The long-term objective of this research is to understand the brain basis of developmental dyslexia, one of the most common specific learning disabilities, and to advance early identification of dyslexia so that early intervention can minimize the documented negative influence of dyslexia on student achievement, self-perception, and long-term life outcomes. Dyslexia typically results from a deficit in phonological awareness (the ability to manipulate speech sounds of language) that precedes and impairs learning to read, but the underlying cause of this deficit has not yet been determined. Neuroimaging methods, including event-related potentials (ERPs), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), have identified brain differences in children with dyslexia. Nearly all of these studies, however, involve older children with demonstrated reading failure, so two essential questions remain unanswered. First, what brain differences lead to dyslexia (i.e., are present in 5-year-old kindergartners prior to reading instruction in the 1st grade)? Second, can brain measures significantly enhance our ability to predict which pre- reading children at risk for dyslexia in kindergarten actually go on to become dyslexic by second grade? To answer these questions, we propose a longitudinal study that involves (1) screening 1000 pre-reading kindergartners to identify 120 children at risk for dyslexia and 60 children not at risk;(2) perform MRI, fMRI, DTI, and ERP experiments in these 180 kindergartners to identify brain differences in children with versus without risk for dyslexia;(3) longitudinally follow the language and reading development of these children to discover which at-risk children actually progress to dyslexia at the end of 2nd grade;and (4) use various statistical methods, including multivariate statistics, to improve the accuracy with pre-reading kindergartners can be identified as being at true risk for dyslexia. This study is novel in its multimodal imaging with young children, its longitudinal follow-up, and its translational health aim of developing methods to accurately identify young children at true risk for dyslexia so that such children can be offered early intervention to minimize their learning difficulties.

Public Health Relevance

There is public health concern about developmental dyslexia, the most common specific learning deficit in children (5-17% of children), and that is associated with poor educational outcomes in children. The proposed research uses state-of-the-art brain measures to identify the brain basis of dyslexia, and to enhance early identification of dyslexia that can lead to early intervention, which is known to be most effective for children.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
1R01HD067312-01
Application #
8025863
Study Section
Cognition and Perception Study Section (CP)
Program Officer
Miller, Brett
Project Start
2011-01-10
Project End
2015-12-31
Budget Start
2011-01-10
Budget End
2011-12-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2011
Total Cost
$611,544
Indirect Cost
Name
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Department
Other Basic Sciences
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
001425594
City
Cambridge
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02139
Zuk, Jennifer; Perdue, Meaghan V; Becker, Bryce et al. (2018) Neural correlates of phonological processing: Disrupted in children with dyslexia and enhanced in musically trained children. Dev Cogn Neurosci 34:82-91
Centanni, Tracy M; Norton, Elizabeth S; Park, Anne et al. (2018) Early development of letter specialization in left fusiform is associated with better word reading and smaller fusiform face area. Dev Sci 21:e12658
Ozernov-Palchik, Ola; Norton, Elizabeth S; Wang, Yingying et al. (2018) The relationship between socioeconomic status and white matter microstructure in pre-reading children: A longitudinal investigation. Hum Brain Mapp :
Yu, Xi; Zuk, Jennifer; Gaab, Nadine (2018) What Factors Facilitate Resilience in Developmental Dyslexia? Examining Protective and Compensatory Mechanisms Across the Neurodevelopmental Trajectory. Child Dev Perspect 12:240-246
Yu, Xi; Raney, Talia; Perdue, Meaghan V et al. (2018) Emergence of the neural network underlying phonological processing from the prereading to the emergent reading stage: A longitudinal study. Hum Brain Mapp 39:2047-2063
Ozernov-Palchik, Ola; Norton, Elizabeth S; Sideridis, Georgios et al. (2017) Longitudinal stability of pre-reading skill profiles of kindergarten children: implications for early screening and theories of reading. Dev Sci 20:
Wang, Yingying; Mauer, Meaghan V; Raney, Talia et al. (2017) Development of Tract-Specific White Matter Pathways During Early Reading Development in At-Risk Children and Typical Controls. Cereb Cortex 27:2469-2485
Powers, Sara J; Wang, Yingying; Beach, Sara D et al. (2016) 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. Ann Dyslexia 66:337-360
Saygin, Zeynep M; Osher, David E; Norton, Elizabeth S et al. (2016) Connectivity precedes function in the development of the visual word form area. Nat Neurosci 19:1250-5
Ozernov-Palchik, Ola; Gaab, Nadine (2016) Tackling the 'dyslexia paradox': reading brain and behavior for early markers of developmental dyslexia. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Cogn Sci 7:156-76

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