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Economou M, Bempt FV, Van Herck S, Wouters J, Ghesquière P, Vanderauwera J, Vandermosten M. Myelin plasticity during early literacy training in at-risk pre-readers. Cortex 2023; 167:86-100. [PMID: 37542803 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.05.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2022] [Revised: 04/09/2023] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 08/07/2023]
Abstract
A growing body of neuroimaging evidence shows that white matter can change as a result of experience and structured learning. Although the majority of previous work has used diffusion MRI to characterize such changes in white matter, diffusion metrics offer limited biological specificity about which microstructural features may be driving white matter plasticity. Recent advances in myelin-specific MRI techniques offer a promising opportunity to assess the specific contribution of myelin in learning-related plasticity. Here we describe the application of such an approach to examine structural plasticity during an early intervention in preliterate children at risk for dyslexia. To this end, myelin water imaging data were collected before and after a 12-week period in (1) at-risk children following early literacy training (n = 13-24), (2) at-risk children engaging with other non-literacy games (n = 10-17) and (3) children without a risk receiving no training (n = 11-22). Before the training, regional risk-related differences were identified, showing higher myelin water fraction (MWF) in right dorsal white matter in at-risk children compared to the typical control group. Concerning intervention-specific effects, our results revealed an increase across left-hemispheric and right ventral MWF over the course of training in the at-risk children receiving early literacy training, but not in the at-risk active control group or the no-risk typical control group. Overall, our results provide support for the use of myelin water imaging as a sensitive tool to investigate white matter and offer a first indication of myelin plasticity in young children at the onset of literacy acquisition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Economou
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium; Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium; Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium; KU Leuven Child and Youth Institute, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Femke Vanden Bempt
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium; Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium; Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium; KU Leuven Child and Youth Institute, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Shauni Van Herck
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium; Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium; Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium; KU Leuven Child and Youth Institute, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jan Wouters
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium; Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium; KU Leuven Child and Youth Institute, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Pol Ghesquière
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium; Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium; KU Leuven Child and Youth Institute, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jolijn Vanderauwera
- Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, 1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; Institute of Neuroscience, Université Catholique de Louvain, 1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Maaike Vandermosten
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium; Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium; KU Leuven Child and Youth Institute, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.
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Van Herck S, Economou M, Bempt FV, Ghesquière P, Vandermosten M, Wouters J. Pulsatile modulation greatly enhances neural synchronization at syllable rate in children. Neuroimage 2023:120223. [PMID: 37315772 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2022] [Revised: 05/22/2023] [Accepted: 06/11/2023] [Indexed: 06/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Neural processing of the speech envelope is of crucial importance for speech perception and comprehension. This envelope processing is often investigated by measuring neural synchronization to sinusoidal amplitude-modulated stimuli at different modulation frequencies. However, it has been argued that these stimuli lack ecological validity. Pulsatile amplitude-modulated stimuli, on the other hand, are suggested to be more ecologically valid and efficient, and have increased potential to uncover the neural mechanisms behind some developmental disorders such a dyslexia. Nonetheless, pulsatile stimuli have not yet been investigated in pre-reading and beginning reading children, which is a crucial age for developmental reading research. We performed a longitudinal study to examine the potential of pulsatile stimuli in this age range. Fifty-two typically reading children were tested at three time points from the middle of their last year of kindergarten (5 years old) to the end of first grade (7 years old). Using electroencephalography, we measured neural synchronization to syllable rate and phoneme rate sinusoidal and pulsatile amplitude-modulated stimuli. Our results revealed that the pulsatile stimuli significantly enhance neural synchronization at syllable rate, compared to the sinusoidal stimuli. Additionally, the pulsatile stimuli at syllable rate elicited a different hemispheric specialization, more closely resembling natural speech envelope tracking. We postulate that using the pulsatile stimuli greatly increases EEG data acquisition efficiency compared to the common sinusoidal amplitude-modulated stimuli in research in younger children and in developmental reading research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shauni Van Herck
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Belgium; Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Maria Economou
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Belgium; Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Belgium
| | - Femke Vanden Bempt
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Belgium; Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Belgium
| | - Pol Ghesquière
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Belgium
| | | | - Jan Wouters
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Belgium
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Van Herck S, Economou M, Vanden Bempt F, Glatz T, Ghesquière P, Vandermosten M, Wouters J. Neural synchronization and intervention in pre-readers who later on develop dyslexia. Eur J Neurosci 2023; 57:547-567. [PMID: 36518008 PMCID: PMC10108076 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15894] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2022] [Revised: 11/07/2022] [Accepted: 12/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
