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Cognitive Neuropsychology Jun 2024We present a case study detailing cognitive performance, functional neuroimaging, and effects of a hypothesis-driven treatment in a 10-year-old girl diagnosed with...
We present a case study detailing cognitive performance, functional neuroimaging, and effects of a hypothesis-driven treatment in a 10-year-old girl diagnosed with complete, isolated corpus callosum agenesis. Despite having average overall intellectual abilities, the girl exhibited profound surface dyslexia and dysgraphia. Spelling treatment significantly and persistently improved her spelling of trained irregular words, and this improvement generalized to reading accuracy and speed of trained words. Diffusion weighted imaging revealed strengthened intrahemispheric white matter connectivity of the left temporal cortex after treatment and identified interhemispheric connectivity between the occipital lobes, likely facilitated by a pathway crossing the midline via the posterior commissure. This case underlines the corpus callosum's critical role in lexical reading and writing. It demonstrates that spelling treatment may enhance interhemispheric connectivity in corpus callosum agenesis through alternative pathways, boosting the development of a more efficient functional organization of the visual word form area within the left temporo-occipital cortex.
PubMed: 38942485
DOI: 10.1080/02643294.2024.2368876 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2024Despite an increasing amount of research on the relationship between parenting styles and neurodevelopmental disorders, there has been minimal focus on how parenting...
BACKGROUND
Despite an increasing amount of research on the relationship between parenting styles and neurodevelopmental disorders, there has been minimal focus on how parenting styles impact children's reading abilities. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential mediating role of the home literacy environment in the connection between parenting styles and dyslexia.
METHODS
A total of 212 primary school students from grade 2-5 were recruited for this study. The Chinese Reading Ability Test was used to screen children with dyslexia. The home literacy environment was evaluated using a structured questionnaire that measured the frequency and quality of reading-related activities between parents and children. Egna Minnen Beträffande Uppfostran questionnaire was used to assess the parenting style, including emotional warmth, rejection, overprotection, and anxious rearing. It is a self-report tool filled out by the children themselves, used to assess their perceptions of their parents' parenting styles. The structural equation modeling was carried out to evaluate the direct, indirect, and total effects of parenting styles on dyslexia.
RESULTS
Compared to control group, male children with dyslexia had lower scores in parenting styles characterized by emotional warmth, overprotecting and anxious rearing ( < 0.05), while female children with dyslexia only showed lower scores in anxious rearing ( < 0.05). Children with dyslexia lacked regular reading time (OR = 2.69, 95%CI: 1.04-6.97, < 0.05), and have higher homework pressure compared to normal children (OR = 7.41, 95%CI: 1.45-37.82, < 0.05). Additionally, emotional warmth, paternal overprotection and anxious rearing were negatively associated with dyslexia in children (all < 0.05). Our findings indicate a strong correlation between dyslexia, home literacy environment, and parenting styles. In a structural equation model, the home literacy environment was identified as an independent mediator between parenting styles and dyslexia. The total effect of parenting styles on dyslexia is 0.55, with an indirect effect of 0.68 mediated by the home literacy environment.
CONCLUSION
The findings of this study indicate that home literacy environment serves as a mediator between parenting styles and dyslexia in children. This study highlights how parenting styles influence dyslexia, offering key insights for aiding dyslexic children and guiding effective interventions.
PubMed: 38939228
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1382519 -
Children (Basel, Switzerland) Jun 2024Despite the high prevalence of developmental dyslexia in the U.S. population, research remains limited and possibly biased due to the overrepresentation of males in most...
Despite the high prevalence of developmental dyslexia in the U.S. population, research remains limited and possibly biased due to the overrepresentation of males in most dyslexic samples. Studying biological sex differences in the context of developmental dyslexia can help provide a more complete understanding of the neurological markers that underly this disorder. The current study aimed to explore sex differences in white matter diffusivity in typical and dyslexic samples in third and fourth graders. Participants were asked to complete behavioral/cognitive assessments at baseline followed by MRI scanning and diffusion-weighted imaging sequences. A series of ANOVAs were conducted for comparing group membership (developmental dyslexia or typically developing), gender status (F/M), and white matter diffusivity in the tracts of interest. The Results indicated significant differences in fractional anisotropy in the left hemisphere components of the inferior and superior (parietal and temporal) longitudinal fasciculi. While males with dyslexia had lower fractional anisotropy in these tracts compared to control males, no such differences were found in females. The results of the current study may suggest that females may use a more bilateral/alternative reading network.
