melby-Lervåg M. Oral language deficits in familial dyslexia: A meta-analysis and review. Psychol Bull 2016; 142:498-545. [PMID: 26727308 PMCID: PMC4824243 DOI: 10.1037/bul0000037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 167] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
This article reviews 95 publications (based on 21 independent samples) that have examined children at family risk of reading disorders. We report that children at family risk of dyslexia experience delayed language development as infants and toddlers. In the preschool period, they have significant difficulties in phonological processes as well as with broader language skills and in acquiring the foundations of decoding skill (letter knowledge, phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming [RAN]). Findings are mixed with regard to auditory and visual perception: they do not appear subject to slow motor development, but lack of control for comorbidities confounds interpretation. Longitudinal studies of outcomes show that children at family risk who go on to fulfil criteria for dyslexia have more severe impairments in preschool language than those who are defined as normal readers, but the latter group do less well than controls. Similarly at school age, family risk of dyslexia is associated with significantly poor phonological awareness and literacy skills. Although there is no strong evidence that children at family risk are brought up in an environment that differs significantly from that of controls, their parents tend to have lower educational levels and read less frequently to themselves. Together, the findings suggest that a phonological processing deficit can be conceptualized as an endophenotype of dyslexia that increases the continuous risk of reading difficulties; in turn its impact may be moderated by protective factors. (PsycINFO Database Record
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“Shall We Play a Game?”: Improving Reading Through Action Video Games in Developmental Dyslexia. CURRENT DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS REPORTS 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s40474-015-0064-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
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Gori S, Seitz AR, Ronconi L, Franceschini S, Facoetti A. Multiple Causal Links Between Magnocellular-Dorsal Pathway Deficit and Developmental Dyslexia. Cereb Cortex 2015; 26:4356-4369. [PMID: 26400914 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhv206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 102] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Although impaired auditory-phonological processing is the most popular explanation of developmental dyslexia (DD), the literature shows that the combination of several causes rather than a single factor contributes to DD. Functioning of the visual magnocellular-dorsal (MD) pathway, which plays a key role in motion perception, is a much debated, but heavily suspected factor contributing to DD. Here, we employ a comprehensive approach that incorporates all the accepted methods required to test the relationship between the MD pathway dysfunction and DD. The results of 4 experiments show that (1) Motion perception is impaired in children with dyslexia in comparison both with age-match and with reading-level controls; (2) pre-reading visual motion perception-independently from auditory-phonological skill-predicts future reading development, and (3) targeted MD trainings-not involving any auditory-phonological stimulation-leads to improved reading skill in children and adults with DD. Our findings demonstrate, for the first time, a causal relationship between MD deficits and DD, virtually closing a 30-year long debate. Since MD dysfunction can be diagnosed much earlier than reading and language disorders, our findings pave the way for low resource-intensive, early prevention programs that could drastically reduce the incidence of DD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone Gori
- Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, Bergamo 24129, Italy Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute "E. Medea", Bosisio Parini, Lecco 23842, Italy
| | - Aaron R Seitz
- Department of Psychology, University of California - Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Luca Ronconi
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute "E. Medea", Bosisio Parini, Lecco 23842, Italy Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padova 35131, Italy
| | - Sandro Franceschini
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute "E. Medea", Bosisio Parini, Lecco 23842, Italy Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padova 35131, Italy
| | - Andrea Facoetti
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute "E. Medea", Bosisio Parini, Lecco 23842, Italy Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padova 35131, Italy
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Kassaliete E, Lacis I, Fomins S, Krumina G. Reading and coherent motion perception in school age children. ANNALS OF DYSLEXIA 2015; 65:69-83. [PMID: 25911276 DOI: 10.1007/s11881-015-0099-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2014] [Accepted: 03/04/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
This study includes an evaluation, according to age, of the reading and global motion perception developmental trajectories of 2027 school age children in typical stages of development. Reading is assessed using the reading rate score test, for which all of the student participants, regardless of age, received the same passage of text of a medium difficulty reading level. The coherent motion perception threshold is determined according to the adaptive psychophysical protocol based on a four-alternative, forced-choice procedure. Three different dot velocities: 2, 5, and 8 deg/s were used for both assemblies of coherent or randomly moving dots. Reading rate score test results exhibit a wide dispersion across all age groups, so much so that the outlier data overlap, for both the 8 and 18-year-old student-participant age groups. Latvian children's reading fluency developmental trajectories reach maturation at 12-13 years of age. After the age of 13, reading rate scores increase slowly; however, the linear regression slope is different from zero and positive: F(1, 827) = 45.3; p < 0.0001. One hundred eighty-one student-participants having results below the 10th percentile were classified as weak readers in our study group. The reading fluency developmental trajectory of this particular group of student-participants does not exhibit any statistically significant saturation until the age of 18 years old. Coherent motion detection thresholds decrease with age and do not reach saturation. Tests with slower moving dots (2 deg/s) yield results that exhibit significant differences between strong and weak readers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evita Kassaliete
