Functional connectivity in the developing language network in 4‐year‐old children predicts future reading ability

Abstract

Understanding how pre‐literate children's language abilities and neural function relate to future reading ability is important for identifying children who may be at‐risk for reading problems. Pre‐literate children are already proficient users of spoken language and their developing brain networks for language become highly overlapping with brain networks that emerge during literacy acquisition. In the present longitudinal study, we examined language abilities, and neural activation and connectivity within the language network in pre‐literate children (mean age = 4.2 years). We tested how language abilities, brain activation, and connectivity predict children's reading abilities 1 year later (mean age = 5.2 years). At Time 1, children (n = 37) participated in a functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) experiment of speech processing (listening to words and pseudowords) and completed a standardized battery of language and cognitive assessments. At Time 2, children (n = 28) completed standardized reading assessments. Using psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analyses, we observed significant connectivity between the left IFG and right STG in pre‐literate children, which was modulated by task (i.e., listening to words). Neural activation in left IFG and STG and increased task‐modulated connectivity between the left IFG and right STG was predictive of multiple reading outcomes. Increased connectivity was associated later with increased reading ability.

Early Phonological Neural Specialization Predicts Later Growth in Word Reading Skills

“…The fact that the Brain-and-Behavior model was found to be the best fitting model suggests that in line with previous investigations (e.g., Hoeft et al, 2007Hoeft et al, , 2011Maurer et al, 2009;Bach et al, 2013;Myers et al, 2014;Borchers et al, 2019;Jasińska et al, 2020), both neural and behavioral measures explain unique variance in reading growth. However, it should be noted that when evaluating the Brain and Behavior models separately, substantially more evidence was found in favor of the Behavior model as compared to the Brain model.…”

“…The limited existing research in which both behavioral and brain-based measures have been used to predict growth in early reading skills has consistently demonstrated that neural measures explain unique variance over that of behavioral measures (e.g., Hoeft et al, 2007 , 2011 ; Maurer et al, 2009 ; Bach et al, 2013 ; Myers et al, 2014 ; Borchers et al, 2019 ; Jasińska et al, 2020 ). In fact, in at least one study, neural measures were found to be predictive of reading growth even when behavioral measures were not (Hoeft et al, 2011 ).…”

“…However, researchers within the last few decades have begun to extend this work by exploring language-related brain-based predictors (e.g., McNorgan et al, 2011 ; Linkersdörfer et al, 2014 ; Lee et al, 2016 ; Preston et al, 2016 ; Smith et al, 2018 ). A subset of this research, which has examined the use of both behavioral and neural predictors, has shown that both functional- and structural-based neural measures explain unique variance in reading growth over that of purely behavioral measures (e.g., Hoeft et al, 2007 , 2011 ; Maurer et al, 2009 ; Bach et al, 2013 ; Myers et al, 2014 ; Borchers et al, 2019 ; Jasińska et al, 2020 ). These studies provide promising support for the predictive utility of neural measures and advance our understanding of the neural bases of reading.…”

Theory-driven classification of reading difficulties from fMRI data using Bayesian latent-mixture models

“…Similarly, questions remain about how the contributions of connectivity and variability to TD/RD differences change over age and experience. Much like in the case of mean activation differences, it is crucial that future research examine whether these differences are present already from a young age (as suggested, for example, by studies showing prospective correlations of connectivity before literacy onset and later reading skills, Jasińska et al, 2020 ), or whether the profiles we see in adults and adolescents is the result of a differential growth in these metrics over age and/or exposure to print in TD and RD populations ( Morken et al, 2017 ). A second open question has to do with the multi-dimensional nature of RD.…”

Multimodal brain features at preschool age and the relationship with pre-reading measures one year later: an exploratory study

“…Furthermore, changes in microstructure have been demonstrated following intensive reading interventions (Keller and Just, 2009; Huber et al, 2018). Importantly, longitudinal studies indicate activation and functional connectivity in reading related regions are related to language skill gains (Xiao et al, 2016) and later reading outcomes (Jasińska et al, 2020) during early childhood. In general, children with higher reading proficiency show faster development of reading-related brain regions than children with poor reading skills (Yeatman et al, 2012b; Wang et al, 2017; Reynolds et al, 2019b).…”