1
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Lutz CG, Coraj S, Fraga-González G, Brem S. The odd one out - Orthographic oddball processing in children with poor versus typical reading skills in a fast periodic visual stimulation EEG paradigm. Cortex 2024; 172:185-203. [PMID: 38354469 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.12.010] [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: 03/17/2023] [Revised: 09/17/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 02/16/2024]
Abstract
The specialization of left ventral occipitotemporal brain regions to automatically process word forms develops with reading acquisition and is diminished in children with poor reading skills (PR). Using a fast periodic visual oddball stimulation (FPVS) design during electroencephalography (EEG), we examined the level of sensitivity and familiarity to word form processing in ninety-two children in 2nd and 3rd grade with varying reading skills (n = 35 for PR, n = 40 for typical reading skills; TR). To test children's level of "sensitivity", false font (FF) and consonant string (CS) oddballs were embedded in base presentations of word (W) stimuli. "Familiarity" was examined by presenting letter string oddballs with increasing familiarity (CS, pseudoword - PW, W) in FF base stimuli. Overall, our results revealed stronger left-hemispheric coarse sensitivity effects ("FF in W" > "CS in W") in TR than in PR in both topographic and oddball frequency analyses. Further, children distinguished between orthographically legal and illegal ("W/PW in FF" > "CS in FF") but not yet between lexical and non-lexical ("W in FF" vs "PW in FF") word forms. Although both TR and PR exhibit visual sensitivity and can distinguish between orthographically legal and illegal letter strings, they still struggle with nuanced lexical distinctions. Moreover, the strength of sensitivity is linked to reading proficiency. Our work adds to established knowledge in the field to characterize the relationship between print tuning and reading skills and suggests differences in the developmental progress to automatically process word forms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina G Lutz
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland; Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Seline Coraj
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland; Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Switzerland; Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation Center for Neurodevelopment, Growth, and Nutrition of the Newborn, Department of Neonatology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Gorka Fraga-González
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Silvia Brem
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland; Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Switzerland; University Research Priority Program (URPP), Adaptive Brain Circuits in Development and Learning (AdaBD), University of Zurich, Switzerland.
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2
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Romanovska L, Janssen R, Bonte M. Longitudinal changes in cortical responses to letter-speech sound stimuli in 8-11 year-old children. NPJ SCIENCE OF LEARNING 2022; 7:2. [PMID: 35079026 PMCID: PMC8789908 DOI: 10.1038/s41539-021-00118-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2021] [Accepted: 12/16/2021] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
While children are able to name letters fairly quickly, the automatisation of letter-speech sound mappings continues over the first years of reading development. In the current longitudinal fMRI study, we explored developmental changes in cortical responses to letters and speech sounds across 3 yearly measurements in a sample of 18 8-11 year old children. We employed a text-based recalibration paradigm in which combined exposure to text and ambiguous speech sounds shifts participants' later perception of the ambiguous sounds towards the text. Our results showed that activity of the left superior temporal and lateral inferior precentral gyri followed a non-linear developmental pattern across the measurement sessions. This pattern is reminiscent of previously reported inverted-u-shape developmental trajectories in children's visual cortical responses to text. Our findings suggest that the processing of letters and speech sounds involves non-linear changes in the brain's spoken language network possibly related to progressive automatisation of reading skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linda Romanovska
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Department Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
| | - Roef Janssen
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Department Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Milene Bonte
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Department Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
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3
