1
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Wang A, Yan X, Feng G, Cao F. Shared and task-specific brain functional differences across multiple tasks in children with developmental dyslexia. Neuropsychologia 2024; 201:108935. [PMID: 38848989 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2024.108935] [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: 01/16/2024] [Revised: 06/04/2024] [Accepted: 06/05/2024] [Indexed: 06/09/2024]
Abstract
Different tasks have been used in examining the neural functional differences associated with developmental dyslexia (DD), and consequently, different findings have been reported. However, very few studies have systematically compared multiple tasks in understanding what specific task differences each brain region is associated with. In this study, we employed an auditory rhyming task, a visual rhyming task, and a visual spelling task, in order to investigate shared and task-specific neural differences in Chinese children with DD. First, we found that children with DD had reduced activation in the opercular part of the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) only in the two rhyming tasks, suggesting impaired phonological analysis. Children with DD showed functional differences in the right lingual gyrus/inferior occipital gyrus only in the two visual tasks, suggesting deficiency in their visuo-orthographic processing. Moreover, children with DD showed reduced activation in the left dorsal inferior frontal gyrus and increased activation in the right precentral gyrus across all of the three tasks, suggesting neural signatures of DD in Chinese. In summary, our study successfully separated brain regions associated with differences in orthographic processing, phonological processing, and general lexical processing in DD. It advances our understanding about the neural mechanisms of DD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anqi Wang
- Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-Sen University, China
| | - Xiaohui Yan
- Department of Psychology, the University of Hong Kong, China; State Key Lab of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, the University of Hong Kong, China
| | - Guoyan Feng
- Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-Sen University, China; School of Management, Guangzhou Xinhua University, China
| | - Fan Cao
- Department of Psychology, the University of Hong Kong, China; State Key Lab of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, the University of Hong Kong, China.
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2
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Kou JW, Fan LY, Chen HC, Chen SY, Hu X, Zhang K, Kovelman I, Chou TL. Neural substrates of L2-L1 transfer effects on phonological awareness in young Chinese-English bilingual children. Neuroimage 2024; 291:120592. [PMID: 38548037 PMCID: PMC11032115 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120592] [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: 10/09/2023] [Revised: 03/24/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024] Open
Abstract
The growing trend of bilingual education between Chinese and English has contributed to a rise in the number of early bilingual children, who were exposed to L2 prior to formal language instruction of L1. The L2-L1 transfer effect in an L1-dominant environment has been well established. However, the threshold of L2 proficiency at which such transfer manifests remains unclear. This study investigated the behavioral and neural processes involved when manipulating phonemes in an auditory phonological task to uncover the transfer effect in young bilingual children. Sixty-two first graders from elementary schools in Taiwan were recruited in this study (29 Chinese monolinguals, 33 Chinese-English bilinguals). The brain activity was measured using fNIRS (functional near-infrared spectroscopy). Bilingual children showed right lateralization to process Chinese and left lateralization to process English, which supports more on the accommodation effect within the framework of the assimilation-accommodation hypothesis. Also, compared to monolinguals, bilingual children showed more bilateral frontal activation in Chinese, potentially reflecting a mixed influence from L2-L1 transfer effects and increased cognitive load of bilingual exposure. These results elucidate the developmental adjustments in the neural substrates associated with early bilingual exposure in phonological processing, offering valuable insights into the bilingual learning process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jia-Wei Kou
- Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Li-Ying Fan
- Department of Education, National Taipei University of Education, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Hsin-Chin Chen
- Department of Psychology, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi, Taiwan
| | - Shiou-Yuan Chen
- Department of Early Childhood Education, University of Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Xiaosu Hu
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Kehui Zhang
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Ioulia Kovelman
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Tai-Li Chou
- Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
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3
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Tian M, Ji Y, Wang R, Bi HY. Impaired Ability in Visual-Spatial Attention in Chinese Children With Developmental Dyslexia. JOURNAL OF LEARNING DISABILITIES 2024:222194241241040. [PMID: 38591175 DOI: 10.1177/00222194241241040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/10/2024]
Abstract
A growing body of evidence suggests that children with dyslexia in alphabetic languages exhibit visual-spatial attention deficits that can obstruct reading acquisition by impairing their phonological decoding skills. However, it remains an open question whether these visual-spatial attention deficits are present in children with dyslexia in non-alphabetic languages. Chinese, with its logographic writing system, offers a unique opportunity to explore this question. The presence of visual-spatial attention deficits in Chinese children with dyslexia remains insufficiently investigated. Therefore, this study aimed to explore whether such deficits exist, employing a visual search paradigm. Three visual search tasks were conducted, encompassing two singleton feature search tasks and a serial conjunction search task. The results indicated that Chinese children with dyslexia performed as well as chronological age-matched control children in color search tasks but less effectively in orientation search, suggesting a difficulty in the rapid visual processing of orientation: a deficit potentially specific to Chinese dyslexia. Crucially, Chinese children with dyslexia also exhibited lower accuracy, longer reaction times, and steeper slopes in the reaction times by set size function in the conjunction search task compared to control children, which is indicative of a visual-spatial attention deficit.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengyu Tian
- 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
- Center for Educational Science and Technology, Institute of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, China
| | - Yuzhu Ji
- Institute of Applied Psychology, College of Education, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
| | - Runzhou Wang
- 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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4
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Bonte M, Brem S. Unraveling individual differences in learning potential: A dynamic framework for the case of reading development. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2024; 66:101362. [PMID: 38447471 PMCID: PMC10925938 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101362] [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: 07/06/2023] [Revised: 02/02/2024] [Accepted: 03/01/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024] Open
Abstract
Children show an enormous capacity to learn during development, but with large individual differences in the time course and trajectory of learning and the achieved skill level. Recent progress in developmental sciences has shown the contribution of a multitude of factors including genetic variation, brain plasticity, socio-cultural context and learning experiences to individual development. These factors interact in a complex manner, producing children's idiosyncratic and heterogeneous learning paths. Despite an increasing recognition of these intricate dynamics, current research on the development of culturally acquired skills such as reading still has a typical focus on snapshots of children's performance at discrete points in time. Here we argue that this 'static' approach is often insufficient and limits advancements in the prediction and mechanistic understanding of individual differences in learning capacity. We present a dynamic framework which highlights the importance of capturing short-term trajectories during learning across multiple stages and processes as a proxy for long-term development on the example of reading. This framework will help explain relevant variability in children's learning paths and outcomes and fosters new perspectives and approaches to study how children develop and learn.
