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Flores-Gallegos R, Fernández T, Alcauter S, Pasaye E, Albarrán-Cárdenas L, Barrera-Díaz B, Rodríguez-Leis P. Functional connectivity is linked to working memory differences in children with reading learning disability. BMC Pediatr 2024; 24:318. [PMID: 38720281 PMCID: PMC11077889 DOI: 10.1186/s12887-024-04791-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2023] [Accepted: 04/25/2024] [Indexed: 05/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Reading learning disability (RLD) is characterized by a specific difficulty in learning to read that is not better explained by an intellectual disability, lack of instruction, psychosocial adversity, or a neurological disorder. According to the domain-general hypothesis, a working memory deficit is the primary problem. Working memory in this population has recently been linked to altered resting-state functional connectivity within the default mode network (DMN), salience network (SN), and frontoparietal network (FPN) compared to that in typically developing individuals. The main purpose of the present study was to compare the within-network functional connectivity of the DMN, SN, FPN, and reading network in two groups of children with RLD: a group with lower-than-average working memory (LWM) and a group with average working memory (AWM). All subjects underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and data were analyzed from a network perspective using the network brain statistics framework. The results showed that the LWM group had significantly weaker connectivity in a network that involved brain regions in the DMN, SN, and FPN than the AWM group. Although there was no significant difference between groups in reading network in the present study, other studies have shown relationship of the connectivity of the angular gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, and inferior parietal lobe with the phonological process of reading. The results suggest that although there are significant differences in functional connectivity in the associated networks between children with LWM and AWM, the distinctive cognitive profile has no specific effect on the reading network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo Flores-Gallegos
- Departamento de Neurobiología Conductual y Cognitiva, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, Blvd. Juriquilla 3001, Juriquilla, Querétaro, 76230, México
| | - Thalía Fernández
- Departamento de Neurobiología Conductual y Cognitiva, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, Blvd. Juriquilla 3001, Juriquilla, Querétaro, 76230, México.
| | - Sarael Alcauter
- Departamento de Neurobiología Conductual y Cognitiva, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, Blvd. Juriquilla 3001, Juriquilla, Querétaro, 76230, México
| | - Erick Pasaye
- Departamento de Neurobiología Conductual y Cognitiva, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, Blvd. Juriquilla 3001, Juriquilla, Querétaro, 76230, México
| | - Lucero Albarrán-Cárdenas
- Departamento de Neurobiología Conductual y Cognitiva, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, Blvd. Juriquilla 3001, Juriquilla, Querétaro, 76230, México
| | - Bertha Barrera-Díaz
- Departamento de Neurobiología Conductual y Cognitiva, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, Blvd. Juriquilla 3001, Juriquilla, Querétaro, 76230, México
| | - Paulina Rodríguez-Leis
- Departamento de Neurobiología Conductual y Cognitiva, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, Blvd. Juriquilla 3001, Juriquilla, Querétaro, 76230, México
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Ashburn SM, Matejko AA, Eden GF. Activation and functional connectivity of cerebellum during reading and during arithmetic in children with combined reading and math disabilities. Front Neurosci 2024; 18:1135166. [PMID: 38741787 PMCID: PMC11090247 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1135166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2022] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Reading and math constitute important academic skills, and as such, reading disability (RD or developmental dyslexia) and math disability (MD or developmental dyscalculia) can have negative consequences for children's educational progress. Although RD and MD are different learning disabilities, they frequently co-occur. Separate theories have implicated the cerebellum and its cortical connections in RD and in MD, suggesting that children with combined reading and math disability (RD + MD) may have altered cerebellar function and disrupted functional connectivity between the cerebellum and cortex during reading and during arithmetic processing. Methods Here we compared Control and RD + MD groups during a reading task as well as during an arithmetic task on (i) activation of the cerebellum, (ii) background functional connectivity, and (iii) task-dependent functional connectivity between the cerebellum and the cortex. Results The two groups (Control, RD + MD) did not differ for either task (reading, arithmetic) on any of the three measures (activation, background functional connectivity, task-dependent functional connectivity). Conclusion These results do not support theories that children's deficits in reading and math originate in the cerebellum.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Guinevere F. Eden
- Center for the Study of Learning, Department of Pediatrics, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, United States