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Romanovska L, Bonte M. How Learning to Read Changes the Listening Brain. Front Psychol 2021; 12:726882. [PMID: 34987442 PMCID: PMC8721231 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.726882] [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: 06/17/2021] [Accepted: 11/23/2021] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Reading acquisition reorganizes existing brain networks for speech and visual processing to form novel audio-visual language representations. This requires substantial cortical plasticity that is reflected in changes in brain activation and functional as well as structural connectivity between brain areas. The extent to which a child's brain can accommodate these changes may underlie the high variability in reading outcome in both typical and dyslexic readers. In this review, we focus on reading-induced functional changes of the dorsal speech network in particular and discuss how its reciprocal interactions with the ventral reading network contributes to reading outcome. We discuss how the dynamic and intertwined development of both reading networks may be best captured by approaching reading from a skill learning perspective, using audio-visual learning paradigms and longitudinal designs to follow neuro-behavioral changes while children's reading skills unfold.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Milene Bonte
- *Correspondence: Linda Romanovska, ; Milene Bonte,
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4
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Varga V, Tóth D, Amora KK, Czikora D, Csépe V. ERP Correlates of Altered Orthographic-Phonological Processing in Dyslexia. Front Psychol 2021; 12:723404. [PMID: 34721182 PMCID: PMC8548581 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.723404] [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: 06/10/2021] [Accepted: 09/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Automatic visual word recognition requires not only well-established phonological and orthographic representations but also efficient audio-visual integration of these representations. One possibility is that in developmental dyslexia, inefficient orthographic processing might underlie poor reading. Alternatively, reading deficit could be due to inefficient phonological processing or inefficient integration of orthographic and phonological information. In this event-related potential study, participants with dyslexia (N = 25) and control readers (N = 27) were presented with pairs of words and pseudowords in an implicit same-different task. The reference-target pairs could be identical, or different in the identity or the position of the letters. To test the orthographic-phonological processing, target stimuli were presented in visual-only and audiovisual conditions. Participants with and without dyslexia processed the reference stimuli similarly; however, group differences emerged in the processing of target stimuli, especially in the audiovisual condition where control readers showed greater N1 responses for words than for pseudowords, but readers with dyslexia did not show such difference. Moreover, after 300 ms lexicality effect exhibited a more focused frontal topographic distribution in readers with dyslexia. Our results suggest that in developmental dyslexia, phonological processing and audiovisual processing deficits are more pronounced than orthographic processing deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vera Varga
- Brain Imaging Centre, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.,Department of Cognitive Science, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Dénes Tóth
- Brain Imaging Centre, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Kathleen Kay Amora
- Brain Imaging Centre, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.,Multilingualism Doctoral School, Faculty of Modern Philology and Social Sciences, University of Pannonia, Veszprém, Hungary
| | - Dávid Czikora
- Brain Imaging Centre, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Valéria Csépe
- Brain Imaging Centre, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.,Institute for Hungarian and Applied Linguistics, Pannon University, Veszprém, Hungary
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5
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The rise and fall of rapid occipito-temporal sensitivity to letters: Transient specialization through elementary school. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2021; 49:100958. [PMID: 34010761 PMCID: PMC8141525 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2021.100958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2020] [Revised: 04/26/2021] [Accepted: 05/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Letters, foundational units of alphabetic writing systems, are quintessential to human culture. The ability to read, indispensable to perform in today’s society, necessitates a reorganization of visual cortex for fast letter recognition, but the developmental course of this process has not yet been characterized. Here, we show the emergence of visual sensitivity to letters across five electroencephalography measurements from kindergarten and throughout elementary school and relate this development to emerging reading skills. We examined the visual N1, the electrophysiological correlate of ventral occipito-temporal cortex activation in 65 children at varying familial risk for dyslexia. N1 letter sensitivity emerged in first grade, when letter sound knowledge gains were most pronounced and decayed shortly after when letter knowledge is consolidated, showing an inverted U-shaped development. This trajectory can be interpreted within an interactive framework that underscores the influence of top-down predictions. While the N1 amplitudes to letters correlated with letter sound knowledge at the beginning of learning, no association between the early N1 letter response and later reading skills was found. In summary, the current findings provide an important reference point for our neuroscientific understanding of learning trajectories and the process of visual specialization during skill learning.