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Affiliation(s)
- Milene Bonte
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience and Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
| | - Silvia Brem
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland; Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Switzerland; URPP Adaptive Brain Circuits in Development and Learning (AdaBD), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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5
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Liu X, Zhang L, Yu S, Bai Z, Qi T, Mao H, Zhen Z, Dong Q, Liu L. The Effects of Age and Reading Experience on the Lifespan Neurodevelopment for Reading Comprehension. J Cogn Neurosci 2024; 36:239-260. [PMID: 38010312 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_02086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2023]
Abstract
Reading comprehension is a vital cognitive skill that individuals use throughout their lives. The neurodevelopment of reading comprehension across the lifespan, however, remains underresearched. Furthermore, factors such as maturation and experience significantly influence functional brain development. Given the complexity of reading comprehension, which incorporates lower-level word reading process and higher-level semantic integration process, our study aims to investigate how age and reading experience influence the neurobiology underpinning these two processes across the lifespan. fMRI data of 158 participants aged from 7 to 77 years were collected during a passive word viewing task and a sentence comprehension task to engage the lower- and higher-level processes, respectively. We found that the neurodevelopment of the lower-level process was primarily influenced by age, showing increased activation and connectivity with age in parieto-occipital and middle/inferior frontal lobes related to morphological-semantic mapping while decreased activation in the temporoparietal regions linked to phonological processing. However, the brain function of the higher-level process was primarily influenced by reading experience, exhibiting a greater reliance on the frontotemporal semantic network with enhanced sentence-level reading performance. Furthermore, reading experience did not significantly affect the brain function of children, but had a positive effect on young adults in the lower-level process and on middle-aged and older adults in the higher-level process. These findings indicate that the brain function for lower- and higher-level processes of reading comprehension is differently affected by maturation and reading experience, and the experience effect is contingent on age regarding the two processes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Ting Qi
- Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications
| | | | | | | | - Li Liu
- Beijing Normal University
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6
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Lubineau M, Watkins CP, Glasel H, Dehaene S. Does word flickering improve reading? Negative evidence from four experiments using low and high frequencies. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20231665. [PMID: 37788702 PMCID: PMC10547553 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1665] [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: 07/25/2023] [Accepted: 09/14/2023] [Indexed: 10/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Does word flickering facilitate reading? Despite a lack of scientific evidence, flickering glasses and lamps for dyslexia are being marketed in various countries. We conducted four experiments to assess their efficacy. Two experiments involved a computerized lexical decision task with constant display or low-frequency flickering (10 or 15 Hz). Among 375 regular adult readers, flicker noticeably slowed down word recognition, while slightly biasing the decision towards pseudowords. No significant effect was observed in 20 dyslexic children. In 22 dyslexic children, we also evaluated the impact of the Lexilight lamp and Lexilens glasses, which operate at higher frequencies, on reading fluency, letter identification and mirror letter processing. No detectable impact was observed. Lastly, in two participants who claimed to benefit from flickering glasses, we orthogonally manipulated whether the glasses were actually on, and whether the participant thought they were on. Only a small placebo effect was noted in one participant. Our findings starkly contrast with marketing claims that these tools can help 90% of dyslexics, and emphasize the role of rigorous scientific research in empowering dyslexic individuals to make informed decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie Lubineau
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CEA DSV/I2BM, INSERM, Université Paris Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin Center, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Collège de France, Paris, Île-de-France, France
- Reference centre for the neuropsychological evaluation of children (CERENE), Paris, France
| | - Cassandra Potier Watkins
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CEA DSV/I2BM, INSERM, Université Paris Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin Center, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Collège de France, Paris, Île-de-France, France
| | - Hervé Glasel
- Reference centre for the neuropsychological evaluation of children (CERENE), Paris, France
| | - Stanislas Dehaene
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CEA DSV/I2BM, INSERM, Université Paris Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin Center, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Collège de France, Paris, Île-de-France, France
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7
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Potier Watkins C, Dehaene S, Friedmann N. Characterizing different types of developmental dyslexias in French: The Malabi screener. Cogn Neuropsychol 2023; 40:319-350. [PMID: 38831527 DOI: 10.1080/02643294.2024.2327665] [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: 02/02/2023] [Accepted: 02/16/2024] [Indexed: 06/05/2024]
Abstract
Reading is a complex process involving multiple stages. An impairment in any of these stages may cause distinct types of reading deficits- distinct types of dyslexia. We describe the Malabi, a screener to identify deficits in various orthographic, lexical, and sublexical components of the reading process in French. The Malabi utilizes stimuli that are sensitive to different forms of dyslexia, including "attentional dyslexia", as it is traditionally refered to, characterized by letter-to-word binding impairments leading to letter migrations between words (e.g., "bar cat" misread as "bat car"), and "letter-position dyslexia", resulting in letter transpositions within words (e.g., "destiny" misread as "density"). After collecting reading error norms from 138 French middle-school students, we analyzed error types of 16 students with developmental dyslexia. We identified three selective cases of attentional dyslexia and one case of letter-position dyslexia. Further tests confirmed our diagnosis and demonstrate, for the first time, how these dyslexias are manifested in French. These results underscore the significance of recognizing and discussing the existence of multiple dyslexias, both in research contexts when selecting participants for dyslexia studies, and in practical settings where educators and practitioners work with students to develop personalized support. The test and supporting materials are available on Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/3pgzb/).