A growing number of studies has investigated temporal processing deficits in dyslexia. These studies largely focus on neural synchronization to speech. However, the importance of rise times for neural synchronization is often overlooked. Furthermore, targeted interventions, phonics-based and auditory, are being developed, but little is known about their impact. The current study investigated the impact of a 12-week tablet-based intervention. Children at risk for dyslexia received phonics-based training, either with (n = 31) or without (n = 31) auditory training, or engaged in active control training (n = 29). Additionally, neural synchronization and processing of rise times was longitudinally investigated in children with dyslexia (n = 26) and typical readers (n = 52) from pre-reading (5 years) to beginning reading age (7 years). The three time points in the longitudinal study correspond to intervention pre-test, post-test and consolidation, approximately 1 year after completing the intervention. At each time point neural synchronization was measured to sinusoidal stimuli and pulsatile stimuli with shortened rise times at syllable (4 Hz) and phoneme rates (20 Hz). Our results revealed no impact on neural synchronization at syllable and phoneme rate of the phonics-based and auditory training. However, we did reveal atypical hemispheric specialization at both syllable and phoneme rates in children with dyslexia. This was detected even before the onset of reading acquisition, pointing towards a possible causal rather than consequential mechanism in dyslexia. This study contributes to our understanding of the temporal processing deficits underlying the development of dyslexia, but also shows that the development of targeted interventions is still a work in progress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shauni Van Herck
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of NeurosciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational SciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Brain InstituteKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Maria Economou
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of NeurosciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational SciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Brain InstituteKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Child & Youth Institute (L‐C&Y)KU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Femke Vanden Bempt
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of NeurosciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational SciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Brain InstituteKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Child & Youth Institute (L‐C&Y)KU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Toivo Glatz
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of NeurosciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Institute of Public HealthCharité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt‐Universität zu BerlinBerlinGermany
| | - Pol Ghesquière
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational SciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Brain InstituteKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Child & Youth Institute (L‐C&Y)KU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Maaike Vandermosten
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of NeurosciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Brain InstituteKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Child & Youth Institute (L‐C&Y)KU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Jan Wouters
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of NeurosciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Brain InstituteKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
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Vanden Bempt F, Van Herck S, Economou M, Vanderauwera J, Vandermosten M, Wouters J, Ghesquière P. Speech perception deficits and the effect of envelope-enhanced story listening combined with phonics intervention in pre-readers at risk for dyslexia. Front Psychol 2022; 13:1021767. [PMID: 36389538 PMCID: PMC9650384 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1021767] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2022] [Accepted: 10/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Developmental dyslexia is considered to be most effectively addressed with preventive phonics-based interventions, including grapheme-phoneme coupling and blending exercises. These intervention types require intact speech perception abilities, given their large focus on exercises with auditorily presented phonemes. Yet some children with (a risk for) dyslexia experience problems in this domain due to a poorer sensitivity to rise times, i.e., rhythmic acoustic cues present in the speech envelope. As a result, the often subtle speech perception problems could potentially constrain an optimal response to phonics-based interventions in at-risk children. The current study therefore aimed (1) to extend existing research by examining the presence of potential speech perception deficits in pre-readers at cognitive risk for dyslexia when compared to typically developing peers and (2) to explore the added value of a preventive auditory intervention for at-risk pre-readers, targeting rise time sensitivity, on speech perception and other reading-related skills. To obtain the first research objective, we longitudinally compared speech-in-noise perception between 28 5-year-old pre-readers with and 30 peers without a cognitive risk for dyslexia during the second half of the third year of kindergarten. The second research objective was addressed by exploring growth in speech perception and other reading-related skills in an independent sample of 62 at-risk 5-year-old pre-readers who all combined a 12-week preventive phonics-based intervention (GraphoGame-Flemish) with an auditory story listening intervention. In half of the sample, story recordings contained artificially enhanced rise times (GG-FL_EE group, n = 31), while in the other half, stories remained unprocessed (GG-FL_NE group, n = 31; Clinical Trial Number S60962—https://www.uzleuven.be/nl/clinical-trial-center). Results revealed a slower speech-in-noise perception growth in the at-risk compared to the non-at-risk group, due to an emerged deficit at the end of kindergarten. Concerning the auditory intervention effects, both intervention groups showed equal growth in speech-in-noise perception and other reading-related skills, suggesting no boost of envelope-enhanced story listening on top of the effect of combining GraphoGame-Flemish with listening to unprocessed stories. These findings thus provide evidence for a link between speech perception problems and dyslexia, yet do not support the potential of the auditory intervention in its current form.