- Department of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Latvia, 8Kengaraga Str., Riga, LV - 1063, Latvia,
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47
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Qian Y, Deng Y, Zhao J, Bi HY. Magnocellular-dorsal pathway function is associated with orthographic but not phonological skill: fMRI evidence from skilled Chinese readers. Neuropsychologia 2015; 71:84-90. [PMID: 25813780 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.03.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2014] [Revised: 03/18/2015] [Accepted: 03/22/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Numerous studies have shown that magnocellular-dorsal (MD) pathway function is highly associated with reading ability, which is mostly indexed by phonological skill in alphabetic languages. However, it is less clear how MD pathway function influences phonological skill. As a logographic language, Chinese does not follow grapheme-phoneme correspondence rules, and thus provides a tool for delineating the effects of orthographic and phonological processing on reading. The current study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure MD pathway function in a coherent motion detection task for readers skilled in Chinese. A series of tests was used to assess participants' reading abilities, including orthographic and phonological processing skills. Results showed that several cortical regions of the MD pathway, including bilateral middle temporal visual motion areas (MT+) and the right posterior parietal cortex (PPC), were activated during the coherent motion detection task. Moreover, the activation was positively correlated with rapid naming speed, and greater activation in the left MT+ was associated with superior fluency and reduced accuracy in reading, suggesting that this pathway is also involved in modulating the speed of visual processing during reading. The most important finding was that activation of the right PPC was associated with orthographic awareness, but MD pathway activation was not related to phonological awareness. The results suggest that the MD pathway is highly associated with orthographic processing, which in turn influences more general aspects of reading skill.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Qian
- Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 16 Lincui Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yuan Deng
- Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 16 Lincui Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China.
| | - Jing Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 16 Lincui Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Hong-Yan Bi
- Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 16 Lincui Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China.
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Clark KA, Helland T, Specht K, Narr KL, Manis FR, Toga AW, Hugdahl K. Reply: Cortical differences in preliterate children at familiar risk of dyslexia are similar to those observed in dyslexic readers. Brain 2015; 138:e379. [PMID: 25701064 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awv037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Kristi A Clark
- 1 Laboratory of Neuro Imaging and Institute for Neuroimaging and Informatics, Department of Neurology, Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90032, USA
| | - Turid Helland
- 2 Department of Education, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, 9019 Tromsø, Norway 3 Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, 5009 Bergen, Norway
| | - Karsten Specht
- 3 Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, 5009 Bergen, Norway 4 Department of Medical Engineering, Haukeland University Hospital, 5021 Bergen, Norway
| | - Katherine L Narr
- 5 Department of Neurology Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA 6 Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioural Sciences, Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Franklin R Manis
- 7 Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Arthur W Toga
- 1 Laboratory of Neuro Imaging and Institute for Neuroimaging and Informatics, Department of Neurology, Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90032, USA
| | - Kenneth Hugdahl
- 3 Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, 5009 Bergen, Norway 8 Division of Psychiatry, Haukeland University Hospital, 5021 Bergen, Norway 9 Department of Radiology, Haukeland University Hospital, 5021 Bergen, Norway
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49
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Goswami U. The neural basis of dyslexia may originate in primary auditory cortex. Brain 2014; 137:3100-2. [DOI: 10.1093/brain/awu296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
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50
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Goswami U, Power AJ, Lallier M, Facoetti A. Oscillatory "temporal sampling" and developmental dyslexia: toward an over-arching theoretical framework. Front Hum Neurosci 2014; 8:904. [PMID: 25426052 PMCID: PMC4224062 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00904] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2014] [Accepted: 10/22/2014] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Usha Goswami
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge Cambridge, UK
| | - Alan J Power
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge Cambridge, UK
| | - Marie Lallier
- Basque Centre on Cognition, Brain and Language San Sebastian, Spain
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