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6
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Wang F, Karipidis II, Pleisch G, Fraga-González G, Brem S. Development of Print-Speech Integration in the Brain of Beginning Readers With Varying Reading Skills. Front Hum Neurosci 2020; 14:289. [PMID: 32922271 PMCID: PMC7457077 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2020.00289] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2020] [Accepted: 06/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Learning print-speech sound correspondences is a crucial step at the beginning of reading acquisition and often impaired in children with developmental dyslexia. Despite increasing insight into audiovisual language processing, it remains largely unclear how integration of print and speech develops at the neural level during initial learning in the first years of schooling. To investigate this development, 32 healthy, German-speaking children at varying risk for developmental dyslexia (17 typical readers and 15 poor readers) participated in a longitudinal study including behavioral and fMRI measurements in first (T1) and second (T2) grade. We used an implicit audiovisual (AV) non-word target detection task aimed at characterizing differential activation to congruent (AVc) and incongruent (AVi) audiovisual non-word pairs. While children’s brain activation did not differ between AVc and AVi pairs in first grade, an incongruency effect (AVi > AVc) emerged in bilateral inferior temporal and superior frontal gyri in second grade. Of note, pseudoword reading performance improvements with time were associated with the development of the congruency effect (AVc > AVi) in the left posterior superior temporal gyrus (STG) from first to second grade. Finally, functional connectivity analyses indicated divergent development and reading expertise dependent coupling from the left occipito-temporal and superior temporal cortex to regions of the default mode (precuneus) and fronto-temporal language networks. Our results suggest that audiovisual integration areas as well as their functional coupling to other language areas and areas of the default mode network show a different development in poor vs. typical readers at varying familial risk for dyslexia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fang Wang
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Iliana I Karipidis
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
| | - Georgette Pleisch
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Gorka Fraga-González
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Silvia Brem
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
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7
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Tijms J, Fraga-González G, Karipidis II, Brem S. Editorial: The Role of Letter-Speech Sound Integration in Normal and Abnormal Reading Development. Front Psychol 2020; 11:1441. [PMID: 32733324 PMCID: PMC7358608 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2020] [Accepted: 05/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Jurgen Tijms
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Gorka Fraga-González
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Iliana I Karipidis
- Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
| | - Silvia Brem
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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8
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Sucena A, Marques C, Silva AF, Garrido C, Pimenta R. Is Redshirting Beneficial for Reading Acquisition Success? Front Psychol 2020; 11:1165. [PMID: 32581964 PMCID: PMC7283588 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2019] [Accepted: 05/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
The controversy around the effect of academic redshirting on reading acquisition continues receiving attention in the international literature. However, few studies are known with non-English speaking children. In this study we intend to understand this phenomenon with 698 Portuguese speaking first graders, 360 girls (51.6%), aged between 5 years old and 8 months and 7 years old and 6 months (M = 6.3 months, SD = 3.9 months). Reading acquisition precursors were assessed namely phonemic awareness and letter-sound knowledge. Results reveal that 5.9% of first graders are redshirted. Clusters analysis indicated two clusters per variable. Cluster 1 with low phonemic awareness and letter-sound knowledge and low socioeconomic status, cluster 2 with high phonemic awareness and letter-sound knowledge and medium-high socioeconomic status. The cluster results suggest a prevalence of 24.5% children at risk of having learning difficulties. The MANOVA indicated that only socioeconomic status has an effect on phonemic awareness and letter-sound knowledge, with children from medium-high level presenting higher results. It is concluded that redshirting did not bring additional advantages for reading acquisition success. Implications about the importance of education in order to lessen those differences, as well as prevent difficulties are presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Sucena
- Research and Intervention Reading Centre, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Cátia Marques
- Research and Intervention Reading Centre, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Ana Filipa Silva
- Research and Intervention Reading Centre, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Cristina Garrido
- Research and Intervention Reading Centre, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Rui Pimenta
- Research and Intervention Reading Centre, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Porto, Portugal
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9
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Randazzo M, Greenspon EB, Booth JR, McNorgan C. Children With Reading Difficulty Rely on Unimodal Neural Processing for Phonemic Awareness. Front Hum Neurosci 2019; 13:390. [PMID: 31798430 PMCID: PMC6868065 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2019.00390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2019] [Accepted: 10/21/2019] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Phonological awareness skills in children with reading difficulty (RD) may reflect impaired automatic integration of orthographic and phonological representations. However, little is known about the underlying neural mechanisms involved in phonological awareness for children with RD. Eighteen children with RD, ages 9–13, participated in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study designed to assess the relationship of two constructs of phonological awareness, phoneme synthesis, and phoneme analysis, with crossmodal rhyme judgment. Participants completed a rhyme judgment task presented in two modality conditions; unimodal auditory only and crossmodal audiovisual. Measures of phonological awareness were correlated with unimodal, but not crossmodal, lexical processing. Moreover, these relationships were found only in unisensory brain regions, and not in multisensory brain areas. The results of this study suggest that children with RD rely on unimodal representations and unisensory brain areas, and provide insight into the role of phonemic awareness in mapping between auditory and visual modalities during literacy acquisition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melissa Randazzo
