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Flores-Gallegos R, Fernández T, Alcauter S, Pasaye E, Albarrán-Cárdenas L, Barrera-Díaz B, Rodríguez-Leis P. Functional connectivity is linked to working memory differences in children with reading learning disability. BMC Pediatr 2024; 24:318. [PMID: 38720281 PMCID: PMC11077889 DOI: 10.1186/s12887-024-04791-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2023] [Accepted: 04/25/2024] [Indexed: 05/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Reading learning disability (RLD) is characterized by a specific difficulty in learning to read that is not better explained by an intellectual disability, lack of instruction, psychosocial adversity, or a neurological disorder. According to the domain-general hypothesis, a working memory deficit is the primary problem. Working memory in this population has recently been linked to altered resting-state functional connectivity within the default mode network (DMN), salience network (SN), and frontoparietal network (FPN) compared to that in typically developing individuals. The main purpose of the present study was to compare the within-network functional connectivity of the DMN, SN, FPN, and reading network in two groups of children with RLD: a group with lower-than-average working memory (LWM) and a group with average working memory (AWM). All subjects underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and data were analyzed from a network perspective using the network brain statistics framework. The results showed that the LWM group had significantly weaker connectivity in a network that involved brain regions in the DMN, SN, and FPN than the AWM group. Although there was no significant difference between groups in reading network in the present study, other studies have shown relationship of the connectivity of the angular gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, and inferior parietal lobe with the phonological process of reading. The results suggest that although there are significant differences in functional connectivity in the associated networks between children with LWM and AWM, the distinctive cognitive profile has no specific effect on the reading network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo Flores-Gallegos
- Departamento de Neurobiología Conductual y Cognitiva, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, Blvd. Juriquilla 3001, Juriquilla, Querétaro, 76230, México
| | - Thalía Fernández
- Departamento de Neurobiología Conductual y Cognitiva, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, Blvd. Juriquilla 3001, Juriquilla, Querétaro, 76230, México.
| | - Sarael Alcauter
- Departamento de Neurobiología Conductual y Cognitiva, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, Blvd. Juriquilla 3001, Juriquilla, Querétaro, 76230, México
| | - Erick Pasaye
- Departamento de Neurobiología Conductual y Cognitiva, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, Blvd. Juriquilla 3001, Juriquilla, Querétaro, 76230, México
| | - Lucero Albarrán-Cárdenas
- Departamento de Neurobiología Conductual y Cognitiva, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, Blvd. Juriquilla 3001, Juriquilla, Querétaro, 76230, México
| | - Bertha Barrera-Díaz
- Departamento de Neurobiología Conductual y Cognitiva, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, Blvd. Juriquilla 3001, Juriquilla, Querétaro, 76230, México
| | - Paulina Rodríguez-Leis
- Departamento de Neurobiología Conductual y Cognitiva, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, Blvd. Juriquilla 3001, Juriquilla, Querétaro, 76230, México
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Habouba N, Talmon R, Kraus D, Farah R, Apter A, Steinberg T, Radhakrishnan R, Barazany D, Horowitz-Kraus T. Parent-child couples display shared neural fingerprints while listening to stories. Sci Rep 2024; 14:2883. [PMID: 38311616 PMCID: PMC10838923 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-53518-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: 08/17/2023] [Accepted: 02/01/2024] [Indexed: 02/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Neural fingerprinting is a method to identify individuals from a group of people. Here, we established a new connectome-based identification model and used diffusion maps to show that biological parent-child couples share functional connectivity patterns while listening to stories. These shared fingerprints enabled the identification of children and their biological parents from a group of parents and children. Functional patterns were evident in both cognitive and sensory brain networks. Defining "typical" shared biological parent-child brain patterns may enable predicting or even preventing impaired parent-child connections that develop due to genetic or environmental causes. Finally, we argue that the proposed framework opens new opportunities to link similarities in connectivity patterns to behavioral, psychological, and medical phenomena among other populations. To our knowledge, this is the first study to reveal the neural fingerprint that represents distinct biological parent-child couples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nir Habouba
- Educational Neuroimaging Group, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Ronen Talmon
- Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Dror Kraus
- The Institute of Child Neurology, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Petach Tikvah, Israel
| | - Rola Farah
- Educational Neuroimaging Group, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Alan Apter
- The Department of Psychological Medicine, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Petach Tikvah, Israel
| | - Tamar Steinberg
- The Department of Psychological Medicine, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Petach Tikvah, Israel
| | | | - Daniel Barazany
- The Alfredo Federico Strauss Center for Computational Neuroimaging, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus
- Educational Neuroimaging Group, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
- The Institute of Child Neurology, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Petach Tikvah, Israel.
