Neuroimaging of Reading Intervention: A Systematic Review and Activation Likelihood Estimate Meta-Analysis

Abstract

A growing number of studies examine instructional training and brain activity. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature regarding neuroimaging of reading intervention, with a particular focus on reading difficulties (RD). To locate relevant studies, searches of peer-reviewed literature were conducted using electronic databases to search for studies from the imaging modalities of fMRI and MEG (including MSI) that explored reading intervention. Of the 96 identified studies, 22 met the inclusion criteria for descriptive analysis. A subset of these (8 fMRI experiments with post-intervention data) was subjected to activation likelihood estimate (ALE) meta-analysis to investigate differences in functional activation following reading intervention. Findings from the literature review suggest differences in functional activation of numerous brain regions associated with reading intervention, including bilateral inferior frontal, superior temporal, middle temporal, middle frontal, superior frontal, and postcentral gyri, as well as bilateral occipital cortex, inferior parietal lobules, thalami, and insulae. Findings from the meta-analysis indicate change in functional activation following reading intervention in the left thalamus, right insula/inferior frontal, left inferior frontal, right posterior cingulate, and left middle occipital gyri. Though these findings should be interpreted with caution due to the small number of studies and the disparate methodologies used, this paper is an effort to synthesize across studies and to guide future exploration of neuroimaging and reading intervention.

Examining the relationship between home literacy environment and neural correlates of phonological processing in beginning readers with and without a familial risk for dyslexia: an fMRI study

“…The brain regions identified in this study were also consistent with those identified in several functional neuroimaging studies investigating the relationship of SES with early reading skills (Noble et al 2006; Raizada et al 2008). In addition, increased activation in these regions has been observed after reading intervention in children and adults with reading difficulties (Barquero et al 2014; Hoeft et al 2007; Richards and Berninger 2008; B. A. Shaywitz et al 2004; Temple et al 2003), which indicates the importance of these regions in learning to read and in reading remediation.…”

Individual Differences in Adult Reading Are Associated with Left Temporo-parietal to Dorsal Striatal Functional Connectivity

“…Increased activation in less skilled readers has been attributed to overengagement, due to increased difficulty and effort necessary during reading tasks (Shaywitz et al 1998;Brunswick et al 1999;Milne et al 2002). This compensatory theory is supported by findings of more prominent hyperactivation in older, or remediated, readers (Shaywitz et al 2003;Hoeft et al 2011;Richlan et al 2011;Barquero et al 2014).…”

Poverty, Stress, and Brain Development: New Directions for Prevention and Intervention

“…52 There are, however, relevant examples from reading and language interventions with older children. 55,56 Even without this neuroimaging evidence, the extant findings from behavioral studies are impressive and persuasive with regard to the benefits of high-quality preschool education. For example, several studies have demonstrated that high-quality early education is associated with significant gains on measures of neurocognitive ability, such as executive function, greater skill in perspective taking (or theory of mind), the ability to regulate attention in response to emotional stimuli, and speed of information processing.…”