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Adelphi University, Garden City, NY, United States
| | - Emma B Greenspon
- Department of Psychology, State University at Buffalo, New York, NY, United States.,Department of Psychology, Monmouth University, New Jersey, NJ, United States
| | - James R Booth
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Tennessee, TN, United States
| | - Chris McNorgan
- Department of Psychology, State University at Buffalo, New York, NY, United States
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10
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Romanovska L, Janssen R, Bonte M. Reading-Induced Shifts in Speech Perception in Dyslexic and Typically Reading Children. Front Psychol 2019; 10:221. [PMID: 30792685 PMCID: PMC6374624 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2018] [Accepted: 01/22/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
One of the proposed mechanisms underlying reading difficulties observed in developmental dyslexia is impaired mapping of visual to auditory speech representations. We investigate these mappings in 20 typically reading and 20 children with dyslexia aged 8–10 years using text-based recalibration. In this paradigm, the pairing of visual text and ambiguous speech sounds shifts (recalibrates) the participant’s perception of the ambiguous speech in subsequent auditory-only post-test trials. Recent research in adults demonstrated this text-induced perceptual shift in typical, but not in dyslexic readers. Our current results instead show significant text-induced recalibration in both typically reading children and children with dyslexia. The strength of this effect was significantly linked to the strength of perceptual adaptation effects in children with dyslexia but not typically reading children. Furthermore, additional analyses in a sample of typically reading children of various reading levels revealed a significant link between recalibration and phoneme categorization. Taken together, our study highlights the importance of considering dynamic developmental changes in reading, letter-speech sound coupling and speech perception when investigating group differences between typical and dyslexic readers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linda Romanovska
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Department Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Roef Janssen
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Department Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Milene Bonte
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Department Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
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11
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Edwards ES, Burke K, Booth JR, McNorgan C. Dyslexia on a continuum: A complex network approach. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0208923. [PMID: 30557304 PMCID: PMC6296514 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0208923] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2018] [Accepted: 11/26/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
We investigated the efficacy of graph-theoretic metrics of task-related functional brain connectivity in predicting reading difficulty and explored the hypothesis that task conditions emphasizing audiovisual integration would be especially diagnostic of reading difficulty. An fMRI study was conducted in which 24 children (8 to 14 years old) who were previously diagnosed with dyslexia completed a rhyming judgment task under three presentation modality conditions. Regression analyses found that characteristic connectivity metrics of the reading network showed a presentation modality dependent relationship with reading difficulty: Children with more segregated reading networks and those that used fewer of the available connections were those with the least severe reading difficulty. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that a lack of coordinated processing between the neural regions involved in phonological and orthographic processing contributes towards reading difficulty.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erica S. Edwards
- Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, United States of America
| | - Kali Burke
- Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, United States of America
| | - James R. Booth
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Chris McNorgan
- Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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12
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FragaGonzález G, Karipidis II, Tijms J. Dyslexia as a Neurodevelopmental Disorder and What Makes It Different from a Chess Disorder. Brain Sci 2018; 8:E189. [PMID: 30347764 PMCID: PMC6209961 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci8100189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2018] [Revised: 10/10/2018] [Accepted: 10/18/2018] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The convenience of referring to dyslexia as a neurodevelopmental disorder has been repeatedly brought into question. In this opinion article, we argue in favor of the current diagnosis of dyslexia based on the criteria of harm and dysfunction. We discuss the favorable clinical and educational outcomes of a neuroscience-informed approach of dyslexia as a disorder. Furthermore, we discuss insights derived from neuroimaging studies and their importance to address problems related to developmental dyslexia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gorka FragaGonzález
- Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WS Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
- Rudolf Berlin Center, 44401 Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, CH-8006 Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - Iliana I Karipidis
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, CH-8006 Zurich, Switzerland.
- Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - Jurgen Tijms
- Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WS Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
- Rudolf Berlin Center, 44401 Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
- IWAL Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
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13
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Fraga González G, Smit DJA, van der Molen MJW, Tijms J, Stam CJ, de Geus EJC, van der Molen MW. EEG Resting State Functional Connectivity in Adult Dyslexics Using Phase Lag Index and Graph Analysis. Front Hum Neurosci 2018; 12:341. [PMID: 30214403 PMCID: PMC6125304 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2018] [Accepted: 08/10/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Developmental dyslexia may involve deficits in functional connectivity across widespread brain networks that enable fluent reading. We investigated the large-scale organization of electroencephalography (EEG) functional networks at rest in 28 dyslexics and 36 typically reading adults. For each frequency band (delta, theta alpha and beta), we assessed functional connectivity strength with the phase lag index (PLI). Network topology was examined using minimum spanning tree (MST) graphs derived from the functional connectivity matrices. We found significant group differences in the alpha band (8-13 Hz). The graph analysis indicated more interconnected nodes, in dyslexics compared to typical readers. The graph metrics were significantly correlated with age in dyslexics but not in typical readers, which may indicate more heterogeneity in maturation of brain networks in dyslexics. The present findings support the involvement of alpha oscillations in higher cognition and the sensitivity of graph metrics to characterize functional networks in adult dyslexia. Finally, the current results extend our previous findings on children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gorka Fraga González
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.,Rudolf Berlin Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Dirk J A Smit
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University, Amsterdam, Netherlands.,Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Melle J W van der Molen
- Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands.,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Jurgen Tijms
- Rudolf Berlin Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands.,IWAL Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Cornelis Jan Stam
- Department of Clinical Neuropsychology and MEG Center, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Eco J C de Geus
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University, Amsterdam, Netherlands.,Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Maurits W van der Molen
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.,Amsterdam Brain and Cognition, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
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14
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Xu W, Kolozsvari OB, Monto SP, Hämäläinen JA. Brain Responses to Letters and Speech Sounds and Their Correlations With Cognitive Skills Related to Reading in Children. Front Hum Neurosci 2018; 12:304. [PMID: 30127729 PMCID: PMC6088176 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2018] [Accepted: 07/16/2018] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Letter-speech sound (LSS) integration is crucial for initial stages of reading acquisition. However, the relationship between cortical organization for supporting LSS integration, including unimodal and multimodal processes, and reading skills in early readers remains unclear. In the present study, we measured brain responses to Finnish letters and speech sounds from 29 typically developing Finnish children in a child-friendly audiovisual integration experiment using magnetoencephalography. Brain source activations in response to auditory, visual and audiovisual stimuli as well as audiovisual integration response were correlated with reading skills and cognitive skills predictive of reading development after controlling for the effect of age. Regression analysis showed that from the brain measures, the auditory late response around 400 ms showed the largest association with phonological processing and rapid automatized naming abilities. In addition, audiovisual integration effect was most pronounced in the left and right temporoparietal regions and the activities in several of these temporoparietal regions correlated with reading and writing skills. Our findings indicated the important role of temporoparietal regions in the early phase of learning to read and their unique contribution to reading skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weiyong Xu
- Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
- Jyväskylä Centre for Interdisciplinary Brain Research, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Orsolya B. Kolozsvari
- Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
- Jyväskylä Centre for Interdisciplinary Brain Research, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Simo P. Monto
- Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
- Jyväskylä Centre for Interdisciplinary Brain Research, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Jarmo A. Hämäläinen
- Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
- Jyväskylä Centre for Interdisciplinary Brain Research, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