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Chong JSX, Chua KY, Ng KK, Chong SW, Leong RLF, Chee MWL, Koh WP, Zhou JH. Higher handgrip strength is linked to higher salience ventral attention functional network segregation in older adults. Commun Biol 2024; 7:214. [PMID: 38383572 PMCID: PMC10881588 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-05862-x] [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] [Received: 07/03/2023] [Accepted: 01/26/2024] [Indexed: 02/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Converging evidence suggests that handgrip strength is linked to cognition in older adults, and this may be subserved by shared age-related changes in brain function and structure. However, the interplay among handgrip strength, brain functional connectivity, and cognitive function remains poorly elucidated. Hence, our study sought to examine these relationships in 148 community-dwelling older adults. Specifically, we examined functional segregation, a measure of functional brain organization sensitive to ageing and cognitive decline, and its associations with handgrip strength and cognitive function. We showed that higher handgrip strength was related to better processing speed, attention, and global cognition. Further, higher handgrip strength was associated with higher segregation of the salience/ventral attention network, driven particularly by higher salience/ventral attention intra-network functional connectivity of the right anterior insula to the left posterior insula/frontal operculum and right midcingulate/medial parietal cortex. Importantly, these handgrip strength-related inter-individual differences in salience/ventral attention network functional connectivity were linked to cognitive function, as revealed by functional decoding and brain-cognition association analyses. Our findings thus highlight the importance of the salience/ventral attention network in handgrip strength and cognition, and suggest that inter-individual differences in salience/ventral attention network segregation and intra-network connectivity could underpin the handgrip strength-cognition relationship in older adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanna Su Xian Chong
- Centre for Sleep and Cognition & Centre for Translational Magnetic Resonance Research, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Kevin Yiqiang Chua
- Integrative Sciences and Engineering Programme (ISEP), NUS Graduate School, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Kwun Kei Ng
- Centre for Sleep and Cognition & Centre for Translational Magnetic Resonance Research, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Shin Wee Chong
- Centre for Sleep and Cognition & Centre for Translational Magnetic Resonance Research, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Ruth L F Leong
- Centre for Sleep and Cognition & Centre for Translational Magnetic Resonance Research, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Michael W L Chee
- Centre for Sleep and Cognition & Centre for Translational Magnetic Resonance Research, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Woon Puay Koh
- Healthy Longevity Translational Research Programme, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
- Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore
| | - Juan Helen Zhou
- Centre for Sleep and Cognition & Centre for Translational Magnetic Resonance Research, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
- Integrative Sciences and Engineering Programme (ISEP), NUS Graduate School, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
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Horowitz-Kraus T, Meri R, Holland SK, Farah R, Rohana T, Haj N. Language First, Cognition Later: Different Trajectories of Subcomponents of the Future-Reading Network in Processing Narratives from Kindergarten to Adolescence. Brain Connect 2024; 14:60-69. [PMID: 38265789 PMCID: PMC10890959 DOI: 10.1089/brain.2023.0012] [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] [Indexed: 01/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Narrative comprehension is a linguistic ability that emerges early in life and has a critical role in language development, reading acquisition, and comprehension. According to the Simple View of Reading model, reading is acquired through word decoding and linguistic comprehension. Here, within and between networks, functional connectivity in several brain networks supporting both language and reading abilities was examined from prereading to proficient reading age in 32 healthy children, ages 5-18 years, scanned annually while listening to stories over 12 years. Functional connectivity changes within and between the networks were assessed and compared between the years using hierarchical linear regression and were related to reading abilities. At prereading age, the networks related to basic language processing accounted for 32.5% of the variation of reading ability at reading age (at 12-14 years) (R2 = 0.325, p = 0.05). At age 17, more complex cognitive networks were involved and accounted for 97.4% of the variation in reading ability (R2 = 0.974, p = 0.022). Overall, networks composing the future-reading network are highly involved in processing narratives along development; however, networks related to semantic, phonological, and syntactic processing predict reading ability earlier in life, and more complex networks predict reading proficiency later in life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus
- Educational Neuroimaging Group, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
- Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
- Department of Neuropsychology, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Raya Meri
- Educational Neuroimaging Group, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | | | - Rola Farah