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Affiliation(s)
- Femke Vanden Bempt
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- *Correspondence: Femke Vanden Bempt,
| | - Shauni Van Herck
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Maria Economou
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jolijn Vanderauwera
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
- Institute of Neuroscience, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Maaike Vandermosten
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jan Wouters
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Pol Ghesquière
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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Goris J, Braem S, Van Herck S, Simoens J, Deschrijver E, Wiersema JR, Paton B, Brass M, Todd J. Reduced Primacy Bias in Autism during Early Sensory Processing. J Neurosci 2022; 42:3989-3999. [PMID: 35361705 PMCID: PMC9097775 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.3088-20.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2020] [Revised: 12/02/2021] [Accepted: 01/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent theories of autism propose that a core deficit in autism would be a less context-sensitive weighting of prediction errors. There is also first support for this hypothesis on an early sensory level. However, an open question is whether this decreased context sensitivity is caused by faster updating of one's model of the world (i.e., higher weighting of new information), proposed by predictive coding theories, or slower model updating. Here, we differentiated between these two hypotheses by investigating how first impressions shape the mismatch negativity (MMN), reflecting early sensory prediction error processing. An autism and matched control group of human adults (both n = 27, 8 female) were compared on the multi-timescale MMN paradigm, in which tones were presented that were either standard (frequently occurring) or deviant (rare), and these roles reversed every block. A well-replicated observation is that the initial model (i.e., the standard and deviant sound in the first block) influences MMN amplitudes in later blocks. If autism is characterized by faster model updating, and thus a smaller primacy bias, we hypothesized (and demonstrate using a simple reinforcement learning model) that their MMN amplitudes should be less influenced by the initial context. In line with this hypothesis, we found that MMN responses in the autism group did not differ between the initial deviant and initial standard sounds as they did in the control group. These findings are consistent with the idea that autism is characterized by faster model updating during early sensory processing, as proposed by predictive coding accounts of autism.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Recent theories of autism propose that a core deficit in autism is that they are faster to update their models of the world based on new sensory information. Here, we tested this hypothesis by investigating how first impressions shape brain responses during early sensory processing, and hypothesized that individuals with autism would be less influenced by these first impressions. In line with earlier studies, our results show that early sensory processing was influenced by first impressions in a control group. However, this was not the case in an autism group. This suggests that individuals with autism are faster to abandon their initial model, and is consistent with the proposal that they are faster to update their models of the world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judith Goris
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, 9000, Belgium
| | - Senne Braem
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, 9000, Belgium
- Department of Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, 1050, Belgium
| | - Shauni Van Herck
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, 3000, Belgium
| | - Jonas Simoens
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, 9000, Belgium
| | - Eliane Deschrijver
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, 9000, Belgium
- University of New South Wales, Kensington, Sydney, NSW 2033, Australia
| | - Jan R Wiersema
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, 9000, Belgium
| | - Bryan Paton
- Functional Neuroimaging Laboratory, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
| | - Marcel Brass
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, 9000, Belgium
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, 10117, Germany
| | - Juanita Todd
- Functional Neuroimaging Laboratory, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
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Van Herck S, Vanden Bempt F, Economou M, Vanderauwera J, Glatz T, Dieudonné B, Vandermosten M, Ghesquière P, Wouters J. Ahead of maturation: Enhanced speech envelope training boosts rise time discrimination in pre-readers at cognitive risk for dyslexia. Dev Sci 2021; 25:e13186. [PMID: 34743382 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2021] [Revised: 09/24/2021] [Accepted: 10/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Dyslexia has frequently been related to atypical auditory temporal processing and speech perception. Results of studies emphasizing speech onset cues and reinforcing the temporal structure of the speech envelope, that is, envelope enhancement (EE), demonstrated reduced speech perception deficits in individuals with dyslexia. The use of this strategy as auditory intervention might thus reduce some of the deficits related to dyslexia. Importantly, reading-skill interventions are most effective when they are provided during kindergarten and first grade. Hence, we provided a tablet-based 12-week auditory and phonics-based intervention to pre-readers at cognitive risk for dyslexia and investigated the effect on auditory temporal processing with a rise time discrimination (RTD) task. Ninety-one pre-readers at cognitive risk for dyslexia (aged 5-6) were assigned to two groups receiving a phonics-based intervention and playing a story listening game either with (n = 31) or without (n = 31) EE or a third group playing control games and listening to non-enhanced stories (n = 29). RTD was measured directly before, directly after and 1 year after the intervention. While the groups listening to non-enhanced stories mainly improved after the intervention during first grade, the group listening to enhanced stories improved during the intervention in kindergarten and subsequently remained stable during first grade. Hence, an EE intervention improves auditory processing skills important for the development of phonological skills. This occurred before the onset of reading instruction, preceding the maturational improvement of these skills, hence potentially giving at risk children a head start when learning to read.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shauni Van Herck