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Affiliation(s)
- Cassandra Potier Watkins
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CEA, INSERM, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin Center, Gif/Yvette, France
- Collège de France, Université Paris-Sciences-Lettres (PSL), Paris, France
| | - Stanislas Dehaene
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CEA, INSERM, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin Center, Gif/Yvette, France
- Collège de France, Université Paris-Sciences-Lettres (PSL), Paris, France
| | - Naama Friedmann
- Language and Brain Lab, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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8
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Dȩbska A, Wójcik M, Chyl K, Dziȩgiel-Fivet G, Jednoróg K. Beyond the Visual Word Form Area - a cognitive characterization of the left ventral occipitotemporal cortex. Front Hum Neurosci 2023; 17:1199366. [PMID: 37576470 PMCID: PMC10416454 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2023.1199366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2023] [Accepted: 07/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The left ventral occipitotemporal cortex has been traditionally viewed as a pathway for visual object recognition including written letters and words. Its crucial role in reading was strengthened by the studies on the functionally localized "Visual Word Form Area" responsible for processing word-like information. However, in the past 20 years, empirical studies have challenged the assumptions of this brain region as processing exclusively visual or even orthographic stimuli. In this review, we aimed to present the development of understanding of the left ventral occipitotemporal cortex from the visually based letter area to the modality-independent symbolic language related region. We discuss theoretical and empirical research that includes orthographic, phonological, and semantic properties of language. Existing results showed that involvement of the left ventral occipitotemporal cortex is not limited to unimodal activity but also includes multimodal processes. The idea of the integrative nature of this region is supported by the broad functional and structural connectivity with language-related and attentional brain networks. We conclude that although the function of the area is not yet fully understood in human cognition, its role goes beyond visual word form processing. The left ventral occipitotemporal cortex seems to be crucial for combining higher-level language information with abstract forms that convey meaning independently of modality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agnieszka Dȩbska
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Marta Wójcik
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Katarzyna Chyl
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
- The Educational Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Gabriela Dziȩgiel-Fivet
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Katarzyna Jednoróg
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
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9
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Carrión-Castillo A, Paz-Alonso PM, Carreiras M. Brain structure, phenotypic and genetic correlates of reading performance. Nat Hum Behav 2023; 7:1120-1134. [PMID: 37037991 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01583-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2022] [Accepted: 03/08/2023] [Indexed: 04/12/2023]
Abstract
Reading is an evolutionarily recent development that recruits and tunes brain circuitry connecting primary- and language-processing regions. We investigated whether metrics of the brain's physical structure correlate with reading performance and whether genetic variants affect this relationship. To this aim, we used the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development dataset (n = 9,013) of 9-10-year-olds and focused on 150 measures of cortical surface area (CSA) and thickness. Our results reveal that reading performance is associated with nine measures of brain structure including relevant regions of the reading network. Furthermore, we show that this relationship is partially mediated by genetic factors for two of these measures: the CSA of the entire left hemisphere and, specifically, of the left superior temporal gyrus CSA. These effects emphasize the complex and subtle interplay between genes, brain and reading, which is a partly heritable polygenic skill that relies on a distributed network.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Pedro M Paz-Alonso
- Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL), Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
- Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain
| | - Manuel Carreiras
- Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL), Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain.
- Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain.
- University of the Basque Country, Bilbao, Spain.
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10
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Ding G, Li H, Feng X. Detecting the visual word form area in a bilingual brain. Trends Cogn Sci 2023:S1364-6613(23)00120-1. [PMID: 37198088 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.05.003] [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: 04/28/2023] [Accepted: 05/08/2023] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Utilizing a millimeter-scale fMRI technique and individual-based analysis, Zhan and colleagues drew a new cortical map of the visual word form area (VWFA) and examined how it processes diverse languages among different bilinguals. This research advances the current understanding of cortical language organization in the bilingual brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guosheng Ding
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
| | - Hehui Li
- Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China
| | - Xiaoxia Feng
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
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11
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Zhang J, Li H, Zhang M, Wang Z, Ao X, Jian J, Wei N, Liu H, Ding G, Meng X. Functional preference of the left inferior parietal lobule to second language reading. Neuroimage 2023; 270:119989. [PMID: 36858331 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.119989] [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: 09/02/2022] [Revised: 02/20/2023] [Accepted: 02/25/2023] [Indexed: 03/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Additional neural substance for reading in a second language has been reported by prior studies. However, to date, there has been little investigation into whether and how the brain's adaptation to a second language is induced by specific linguistic tasks or is a general effect during reading in a new language. To address this issue, our study investigated Chinese children learning English as a second language by combining cross-sectional and longitudinal Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies. We compared brain activation across four reading tasks, orthographic tasks and phonological tasks in Chinese (the first language, L1) and English (the second language, L2). By comparing the activation pattern across languages, we observed greater activation in the left inferior parietal lobule (LIPL) in English compared to Chinese, suggesting a functional preference of the LIPL to L2. In addition, greater correlation between LIPL-related FC and L2 was mainly observed in the phonological task, indicating that LIPL could be associated with phonological processing. Moreover, a proportion of the children were enrolled in an 8-week phonological-based reading-training program. We observed significant functional plasticity of the LIPL elicited by this training program only in the English phonological task and not in the orthographic task, further substantiating that the additional requirements of the LIPL in L2 are mainly associated with phonological processing. The findings provide new insights into understanding the functional contribution of the LIPL to reading in a second language.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jia Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Hehui Li
- Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Sciences, School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
| | - Manli Zhang
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavioral and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Human Communication, Development, and Information Sciences, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Zhengke Wang
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavioral and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Xiya Ao
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavioral and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Jie Jian
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavioral and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Na Wei
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Haiyi Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Guosheng Ding
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Xiangzhi Meng
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavioral and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; PekingU-PolyU Center for Child Development and Learning, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
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12