- Educational Neuroimaging Group, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Tamara Rohana
- Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Narmeen Haj
- Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
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Nugiel T, Demeter DV, Mitchell ME, Garza A, Hernandez AE, Juranek J, Church JA. Brain connectivity and academic skills in English learners. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhad414. [PMID: 38044467 PMCID: PMC10793574 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad414] [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: 06/22/2023] [Revised: 10/11/2023] [Accepted: 10/23/2023] [Indexed: 12/05/2023] Open
Abstract
English learners (ELs) are a rapidly growing population in schools in the United States with limited experience and proficiency in English. To better understand the path for EL's academic success in school, it is important to understand how EL's brain systems are used for academic learning in English. We studied, in a cohort of Hispanic middle-schoolers (n = 45, 22F) with limited English proficiency and a wide range of reading and math abilities, brain network properties related to academic abilities. We applied a method for localizing brain regions of interest (ROIs) that are group-constrained, yet individually specific, to test how resting state functional connectivity between regions that are important for academic learning (reading, math, and cognitive control regions) are related to academic abilities. ROIs were selected from task localizers probing reading and math skills in the same participants. We found that connectivity across all ROIs, as well as connectivity of just the cognitive control ROIs, were positively related to measures of reading skills but not math skills. This work suggests that cognitive control brain systems have a central role for reading in ELs. Our results also indicate that an individualized approach for localizing brain function may clarify brain-behavior relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tehila Nugiel
- Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32304, United States
| | - Damion V Demeter
- Department of Cognitive Science, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92037, United States
| | - Mackenzie E Mitchell
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States
| | - AnnaCarolina Garza
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, United States
| | - Arturo E Hernandez
- Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, United States
| | - Jenifer Juranek
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX 77225, United States
| | - Jessica A Church
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, United States
- Biomedical Imaging Center, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, United States
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Turesky TK, Luetje MM, Eden GF. An fMRI study of finger movements in children with and without dyslexia. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1135437. [PMID: 37274202 PMCID: PMC10233035 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1135437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2022] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Developmental dyslexia is a language-based reading disability, yet some have reported motor impairments, usually attributed to cerebellar dysfunction. Methods Using fMRI, we compared children with and without dyslexia during irregularly paced, left or right-hand finger tapping. Next, we examined seed-to-voxel intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) using six seed regions of the motor system (left and right anterior lobe of the cerebellum, SM1 and SMA). Results A whole-brain task-evoked analysis revealed relatively less activation in the group with dyslexia in right anterior cerebellum during right hand tapping. For iFC, we found the group with dyslexia to have greater iFC between the right SM1 seed and a medial aspect of right postcentral gyrus for left hand tapping; and greater iFC between the left SM1 seed and left thalamus, as well as weaker local iFC around the left SM1 seed region for right hand tapping. Lastly, extracted activity and connectivity values that had been identified in these between-group comparisons were not correlated with measures of reading. Discussion We conclude that there are some aberrations in motor system function in children with dyslexia, but these are not tied to reading ability.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Guinevere F. Eden
- Center for the Study of Learning, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, United States
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Meri R, Hutton J, Farah R, DiFrancesco M, Gozman L, Horowitz-Kraus T. [Formula: see text] Higher access to screens is related to decreased functional connectivity between neural networks associated with basic attention skills and cognitive control in children. Child Neuropsychol 2023; 29:666-685. [PMID: 35957604 PMCID: PMC10619703 DOI: 10.1080/09297049.2022.2110577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2022] [Accepted: 08/02/2022] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
Abstract