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Femke Vanden Bempt
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Maria Economou
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jolijn Vanderauwera
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Leuven, Belgium.,Université Catholique de Louvain, Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.,Université Catholique de Louvain, Institute of Neuroscience, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Toivo Glatz
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Public Health, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin, Germany
| | - Benjamin Dieudonné
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Maaike Vandermosten
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Pol Ghesquière
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jan Wouters
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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Vanden Bempt F, Economou M, Van Herck S, Vanderauwera J, Glatz T, Vandermosten M, Wouters J, Ghesquière P. Digital Game-Based Phonics Instruction Promotes Print Knowledge in Pre-Readers at Cognitive Risk for Dyslexia. Front Psychol 2021; 12:720548. [PMID: 34566803 PMCID: PMC8455992 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.720548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2021] [Accepted: 08/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Dyslexia is targeted most effectively when (1) interventions are provided preventively, before the onset of reading instruction, and (2) remediation programs combine letter-sound training with phoneme blending. Given the growing potential of technology in educational contexts, there has been a considerable increase of letter-sound trainings embedded in digital serious games. One such intervention is GraphoGame. Yet, current evidence on the preventive impact of GraphoGame is limited by the lack of adaptation of the original learning content to the skills of pre-readers, short training duration, and a restricted focus on explicitly trained skills. Therefore, the current study aims at investigating the impact of a preventive, and pre-reading adapted GraphoGame training (i.e., GraphoGame-Flemish, GG-FL) on explicitly trained skills and non-specifically trained phonological and language abilities. Following a large-scale screening (N = 1225), the current study included 88 pre-reading kindergarteners at cognitive risk for dyslexia who were assigned to three groups training either with GG-FL (n = 31), an active control game (n = 29), or no game (n = 28). Before and after the 12-week intervention, a variety of reading-related skills were assessed. Moreover, receptive letter knowledge and phonological awareness were measured every three weeks during the intervention period. Results revealed significantly larger improvements in the GG-FL group on explicitly trained skills, i.e., letter knowledge and word decoding, without finding transfer-effects to untrained phonological and language abilities. Our findings imply a GG-FL-driven head start on early literacy skills in at-risk children. A follow-up study should uncover the long-term impact and the ability of GG-FL to prevent actual reading failure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Femke Vanden Bempt
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Maria Economou
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Shauni Van Herck
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jolijn Vanderauwera
- Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
- Institute of Neuroscience, Université Catholique de Louvain, Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Toivo Glatz
- Institute of Public Health, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Maaike Vandermosten
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jan Wouters
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Pol Ghesquière
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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Woumans E, Van Herck S, Struys E. Shifting Gear in the Study of the Bilingual Advantage: Language Switching Examined as a Possible Moderator. Behav Sci (Basel) 2019; 9:E86. [PMID: 31443154 PMCID: PMC6721350 DOI: 10.3390/bs9080086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2019] [Revised: 07/17/2019] [Accepted: 07/30/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The bilingual advantage is a heavily debated topic in research on bilingualism. The current study further investigated one specific aspect of bilingualism proposed to be a determining factor for the bilingual advantage, namely language switching behaviour. We investigated whether a bilingual advantage can be detected in the executive functions of inhibition and shifting by comparing monolingual and bilingual participants on a Simon task and a colour-shape switching task. Furthermore, we examined the relation between these executive functions and language switching proficiency, as measured by a semantic verbal fluency task. In addition, the current study set out to investigate the convergence of self-reported language switching estimates and actual language switching proficiency. Results revealed a bilingual advantage for shifting, but not for inhibition. However, this bilingual advantage for shifting was not related to language switching behaviour. Additionally, we were unable to identify a relation between objective and subjective measures of switching abilities. These findings seem to confirm the existence of a bilingual advantage, but also once again validate its elusiveness, as demonstrated by the absence of bilingual benefits on our measure of inhibition. It furthermore questions the validity of switching measures employed in previous studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evy Woumans
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Shauni Van Herck
- Onderzoeksgroep Experimentele Oto-rino-laryngologie, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Esli Struys
- Brussels Institute for Applied Linguistics, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.
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