- Department of Neuropsychology, Center for Neurodevelopmental and Imaging Research (CNIR), Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA.
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
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Lawrence RJ, Wiggins IM, Hodgson JC, Hartley DEH. Evaluating cortical responses to speech in children: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) study. Hear Res 2021; 401:108155. [PMID: 33360183 PMCID: PMC7937787 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2020.108155] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2020] [Revised: 10/20/2020] [Accepted: 12/10/2020] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
Functional neuroimaging of speech processing has both research and clinical potential. This work is facilitating an ever-increasing understanding of the complex neural mechanisms involved in the processing of speech. Neural correlates of speech understanding also have potential clinical value, especially for infants and children, in whom behavioural assessments can be unreliable. Such measures would not only benefit normally hearing children experiencing speech and language delay, but also hearing impaired children with and without hearing devices. In the current study, we examined cortical correlates of speech intelligibility in normally hearing paediatric listeners. Cortical responses were measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), a non-invasive neuroimaging technique that is fully compatible with hearing devices, including cochlear implants. In nineteen normally hearing children (aged 6 - 13 years) we measured activity in temporal and frontal cortex bilaterally whilst participants listened to both clear- and noise-vocoded sentences targeting four levels of speech intelligibility. Cortical activation in superior temporal and inferior frontal cortex was generally stronger in the left hemisphere than in the right. Activation in left superior temporal cortex grew monotonically with increasing speech intelligibility. In the same region, we identified a trend towards greater activation on correctly vs. incorrectly perceived trials, suggesting a possible sensitivity to speech intelligibility per se, beyond sensitivity to changing acoustic properties across stimulation conditions. Outside superior temporal cortex, we identified other regions in which fNIRS responses varied with speech intelligibility. For example, channels overlying posterior middle temporal regions in the right hemisphere exhibited relative deactivation during sentence processing (compared to a silent baseline condition), with the amplitude of that deactivation being greater in more difficult listening conditions. This finding may represent sensitivity to components of the default mode network in lateral temporal regions, and hence effortful listening in normally hearing paediatric listeners. Our results indicate that fNIRS has the potential to provide an objective marker of speech intelligibility in normally hearing children. Should these results be found to apply to individuals experiencing language delay or to those listening through a hearing device, such as a cochlear implant, fNIRS may form the basis of a clinically useful measure of speech understanding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachael J Lawrence
- National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Ropewalk House, 113 The Ropewalk, Nottingham NG1 5DU, United Kingdom; Hearing Sciences, Division of Clinical Neuroscience, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH, United Kingdom; Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Derby Road, Nottingham NG7 2UH, United Kingdom.
| | - Ian M Wiggins
- National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Ropewalk House, 113 The Ropewalk, Nottingham NG1 5DU, United Kingdom; Hearing Sciences, Division of Clinical Neuroscience, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH, United Kingdom
| | - Jessica C Hodgson
- Lincoln Medical School - Universities of Nottingham and Lincoln, Charlotte Scott Building, University of Lincoln, Lincoln LN6 7TS, United Kingdom
| | - Douglas E H Hartley
- National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Ropewalk House, 113 The Ropewalk, Nottingham NG1 5DU, United Kingdom; Hearing Sciences, Division of Clinical Neuroscience, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH, United Kingdom; Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Derby Road, Nottingham NG7 2UH, United Kingdom
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