Screen-based media has become a prevailing part of children's lives. Different technologies provide limitless access to a wide range of content. This accessibility has immensely increased screen exposure among children, showing that this exposure is associated with decreased cognitive abilities. This study was designed to evaluate how the neurobiological correlates for different sub-components of screen exposure, such as level of access, content, and frequency, are related to different cognitive abilities. Resting-state functional MRI data were collected in 29 native English-speaking children (8-12 years old), in addition to cognitive-behavioral measures. Functional connectivity measures within and between several networks related to cognitive control and attention were calculated [fronto-parietal (FP), cingulo-opercular (CO), dorsal attention (DAN), ventral attention (VAN), salience, default mode (DMN), cerebellar networks]. Sub-components of screen exposure were measured using the Screen-Q questionnaire. Higher access to screens was related to lower functional connectivity between neural networks associated with basic attention skills and cognitive control (i.e., DAN and salience). In addition, higher levels of parent-child interaction during screen exposure were related to increased functional connectivity between networks related to cognitive control and learning (i.e., CO and cerebellar). These findings suggest that screen exposure may reduce the engagement of basic attention and modulation of cognitive control networks and that higher levels of parent-child interaction engage cognitive control networks. An enhanced understanding of these processes can provide an important scientific basis for future educational and medical approaches regarding screen exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raya Meri
- Educational Neuroimaging Group, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - John Hutton
- Reading and Literacy Discovery Center, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
| | - Rola Farah
- Educational Neuroimaging Group, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Mark DiFrancesco
- Reading and Literacy Discovery Center, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
| | - Leonid Gozman
- Faculty of Medicine – Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus
- Educational Neuroimaging Group, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
- Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
- Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
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Garcia GDV. Executive Functions and English Reading Comprehension among Filipino Students. READING PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/02702711.2022.2156950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Glenda Darlene V. Garcia
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, University College London-Institute of Education and Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, Bloomsbury, London, United Kingdom
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Longer Screen Vs. Reading Time is Related to Greater Functional Connections Between the Salience Network and Executive Functions Regions in Children with Reading Difficulties Vs. Typical Readers. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 2021; 52:681-692. [PMID: 32886231 PMCID: PMC7930153 DOI: 10.1007/s10578-020-01053-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/27/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
An adverse relationship between screen exposure time and brain functional/structural connectivity was reported in typically developing children, specifically related to neurobiological correlates of reading ability. As children with reading difficulties (RD) suffer from impairments in reading and executive functions (EF), we sought to determine the association between the ratio of screen time duration to reading time duration and functional connectivity of EF networks to the entire brain in children with RD compared to typical readers (TRs) using resting state data. Screen/reading time ratio was related to reduced reading and EF abilities. A larger screen/reading time ratio was correlated with increased functional connectivity between the salience network and frontal-EF regions in children with RD compared to TRs. We suggest that whereas greater screen/reading time ratio is related to excessive stimulation of the visual processing system in TRs, it may be related to decreased efficiency of the cognitive control system in RDs.
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Is the Letter ‘t’ in the Word ‘gourmet’? Disruption in Task-Evoked Connectivity Networks in Adults with Impaired Literacy Skills. NEUROSCI 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/neurosci2010005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Much work has been done to characterize domain-specific brain networks associated with reading, but very little work has been done with respect to spelling. Our aim was to characterize domain-specific spelling networks (SpNs) and domain-general resting state networks (RSNs) in adults with and without literacy impairments. Skilled and impaired adults were recruited from the University of Alberta. Participants completed three conditions of an in-scanner spelling task called a letter probe task (LPT). We found highly connected SpNs for both groups of individuals, albeit comparatively more connections for skilled (50) vs. impaired (43) readers. Notably, the SpNs did not correlate with spelling behaviour for either group. We also found relationships between SpNs and RSNs for both groups of individuals, this time with comparatively fewer connections for skilled (36) vs. impaired (53) readers. Finally, the RSNs did predict spelling performance in a limited manner for the skilled readers. These results advance our understanding of brain networks associated with spelling and add to the growing body of literature that describes the important and intricate connections between domain-specific networks and domain-general networks (i.e., resting states) in individuals with and without developmental disorders.
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