PubMed: 38929300
DOI: 10.3390/children11060721 -
Children (Basel, Switzerland) Jun 2024Neurodevelopmental disorders can be studied from two distinct perspectives: an internal approach, which examines the causes and consequences of these disorders; and a... (Review)
Review
UNLABELLED
Neurodevelopmental disorders can be studied from two distinct perspectives: an internal approach, which examines the causes and consequences of these disorders; and a contextual approach, which considers the role of the family in the lives of children and adolescents. Research has demonstrated that the most significant form of family involvement in families raising a child with NDD is through homework. This involvement has been shown to have an emotional impact on children with neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD or dyslexia. The objective of this study is to review published articles on homework and neurodevelopmental disorders, with particular attention to the role of the family and the emotional health of children and families.
METHOD
The review followed the PRISMA guidelines. The final sample consisted of 11 articles, with samples ranging from less than 30 participants to more than 100 at the international level.
RESULTS
The results demonstrate the complex methodological and bibliometric picture of the final sample, as well as the many emotional and contextual variables that influence the relationship between homework and neurodevelopmental disorders.
CONCLUSIONS
Future research should consider how emotional health affects the engagement of families with children with neurodevelopmental disorders.
PubMed: 38929292
DOI: 10.3390/children11060713 -
Behavioral and Brain Functions : BBF Jun 2024An intronic deletion within intron 2 of the DCDC2 gene encompassing the entire READ1 (hereafter, READ1d) has been associated in both children with developmental dyslexia...
BACKGROUND
An intronic deletion within intron 2 of the DCDC2 gene encompassing the entire READ1 (hereafter, READ1d) has been associated in both children with developmental dyslexia (DD) and typical readers (TRs), with interindividual variation in reading performance and motion perception as well as with structural and functional brain alterations. Visual motion perception -- specifically processed by the magnocellular (M) stream -- has been reported to be a solid and reliable endophenotype of DD. Hence, we predicted that READ1d should affect neural activations in brain regions sensitive to M stream demands as reading proficiency changes.
METHODS
We investigated neural activations during two M-eliciting fMRI visual tasks (full-field sinusoidal gratings controlled for spatial and temporal frequencies and luminance contrast, and sensitivity to motion coherence at 6%, 15% and 40% dot coherence levels) in four subject groups: children with DD with/without READ1d, and TRs with/without READ1d.
RESULTS
At the Bonferroni-corrected level of significance, reading skills showed a significant effect in the right polar frontal cortex during the full-field sinusoidal gratings-M task. Regardless of the presence/absence of the READ1d, subjects with poor reading proficiency showed hyperactivation in this region of interest (ROI) compared to subjects with better reading scores. Moreover, a significant interaction was found between READ1d and reading performance in the left frontal opercular area 4 during the 15% coherent motion sensitivity task. Among subjects with poor reading performance, neural activation in this ROI during this specific task was higher for subjects without READ1d than for READ1d carriers. The difference vanished as reading skills increased.
CONCLUSIONS
Our findings showed a READ1d-moderated genetic vulnerability to alterations in neural activation in the ventral attentive and salient networks during the processing of relevant stimuli in subjects with poor reading proficiency.
Topics: Humans; Dyslexia; Male; Child; Female; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Parietal Lobe; Reading; Motion Perception; Frontal Lobe; Microtubule-Associated Proteins; Brain Mapping; Nerve Net; Photic Stimulation
PubMed: 38926731
DOI: 10.1186/s12993-024-00241-2 -
AJOB Neuroscience Jun 2024Over the past decade, many philosophers have argued that to respect the moral equality of their citizens, states should be neutral toward certain forms of diversity...
Over the past decade, many philosophers have argued that to respect the moral equality of their citizens, states should be neutral toward certain forms of diversity among their populations. Areas in which the state neutrality has been advocated include, but are not limited to, citizens' different religions; languages; and sexual orientations. However, there remains an important area where its normative (ir)relevance has not been discussed: That of neurodiversity. After identifying several ways in which contemporary states disfavor the interests of neurodivergent groups relative to the neurotypical majority, including those of autistic people; dyslectic people; and people with ADHD, the most promising would be-justifications for such unequal treatment are considered. They maintain respectively that states only have to be neutral toward differences that feature in people's conceptions of the good life; that addressing the discussed neuro-inequalities is too costly, whether financially or otherwise; that doing so raises intolerable risks of a public backlash; and that a commitment to neuro-neutrality leads to overinclusion. None are found to be convincing across the board, which leads me to conclude that states should become significantly more neuro-neutral than they are today.