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Li H, Cao Y, Chen C, Liu X, Zhang S, Mei L. The depth of semantic processing modulates cross-language pattern similarity in Chinese-English bilinguals. Hum Brain Mapp 2023; 44:2085-2098. [PMID: 36579666 PMCID: PMC9980893 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2022] [Revised: 11/22/2022] [Accepted: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous studies have investigated factors related to the degree of cross-language overlap in brain activations in bilinguals/multilinguals. However, it is still unclear whether and how the depth of semantic processing (a critical task-related factor) affects the neural pattern similarity between native and second languages. To address this question, 26 Chinese-English bilinguals were scanned with fMRI while performing a word naming task (i.e., a task with shallow semantic processing) and a semantic judgment task (i.e., a task with deep semantic processing) in both native and second languages. Based on three sets of representational similarity analysis (whole brain, ROI-based, and within-language vs. cross-language semantic representation), we found that select regions in the reading brain network showed higher cross-language pattern similarity and higher cross-language semantic representations during deep semantic processing than during shallow semantic processing. These results suggest that compared to shallow semantic processing, deep semantic processing may lead to greater language-independent processing (i.e., cross-language semantic representation) and cross-language pattern similarity, and provide direct quantitative neuroimaging evidence for cognitive models of bilingual lexical memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huiling Li
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.,School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Ying Cao
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.,School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Chuansheng Chen
- Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Xiaoyu Liu
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.,School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Shuo Zhang
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.,School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Leilei Mei
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
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13
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Wang J, Tong F, Joanisse MF, Booth JR. A sculpting effect of reading on later representational quality of phonology revealed by multi-voxel pattern analysis in young children. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2023; 239:105252. [PMID: 36934461 PMCID: PMC10115136 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2023.105252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2022] [Revised: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 03/09/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Using univariate analysis, a previous study by Wang et al. (2020) found a scaffolding effect of earlier phonological representation in superior temporal gyrus (STG) on later reading skill but failed to observe a sculpting effect of earlier reading on later phonological representation. The current study applied multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) to examine if both scaffolding and sculpting effects were present in young children. We found that better initial reading skill predicted higher decoding coefficient of brain activity patterns for phonological representations in STG. This sculpting effect was present only for decoding small grain sizes (phonemes) and in younger children (6- to 7.5-year-olds), as we did not find any effects for large grain sizes (rhymes) or older children (7.5- to 9.5-year-olds). Although a scaffolding effect was not observed, the current study provides the first neural evidence of how earlier reading sculpts later phonological awareness in beginning readers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jin Wang
- Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA; Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
| | - Frank Tong
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Marc F Joanisse
- Department of Psychology & Brain and Mind Institute, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - James R Booth
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
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14
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Tian M, Saccone EJ, Kim JS, Kanjlia S, Bedny M. Sensory modality and spoken language shape reading network in blind readers of Braille. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:2426-2440. [PMID: 35671478 PMCID: PMC10016046 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac216] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2021] [Revised: 05/06/2022] [Accepted: 05/07/2022] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
The neural basis of reading is highly consistent across many languages and scripts. Are there alternative neural routes to reading? How does the sensory modality of symbols (tactile vs. visual) influence their neural representations? We examined these questions by comparing reading of visual print (sighted group, n = 19) and tactile Braille (congenitally blind group, n = 19). Blind and sighted readers were presented with written (words, consonant strings, non-letter shapes) and spoken stimuli (words, backward speech) that varied in word-likeness. Consistent with prior work, the ventral occipitotemporal cortex (vOTC) was active during Braille and visual reading. A posterior/anterior vOTC word-form gradient was observed only in sighted readers with more anterior regions preferring larger orthographic units (words). No such gradient was observed in blind readers. Consistent with connectivity predictions, in blind compared to sighted readers, posterior parietal cortices were recruited to a greater degree and contained word-preferring patches. Lateralization of Braille in blind readers was predicted by laterality of spoken language and reading hand. The effect of spoken language increased along a cortical hierarchy, whereas effect of reading hand waned. These results suggested that the neural basis of reading is influenced by symbol modality and spoken language and support connectivity-based views of cortical function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengyu Tian
- Corresponding author: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N Charles St, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States.
| | - Elizabeth J Saccone
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States
| | - Judy S Kim
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, 2 Hillhouse Ave., New Haven, CT 06511, United States
| | - Shipra Kanjlia
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States
- Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15213, United States
| | - Marina Bedny
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States
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15
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Lorusso ML, Toraldo A. Revisiting Multifactor Models of Dyslexia: Do They Fit Empirical Data and What Are Their Implications for Intervention? Brain Sci 2023; 13:brainsci13020328. [PMID: 36831871 PMCID: PMC9954758 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13020328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2023] [Revised: 02/09/2023] [Accepted: 02/11/2023] [Indexed: 02/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Developmental dyslexia can be viewed as the result of the effects of single deficits or multiple deficits. This study presents a test of the applicability of a multifactor-interactive model (MFi-M) with a preliminary set of five variables corresponding to different neuropsychological functions involved in the reading process. The model has been tested on a sample of 55 school-age children with developmental dyslexia. The results show that the data fit a model in which each variable contributes to the reading ability in a non-additive but rather interactive way. These findings constitute a preliminary validation of the plausibility of the MFi-M, and encourage further research to add relevant factors and specify their relative weights. It is further discussed how subtype-based intervention approaches can be a suitable and advantageous framework for clinical intervention in a MFi-M perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Luisa Lorusso
- Scientific Institute IRCCS E. Medea, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy
- Correspondence:
| | - Alessio Toraldo
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
- Milan Center for Neuroscience, NeuroMI, 20126 Milan, Italy
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16
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How Characters Are Learned Leaves Its Mark on the Neural Substrates of Chinese Reading. eNeuro 2022; 9:ENEURO.0111-22.2022. [PMID: 36635247 PMCID: PMC9787807 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0111-22.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2022] [Revised: 12/02/2022] [Accepted: 12/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding how the brain functions differently as one learns to read may shed light on the controversial nature of the reading ability of human being. Logographic writing system such as Chinese has been found to rely on specialized neural substrates beyond the reading network of alphabetic languages. The ability to read in Chinese has also been proposed to rely on writing skills. However, it was unclear whether the learning-related alteration of neural responses was language specific or resulted from the more reliance on writing practice during acquisition. This study investigated whether the emergence of typical logographic-specific regions relied on learning by writing. We taught proficient alphabetic language readers Chinese characters and used pre-test and post-test to identify changes in two critical stages of reading, namely, orthographic processing and orthographic-to-phonological mapping. Two typical left hemispheric areas for logographic reading showed increased responses to characters in the brains of proficient alphabetic readers after learning, regardless of whether the learning strategy involved writing practice. Moreover, learning strategy modulated the response magnitude or multivoxel patterns in the left superior parietal lobule, left middle frontal gyrus, and right fusiform gyrus, some of which were task dependent. The findings corroborated a limited role of writing in the emergence of logographic-specific reading network and suggested the heterogeneous nature of different brain regions in this network.