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Žarić G, Timmers I, Gerretsen P, Fraga González G, Tijms J, van der Molen MW, Blomert L, Bonte M. Atypical White Matter Connectivity in Dyslexic Readers of a Fairly Transparent Orthography. Front Psychol 2018; 9:1147. [PMID: 30042708 PMCID: PMC6049043 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2017] [Accepted: 06/14/2018] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Atypical structural properties of the brain's white matter bundles have been associated with failing reading acquisition in developmental dyslexia. Because these white matter properties may show dynamic changes with age and orthographic depth, we examined fractional anisotropy (FA) along 16 white matter tracts in 8- to 11-year-old dyslexic (DR) and typically reading (TR) children learning to read in a fairly transparent orthography (Dutch). Our results showed higher FA values in the bilateral anterior thalamic radiations of DRs and FA values of the left thalamic radiation scaled with behavioral reading-related scores. Furthermore, DRs tended to have atypical FA values in the bilateral arcuate fasciculi. Children's age additionally predicted FA values along the tracts. Together, our findings suggest differential contributions of cortical and thalamo-cortical pathways to the developing reading network in dyslexic and typical readers, possibly indicating prolonged letter-by-letter reading or increased attentional and/or working memory demands in dyslexic children during reading.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gojko Žarić
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center (M-BIC), Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Inge Timmers
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States
| | | | - Gorka Fraga González
- Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Jurgen Tijms
- IWAL Instituut Voor Leerproblemen, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | | | - Leo Blomert
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center (M-BIC), Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Milene Bonte
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center (M-BIC), Maastricht, Netherlands
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Karipidis II, Pleisch G, Brandeis D, Roth A, Röthlisberger M, Schneebeli M, Walitza S, Brem S. Simulating reading acquisition: The link between reading outcome and multimodal brain signatures of letter-speech sound learning in prereaders. Sci Rep 2018; 8:7121. [PMID: 29740067 PMCID: PMC5940897 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-24909-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2017] [Accepted: 04/11/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
During reading acquisition, neural reorganization of the human brain facilitates the integration of letters and speech sounds, which enables successful reading. Neuroimaging and behavioural studies have established that impaired audiovisual integration of letters and speech sounds is a core deficit in individuals with developmental dyslexia. This longitudinal study aimed to identify neural and behavioural markers of audiovisual integration that are related to future reading fluency. We simulated the first step of reading acquisition by performing artificial-letter training with prereading children at risk for dyslexia. Multiple logistic regressions revealed that our training provides new precursors of reading fluency at the beginning of reading acquisition. In addition, an event-related potential around 400 ms and functional magnetic resonance imaging activation patterns in the left planum temporale to audiovisual correspondences improved cross-validated prediction of future poor readers. Finally, an exploratory analysis combining simultaneously acquired electroencephalography and hemodynamic data suggested that modulation of temporoparietal brain regions depended on future reading skills. The multimodal approach demonstrates neural adaptations to audiovisual integration in the developing brain that are related to reading outcome. Despite potential limitations arising from the restricted sample size, our results may have promising implications both for identifying poor-reading children and for monitoring early interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iliana I Karipidis
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Neuroscience Center Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Georgette Pleisch
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Neuroscience Center Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Daniel Brandeis
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Neuroscience Center Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.,Center for Integrative Human Physiology Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Alexander Roth
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Martina Röthlisberger
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Maya Schneebeli
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Susanne Walitza
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Neuroscience Center Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Center for Integrative Human Physiology Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Silvia Brem
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. .,University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Neuroscience Center Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
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