Poster No:
1223
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Sabrina Turker1, Kathleen Williams2, Narly Golestani1, Gesa Hartwigsen3
Institutions:
1University of Vienna, Vienna, Vienna, 2Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Saxony, 3University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Saxony
First Author:
Co-Author(s):
Kathleen Williams
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Leipzig, Saxony
Introduction:
The ability to read and write fluently is crucial for social contacts and education, and influences well-being and mental health. The increased awareness of neurodiversity in the past years has led to a renewed interest in dyslexia, a learning disorder with severe deficits in reading and writing. Whereas meta-analyses have confirmed hypoactivation of reading areas in dyslexia across the lifespan, practically no studies to date have explored the activation of and interaction between distinct specialized brain networks and their contribution to reading in adults with dyslexia. The present study addresses this gap by providing a broad characterization of large-scale network dynamics during simple and complex word and pseudoword reading in adults with and without dyslexia.
Methods:
Typical adult readers (N=28; 20-40 years) and adults with dyslexia (N=26, 18-40 years) performed an overt simple/complex word and pseudoword reading task during fMRI. Based on the observed task-specific activation, we applied spatial independent component analysis (ICA). Overall, we identified 16 networks of interest, including classical cognition networks (e.g., default mode network/DMN, dorsal attention network) and networks with direct links to reading (e.g., cerebellar network, semantic/reading network). We analysed network activation with 2x2x2 (group x stimulus x complexity) ANOVAs and explored network interactions by applying correlational psychophysiological interaction analysis (cPPI).
Results:
Significant group differences in network activation for adults with and without dyslexia were found for the cingulo-opercular network (higher activation in dyslexia) and the ventral visual network (lower activation in dyslexia). Several networks, including the dorsal attention network, the left frontoparietal control network and the cerebellar network showed stronger activation across both groups for complex pseudowords. Moreover, we observed significant group differences in interactions between (a) the semantic/reading and the left frontoparietal control network, (b) the cerebellum and various other networks (subcortex, insular network and cingulo-opercular network) and (c) DMNs and cognitive control networks (e.g., between posterior DMN, DMN and right frontoparietal control network).
Conclusions:
The observed differences in network activation and interactions align with previous evidence from resting-state data and region-of-interest connectivity analyses in children with dyslexia. Higher activation of the cingulo-opercular network is likely related to a stronger contribution of adaptive control and error detection during reading. Lower activation of the ventral visual network, in contrast, likely reflects difficulties in recognizing letters and words due to lower specialization of this network for reading in dyslexia. Overall, the observed, manifold differences in network function suggest aberrant network specialization and interactions for cognitive processes and reading in dyslexia, supporting earlier evidence on dyslexia being a disconnection syndrome.
Disorders of the Nervous System:
Neurodevelopmental/ Early Life (eg. ADHD, autism) 2
Language:
Reading and Writing
Modeling and Analysis Methods:
Connectivity (eg. functional, effective, structural) 1
fMRI Connectivity and Network Modeling
Keywords:
Cerebellum
Cognition
Language
MRI
Other - Functional connectivity
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
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Please indicate below if your study was a "resting state" or "task-activation” study.
Task-activation
Healthy subjects only or patients (note that patient studies may also involve healthy subjects):
Patients
Was this research conducted in the United States?
No
Were any human subjects research approved by the relevant Institutional Review Board or ethics panel?
NOTE: Any human subjects studies without IRB approval will be automatically rejected.
Yes
Were any animal research approved by the relevant IACUC or other animal research panel?
NOTE: Any animal studies without IACUC approval will be automatically rejected.
Not applicable
Please indicate which methods were used in your research:
Functional MRI
For human MRI, what field strength scanner do you use?
3.0T
Provide references using APA citation style.
Turker, S., Kuhnke, P., Jiang, Z., & Hartwigsen, G. (2023). Disrupted network interactions serve as a neural marker of dyslexia. Communications Biology, 6(1114), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-05499-2
No