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17
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Liu CY, Tao R, Qin L, Matthews S, Siok WT. Functional connectivity during orthographic, phonological, and semantic processing of Chinese characters identifies distinct visuospatial and phonosemantic networks. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 43:5066-5080. [PMID: 36097409 PMCID: PMC9582368 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2022] [Revised: 07/22/2022] [Accepted: 08/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
While neuroimaging studies have identified brain regions associated with single word reading, its three constituents, namely, orthography, phonology, and meaning, and the functional connectivity of their networks remain underexplored. This study examined the neurocognitive underpinnings of these neural activations and functional connectivity of the identified brain regions using a within-subject design. Thirty-one native Mandarin speakers performed orthographic, phonological, and semantic judgment tasks during functional magnetic resonance imaging. The results indicated that the three processes shared a core network consisting of a large region in the left prefrontal cortex, fusiform gyrus, and medial superior frontal gyrus but not the superior temporal gyrus. Orthographic processing more strongly recruited the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, left superior parietal lobule and bilateral fusiform gyri; semantic processing more strongly recruited the left inferior frontal gyrus and left middle temporal gyrus, whereas phonological processing more strongly activated the dorsal part of the precentral gyrus. Functional connectivity analysis identified a posterior visuospatial network and a frontal phonosemantic network interfaced by the left middle frontal gyrus. We conclude that reading Chinese recruits cognitive resources that correspond to basic task demands with unique features best explained in connection with the individual reading subprocesses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chun Yin Liu
- Department of Linguistics, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Ran Tao
- Department of Linguistics, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.,Research Centre for Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience, Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Lang Qin
- Department of Linguistics, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.,Center for MRI Research, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Stephen Matthews
- Department of Linguistics, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Wai Ting Siok
- Department of Linguistics, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
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18
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Li J, Liu Y, Wang Y, Wang N, Ji Y, Wei T, Bi H, Yang Y. Functional brain networks underlying the interaction between central and peripheral processes involved in Chinese handwriting in children and adults. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 44:142-155. [PMID: 36005850 PMCID: PMC9783426 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2022] [Revised: 07/19/2022] [Accepted: 08/02/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The neural mechanisms that support handwriting, an important mode of human communication, are thought to be controlled by a central process (responsible for spelling) and a peripheral process (responsible for motor output). However, the relationship between central and peripheral processes has been debated. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, this study examined the neural mechanisms underlying this relationship in Chinese handwriting in 36 children (mean age = 10.40 years) and 56 adults (mean age = 22.36 years) by manipulating character frequency (a central variable). Brain network analysis showed that character frequency reconfigured functional brain networks known to underlie motor processes, including the somatomotor and cerebellar network, in both children and adults, indicating that central processing cascades into peripheral processing. Furthermore, the network analysis characterized the interaction profiles between motor networks and linguistic-cognitive networks, fully mapping the neural architecture that supports the interaction of central and peripheral processes involved in handwriting. Taken together, these results reveal the neural interface underlying the interaction between central and peripheral processes involved in handwriting in a logographic writing system, advancing our understanding of the neural basis of handwriting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junjun Li
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Center for Brain Science and Learning DifficultiesInstitute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina,Department of PsychologyUniversity of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Ying Liu
- School of Medical HumanitiesCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Yi Wang
- School of Mechanical and Materials EngineeringNorth China University of TechnologyBeijingChina
| | - Nizhuan Wang
- School of Biomedical EngineeringShanghaiTech UniversityShanghaiChina,Artificial Intelligence and Neuro‐Informatics Engineering (ARINE) LaboratorySchool of Computer Engineering, Jiangsu Ocean UniversityLianyungangChina
| | - Yuzhu Ji
- Department of Psychology, College of EducationZhejiang University of TechnologyHangzhouChina
| | - Tongqi Wei
- Pan Shuh LibraryInstitute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Hong‐Yan Bi
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Center for Brain Science and Learning DifficultiesInstitute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina,Department of PsychologyUniversity of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Yang Yang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Center for Brain Science and Learning DifficultiesInstitute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina,Department of PsychologyUniversity of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
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19
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Liu Z, Li J, Bi HY, Xu M, Yang Y. Disruption of Functional Brain Networks Underlies the Handwriting Deficit in Children With Developmental Dyslexia. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:919440. [PMID: 35924227 PMCID: PMC9339653 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.919440] [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: 04/13/2022] [Accepted: 06/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Developmental dyslexia (DD) is a neurological-based learning disorder that affects 5-17.5% of children. Handwriting difficulty is a prevailing symptom of dyslexia, but its neural mechanisms remain elusive. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), this study examined functional brain networks associated with handwriting in a copying task in Chinese children with DD (n = 17) and age-matched children (n = 36). We found that dyslexics showed reduced network connectivity between the sensory-motor network (SMN) and the visual network (VN), and between the default mode network (DMN) and the ventral attention network (VAN) during handwriting, but not during drawing geometric figures. Moreover, the connectivity strength of the networks showing group differences was correlated with handwriting speed, reading and working memory, suggesting that the handwriting deficit in DD is linked with disruption of a large-scale brain network supporting motoric, linguistic and executive control processes. Taken together, this study demonstrates the alternations of functional brain networks that underly the handwriting deficit in Chinese dyslexia, providing a new clue for the neural basis of DD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhengyan 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
| | - Junjun Li
- 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
| | - Min Xu
- Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Sciences, School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
- *Correspondence: Min Xu,
| | - Yang Yang
- 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
- Yang Yang,
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20
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Li A, Yang R, Qu J, Dong J, Gu L, Mei L. Neural representation of phonological information during Chinese character reading. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 43:4013-4029. [PMID: 35545935 PMCID: PMC9374885 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25900] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2022] [Revised: 04/04/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous studies have revealed that phonological processing of Chinese characters elicited activation in the left prefrontal cortex, bilateral parietal cortex, and occipitotemporal regions. However, it is controversial what role the left middle frontal gyrus plays in Chinese character reading, and whether the core regions (e.g., the left superior temporal gyrus and supramarginal gyrus) for phonological processing of alphabetic languages are also involved in Chinese character reading. To address these questions, the present study used both univariate and multivariate analysis (i.e., representational similarity analysis, RSA) to explore neural representations of phonological information during Chinese character reading. Participants were scanned while performing a reading aloud task. Univariate activation analysis revealed a widely distributed network for word reading, including the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, lateral temporal cortex, and occipitotemporal cortex. More importantly, RSA showed that the left prefrontal (i.e., the left middle frontal gyrus and left inferior frontal gyrus) and bilateral occipitotemporal areas (i.e., the left inferior and middle temporal gyrus and bilateral fusiform gyrus) represented phonological information of Chinese characters. These results confirmed the importance of the left middle frontal gyrus and regions in ventral pathway in representing phonological information of Chinese characters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aqian Li
