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. 2014 Mar 26;25(5):347-52.
doi: 10.1097/WNR.0000000000000121.

Reading skill and structural brain development

Suzanne M Houston  1 , Catherine Lebel, Tami Katzir, Franklin R Manis, Eric Kan, Genevieve G Rodriguez, Elizabeth R Sowell
Affiliations

Reading skill and structural brain development

Suzanne M Houston et al. Neuroreport. .

Abstract

Reading is a learned skill that is likely influenced by both brain maturation and experience. Functional imaging studies have identified brain regions important for skilled reading, but the structural brain changes that co-occur with reading acquisition remain largely unknown. We investigated maturational volume changes in brain reading regions and their association with performance on reading measures. Sixteen typically developing children (5-15 years old, eight boys, mean age of sample=10.06 ± 3.29) received two MRI scans (mean interscan interval=2.19 years), and were administered a battery of cognitive measures. Volume changes between time points in five bilateral cortical regions of interest were measured, and assessed for relationships to three measures of reading. Better baseline performances on measures of word reading, fluency, and rapid naming, independent of age and total cortical gray matter volume change, were associated with volume decrease in the left inferior parietal cortex. Better baseline performance on a rapid naming measure was associated with volume decrease in the left inferior frontal region. These results suggest that children who are better readers, and who perhaps read more than less skilled readers, exhibit different development trajectories in brain reading regions. Understanding relationships between reading performance, reading experience, and brain maturation trajectories may help with the development and evaluation of targeted interventions.

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Conflict of interest statement

Statement of Conflicts: None Declared

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Relationships between baseline reading scores and regional volume changes were significant in four regions: (A) GORT Fluency predicts volume change in the left inferior parietal cortex. (B) WRAT Reading predicts volume change in the left inferior parietal cortex. (C) & (D), CTOPP score predicts volume change in the left inferior parietal and left inferior frontal regions. Note: residualized scores shown; total cortical gray matter change is residualized out of volume change; age at time 1 is residualized out of reading scores. Higher scores indicate better performance on the GORT and WRAT tests; lower scores are indicative of better performance on CTOPP.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Brain regions demonstrating significant correlations between annual volume decreases and baseline reading scores are shown as colored regions. Grey regions were tested, but showed no significant correlations; white regions were not tested. In the left inferior frontal gyrus (red), better reading scores on the CTOPP were associated with larger volume decreases. In the left inferior parietal cortex (striped blue/green/red), better reading skills on all three measures (CTOPP (red), GORT (green), WRAT (blue)) were associated with larger volume decreases. Note: the presence of three colors in this region denotes it’s persistent involvement in these reading skills and is not indicative of smaller regions of the cortex being differentially involved in reading.
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