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.,School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Rui Yang
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.,School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jing Qu
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.,School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jie Dong
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.,School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Lala Gu
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.,School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Leilei Mei
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
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21
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Murphy E, Woolnough O, Rollo PS, Roccaforte ZJ, Segaert K, Hagoort P, Tandon N. Minimal Phrase Composition Revealed by Intracranial Recordings. J Neurosci 2022; 42:3216-3227. [PMID: 35232761 PMCID: PMC8994536 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1575-21.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2021] [Revised: 01/11/2022] [Accepted: 01/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to comprehend phrases is an essential integrative property of the brain. Here, we evaluate the neural processes that enable the transition from single-word processing to a minimal compositional scheme. Previous research has reported conflicting timing effects of composition, and disagreement persists with respect to inferior frontal and posterior temporal contributions. To address these issues, 19 patients (10 male, 9 female) implanted with penetrating depth or surface subdural intracranial electrodes, heard auditory recordings of adjective-noun, pseudoword-noun, and adjective-pseudoword phrases and judged whether the phrase matched a picture. Stimulus-dependent alterations in broadband gamma activity, low-frequency power, and phase-locking values across the language-dominant left hemisphere were derived. This revealed a mosaic located on the lower bank of the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), in which closely neighboring cortical sites displayed exclusive sensitivity to either lexicality or phrase structure, but not both. Distinct timings were found for effects of phrase composition (210-300 ms) and pseudoword processing (∼300-700 ms), and these were localized to neighboring electrodes in pSTS. The pars triangularis and temporal pole encoded anticipation of composition in broadband low frequencies, and both regions exhibited greater functional connectivity with pSTS during phrase composition. Our results suggest that the pSTS is a highly specialized region composed of sparsely interwoven heterogeneous constituents that encodes both lower and higher level linguistic features. This hub in pSTS for minimal phrase processing may form the neural basis for the human-specific computational capacity for forming hierarchically organized linguistic structures.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Linguists have claimed that the integration of multiple words into a phrase demands a computational procedure distinct from single-word processing. Here, we provide intracranial recordings from a large patient cohort, with high spatiotemporal resolution, to track the cortical dynamics of phrase composition. Epileptic patients volunteered to participate in a task in which they listened to phrases (red boat), word-pseudoword or pseudoword-word pairs (e.g., red fulg). At the onset of the second word in phrases, greater broadband high gamma activity was found in posterior superior temporal sulcus in electrodes that exclusively indexed phrasal meaning and not lexical meaning. These results provide direct, high-resolution signatures of minimal phrase composition in humans, a potentially species-specific computational capacity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elliot Murphy
- Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas 77030
- Texas Institute for Restorative Neurotechnologies, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas 77030
| | - Oscar Woolnough
- Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas 77030
- Texas Institute for Restorative Neurotechnologies, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas 77030
| | - Patrick S Rollo
- Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas 77030
- Texas Institute for Restorative Neurotechnologies, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas 77030
| | - Zachary J Roccaforte
- Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas 77030
| | - Katrien Segaert
- School of Psychology and Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, 6525 XD Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Peter Hagoort
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, 6525 XD Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Nijmegen, 6525 HR Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Nitin Tandon
- Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas 77030
- Texas Institute for Restorative Neurotechnologies, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas 77030
- Memorial Hermann Hospital, Texas Medical Center, Houston, Texas 77030
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22
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Janacsek K, Evans TM, Kiss M, Shah L, Blumenfeld H, Ullman MT. Subcortical Cognition: The Fruit Below the Rind. Annu Rev Neurosci 2022; 45:361-386. [PMID: 35385670 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-neuro-110920-013544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Cognitive neuroscience has highlighted the cerebral cortex while often overlooking subcortical structures. This cortical proclivity is found in basic and translational research on many aspects of cognition, especially higher cognitive domains such as language, reading, music, and math. We suggest that, for both anatomical and evolutionary reasons, multiple subcortical structures play substantial roles across higher and lower cognition. We present a comprehensive review of existing evidence, which indeed reveals extensive subcortical contributions in multiple cognitive domains. We argue that the findings are overall both real and important. Next, we advance a theoretical framework to capture the nature of (sub)cortical contributions to cognition. Finally, we propose how new subcortical cognitive roles can be identified by leveraging anatomical and evolutionary principles, and we describe specific methods that can be used to reveal subcortical cognition. Altogether, this review aims to advance cognitive neuroscience by highlighting subcortical cognition and facilitating its future investigation. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Neuroscience, Volume 45 is July 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karolina Janacsek
- Centre for Thinking and Learning, Institute for Lifecourse Development, School of Human Sciences, Faculty of Education, Health and Human Sciences, University of Greenwich, London, United Kingdom.,Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Tanya M Evans
- School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - Mariann Kiss
- Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.,Department of Cognitive Science, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Leela Shah
- School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - Hal Blumenfeld
- Departments of Neurology, Neuroscience and Neurosurgery, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Michael T Ullman
- Brain and Language Lab, Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA;
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23
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Qu J, Pang Y, Liu X, Cao Y, Huang C, Mei L. Task modulates the orthographic and phonological representations in the bilateral ventral Occipitotemporal cortex. Brain Imaging Behav 2022; 16:1695-1707. [PMID: 35247162 DOI: 10.1007/s11682-022-00641-w] [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] [Accepted: 01/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
As a key area in word reading, the left ventral occipitotemporal cortex is proposed for abstract orthographic processing, and its middle part has even been labeled as the visual word form area. Because the definition of the VWFA largely varies and the reading task differs across studies, the function of the left ventral occipitotemporal cortex in word reading is continuingly debated on whether this region is specific for orthographic processing or be involved in an interactive framework. By using representational similarity analysis (RSA), this study examined information representation in the VWFA at the individual level and the modulatory effect of reading task. Twenty-four subjects were scanned while performing the explicit (i.e., the naming task) and implicit (i.e., the perceptual task) reading tasks. Activation analysis showed that the naming task elicited greater activation in regions related to phonological processing (e.g., the bilateral prefrontal cortex and temporoparietal cortex), while the perceptual task recruited greater activation in visual cortex and default mode network (e.g., the bilateral middle frontal gyrus, angular gyrus, and the right middle temporal gyrus). More importantly, RSA also showed that task modulated information representation in the bilateral anterior occipitotemporal cortex and VWFA. Specifically, ROI-based RSA revealed enhanced orthographic and phonological representations in the bilateral anterior fusiform cortex and VWFA in the naming task relative to the perceptual task. These results suggest that lexical representation in the VWFA is influenced by the demand of phonological processing, which supports the interactive account of the VWFA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Qu
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Yingdan Pang
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Xiaoyu Liu
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Ying Cao
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Chengmei Huang
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Leilei Mei
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.
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24
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Rima S, Schmid MC. Reading Specific Small Saccades Predict Individual Phonemic Awareness and Reading Speed. Front Neurosci 2021; 15:663242. [PMID: 34966251 PMCID: PMC8710594 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.663242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2021] [Accepted: 11/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Small fixational eye-movements are a fundamental aspect of vision and thought to reflect fine shifts in covert attention during active viewing. While the perceptual benefits of these small eye movements have been demonstrated during a wide range of experimental tasks including during free viewing, their function during reading remains surprisingly unclear. Previous research demonstrated that readers with increased microsaccade rates displayed longer reading speeds. To what extent increased fixational eye movements are, however, specific to reading and might be indicative of reading skill deficits remains, however, unknown. To address this topic, we compared the eye movement scan paths of 13 neurotypical individuals and 13 subjects diagnosed with developmental dyslexia during short story reading and free viewing of natural scenes. We found that during reading only, dyslexics tended to display small eye movements more frequently compared to neurotypicals, though this effect was not significant at the population level, as it could also occur in slow readers not diagnosed as dyslexics. In line with previous research, neurotypical readers had twice as many regressive compared to progressive microsaccades, which did not occur during free viewing. In contrast, dyslexics showed similar amounts of regressive and progressive small fixational eye movements during both reading and free viewing. We also found that participants with smaller fixational saccades from both neurotypical and dyslexic samples displayed reduced reading speeds and lower scores during independent tests of reading skill. Slower readers also displayed greater variability in the landing points and temporal occurrence of their fixational saccades. Both the rate and spatio-temporal variability of fixational saccades were associated with lower phonemic awareness scores. As none of the observed differences between dyslexics and neurotypical readers occurred during control experiments with free viewing, the reported effects appear to be directly related to reading. In summary, our results highlight the predictive value of small saccades for reading skill, but not necessarily for developmental dyslexia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samy Rima
- Department of Sport and Neuroscience, Faculty of Science and Medicine, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Michael C Schmid
- Department of Sport and Neuroscience, Faculty of Science and Medicine, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland.,Bioscience Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
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25
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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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26
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Yan X, Jiang K, Li H, Wang Z, Perkins K, Cao F. Convergent and divergent brain structural and functional abnormalities associated with developmental dyslexia. eLife 2021; 10:e69523. [PMID: 34569931 PMCID: PMC8497057 DOI: 10.7554/elife.69523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2021] [Accepted: 09/24/2021] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Brain abnormalities in the reading network have been repeatedly reported in individuals with developmental dyslexia (DD); however, it is still not totally understood where the structural and functional abnormalities are consistent/inconsistent across languages. In the current multimodal meta-analysis, we found convergent structural and functional alterations in the left superior temporal gyrus across languages, suggesting a neural signature of DD. We found greater reduction in grey matter volume and brain activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus in morpho-syllabic languages (e.g. Chinese) than in alphabetic languages, and greater reduction in brain activation in the left middle temporal gyrus and fusiform gyrus in alphabetic languages than in morpho-syllabic languages. These language differences are explained as consequences of being DD while learning a specific language. In addition, we also found brain regions that showed increased grey matter volume and brain activation, presumably suggesting compensations and brain regions that showed inconsistent alterations in brain structure and function. Our study provides important insights about the etiology of DD from a cross-linguistic perspective with considerations of consistency/inconsistency between structural and functional alterations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaohui Yan
- Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-Sen UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Ke Jiang
- Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-Sen UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Hui Li
- Department of Preschool Education, Anyang Preschool Education CollegeAnyangChina
| | - Ziyi Wang
- School of Foreign Language, Jining UniversityJiningChina
| | - Kyle Perkins
- Florida International University (Retired Professor)MiamiUnited States
| | - Fan Cao
- Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-Sen UniversityGuangzhouChina
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27
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Yang Y, Zuo Z, Tam F, Graham SJ, Li J, Ji Y, Meng Z, Gu C, Bi HY, Ou J, Xu M. The brain basis of handwriting deficits in Chinese children with developmental dyslexia. Dev Sci 2021; 25:e13161. [PMID: 34288292 PMCID: PMC9286553 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2021] [Revised: 06/15/2021] [Accepted: 07/14/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Abundant behavioral studies have demonstrated high comorbidity of reading and handwriting difficulties in developmental dyslexia (DD), a neurological condition characterized by unexpectedly low reading ability despite adequate nonverbal intelligence and typical schooling. The neural correlates of handwriting deficits remain largely unknown; however, as well as the extent that handwriting deficits share common neural bases with reading deficits in DD. The present work used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine brain activity during handwriting and reading tasks in Chinese dyslexic children (n = 18) and age-matched controls (n = 23). Compared to controls, dyslexic children exhibited reduced activation during handwriting tasks in brain regions supporting sensory-motor processing (including supplementary motor area and postcentral gyrus) and visual-orthography processing (including bilateral precuneus and right cuneus). Among these regions, the left supplementary motor area and the right precuneus also showed a trend of reduced activation during reading tasks in dyslexics. Moreover, increased activation was found in the left inferior frontal gyrus and anterior cingulate cortex in dyslexics, which may reflect more efforts of executive control to compensate for the impairments of motor and visual-orthographic processing. Finally, dyslexic children exhibited aberrant functional connectivity among brain areas for cognitive control and sensory-motor processes during handwriting tasks. Together, these findings suggest that handwriting deficits in DD are associated with functional abnormalities of multiple brain regions implicated in motor execution, visual-orthographic processing, and cognitive control, providing important implications for the diagnosis and treatment of dyslexia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Yang
- 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
| | - Zhentao Zuo
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Fred Tam
- Physical Sciences Platform, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, Canada
| | - Simon J Graham
- Physical Sciences Platform, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, Canada.,Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Junjun Li
- 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
| | - Yuzhu Ji
- Department of Psychology, College of Education, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
| | - Zelong Meng
- Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
| | - Chanyuan Gu
- Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, Faculty of Humanities, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, 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
| | - Jian Ou
- Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Min Xu
- Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.,Center for Language and Brain, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen, China
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28
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Li H, Kepinska O, Caballero JN, Zekelman L, Marks RA, Uchikoshi Y, Kovelman I, Hoeft F. Decoding the role of the cerebellum in the early stages of reading acquisition. Cortex 2021; 141:262-279. [PMID: 34102410 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2021.02.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2020] [Revised: 01/03/2021] [Accepted: 02/08/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Numerous studies have consistently reported functional activation of the cerebellum during reading tasks, especially in the right cerebellar hemisphere. However, it remains unclear whether this region is also involved in reading during the earliest stages of reading acquisition. Here, we investigated whether and how the cerebellum contributes to reading acquisition. We tested 80 5-6-year-old kindergarteners, who performed a visual word matching task during which functional MRI (fMRI) data were collected. We found that bilateral cerebellar hemispheres were significantly activated during visual word processing. Moreover, activation of left cerebellar lobule VII extending to lobule VIII negatively and significantly correlated with current reading ability, whereas activation of right cerebellar lobule VII extending to lobule VIII significantly and positively correlated with future reading ability. Functional decoding via functional connectivity patterns further revealed that left and right cerebellar lobules connected with different cerebral cortex regions. Our results suggest a division of labor between the left and right cerebellar lobules in beginning readers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hehui Li
- Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, PR China; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Olga Kepinska
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA; Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Brain and Language Lab, Cognitive Science Hub, University of Vienna, Austria; Dept of Behavioral and Cognitive Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Austria; Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Jocelyn N Caballero
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Leo Zekelman
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Rebecca A Marks
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Yuuko Uchikoshi
- School of Education, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Ioulia Kovelman
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Fumiko Hoeft
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA; Brain Imaging Research Center (BIRC), University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA; Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT, USA.
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29
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Zhang J, Liu L, Li H, Feng X, Zhang M, Liu L, Meng X, Ding G. Large-scale network topology reveals brain functional abnormality in Chinese dyslexic children. Neuropsychologia 2021; 157:107886. [PMID: 33971213 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.107886] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2021] [Revised: 04/12/2021] [Accepted: 05/05/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
It has been revealed that dyslexic children learning alphabetic languages are characterized by aberrant topological organization of brain networks. However, little is known about the functional organization and the reconfiguration pattern of brain networks in Chinese dyslexic children. Using graph theoretical analysis and functional magnetic resonance images (fMRI), we examined this issue specifically from the perspective of functional integration and segregation. We first compared large-scale topological organizations between dyslexic children and typically developing children during a Chinese phonological rhyming task, and found that dyslexic children showed increased local efficiency and clustering coefficient compared with typically developing children, which were negatively correlated with task performance. Furthermore, dyslexic children and typically developing children could be accurately distinguished at the individual-subject level based on the nodal local efficiency or clustering coefficient. Second, we studied the group difference of network reconfiguration and found that dyslexic children showed more difficulty when shifting from the resting state to the phonological task. Our results suggest an over-segregated brain functional organization and deficits in brain network reconfiguration in Chinese dyslexic children, which helps to advance our knowledge on the neural mechanisms underlying dyslexia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jia Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, PR China
| | - Lanfang Liu
- Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, PR China
| | - Hehui Li
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, PR China
| | - Xiaoxia Feng
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, PR China
| | - Manli Zhang
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, PR China
| | - Li Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, PR China
| | - Xiangzhi Meng
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, PR China; PekingU-PolyU Center for Child Development and Learning, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, PR China.
| | - Guosheng Ding
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, PR China.
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30
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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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31
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Failure of resting-state frontal-occipital connectivity in linking visual perception with reading fluency in Chinese children with developmental dyslexia. Neuroimage 2021; 233:117911. [PMID: 33711483 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.117911] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2020] [Revised: 02/22/2021] [Accepted: 02/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
It is widely accepted that impairment in visual perception impedes children's reading development, and further studies have demonstrated significant enhancement in reading fluency after visual perceptual training. However, the mechanism of the neural linkage between visual perception and reading is unclear. The purpose of this study was to examine the intrinsic functional relationship between visual perception (indexed by the texture discrimination task,TDT) and reading ability (character reading and reading fluency) in Chinese children with developmental dyslexia (DD) and those with typical development (TD). The resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) between the primary visual cortex (V1, BA17) and the entire brain was analyzed. In addition, how RSFC maps are associated with TDT performance and reading ability in the DD and TD groups was examined. The results demonstrated that the strength of the RSFC between V1 and the left middle frontal gyrus (LMFG, BA9/BA46) was significantly correlated with both the threshold (SOA) of the TDT and reading fluency in TD children but not in DD children. Moreover, LMFG-V1 resting-state connectivity played a mediating role in the association of visual texture discrimination and reading fluency, but not in character reading, in TD children. In contrast, this mediation was absent in DD children, albeit their strengths of RSFC between V1 and the left middle frontal gyrus (LMFG) were comparable to those for the TD group. These findings indicate that typically developing children use the linkage of the RSFC between the V1 and LMFG for visual perception skills, which in turn promote fluent reading; in contrast, children with dyslexia, who had higher TDT thresholds than TD children, could not take advantage of their frontal-occipital connectivity to improve reading fluency abilities. These findings suggest that visual perception plays an important role in reading skills and that children with developmental dyslexia lack the ability to use their frontal-occipital connectivity to link visual perception with reading fluency.
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