PubMed: 38924462
DOI: 10.1080/21507740.2024.2368715 -
Journal of Speech, Language, and... Jun 2024We examined the neurocognitive bases of lexical morphology in children of varied reading abilities to understand the role of meaning-based skills in learning to read...
PURPOSE
We examined the neurocognitive bases of lexical morphology in children of varied reading abilities to understand the role of meaning-based skills in learning to read with dyslexia.
METHOD
Children completed auditory morphological and phonological awareness tasks during functional near-infrared spectroscopy neuroimaging. We first examined the relation between lexical morphology and phonological processes in typically developing readers (Study 1, = 66, = 8.39), followed by a more focal inquiry into lexical morphology processes in dyslexia (Study 2, = 50, = 8.62).
RESULTS
Typical readers exhibited stronger engagement of language neurocircuitry during the morphology task relative to the phonology task, suggesting that morphological analyses involve synthesizing multiple components of sublexical processing. This effect was stronger for more analytically complex derivational affixes () than more semantically transparent free base morphemes (). In contrast, children with dyslexia exhibited stronger activation during the free base condition relative to derivational affix condition. Taken together, the findings suggest that although children with dyslexia may struggle with derivational morphology, they may also use free base morphemes' semantic information to boost word recognition.
CONCLUSION
This study informs literacy theories by identifying an interaction between reading ability, word structure, and how the developing brain learns to recognize words in speech and print.
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.25944949.
PubMed: 38924392
DOI: 10.1044/2024_JSLHR-23-00293 -
Journal of Research on Adolescence :... Jun 2024Adolescence involves extensive brain maturation, characterized by social sensitivity and emotional lability, that co-occurs with increased independence. Mid-adolescence...
Adolescence involves extensive brain maturation, characterized by social sensitivity and emotional lability, that co-occurs with increased independence. Mid-adolescence is also a hallmark developmental stage when youths become motivated to reflect on the broader personal, ethical, and systems-level implications of happenings, a process we term transcendent thinking. Here, we examine the confluence of these developmental processes to ask, from a transdisciplinary perspective, how might community violence exposure (CVE) impact brain development during mid-adolescence, and how might youths' dispositions for transcendent thinking be protective? Fifty-five low-SES urban youth with no history of delinquency (32 female; 27 Latinx, 28 East Asian) reported their CVE and underwent structural MRI first at age 14-18, and again 2 years later. At the study's start, participants also discussed their feelings about 40 minidocumentaries featuring other teens' compelling situations in a 2-h private interview that was transcribed and coded for transcendent thinking. Controlling for CVE and brain structure at the start: (1) New CVE during the 2-year inter-scan interval was associated with greater gray matter volume (GMV) reduction over that interval in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a central network hub whose reduced volume has been associated with posttraumatic stress disorder, and across multiple additional cortical and subcortical regions; (2) participants' transcendent thinking in the interview independently predicted greater GMV increase during the 2-year inter-scan interval in the ACC. Findings highlight the continued vulnerability of mid-adolescents to community violence and the importance of supporting teens' dispositions to reflect on the complex personal and systems-level implications and affordances of their civic landscape.
PubMed: 38923619
DOI: 10.1111/jora.12993 -
Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) Jun 2024The brain is the most complex organ in the human body and, as such, its study entails great challenges (methodological, theoretical, etc.). Nonetheless, there is a... (Review)
Review
The brain is the most complex organ in the human body and, as such, its study entails great challenges (methodological, theoretical, etc.). Nonetheless, there is a remarkable amount of studies about the consequences of pathological conditions on its development and functioning. This bibliographic review aims to cover mostly findings related to changes in the physical distribution of neurons and their connections-the connectome-both structural and functional, as well as their modelling approaches. It does not intend to offer an extensive description of all conditions affecting the brain; rather, it presents the most common ones. Thus, here, we highlight the need for accurate brain modelling that can subsequently be used to understand brain function and be applied to diagnose, track, and simulate treatments for the most prevalent pathologies affecting the brain.
PubMed: 38921242
DOI: 10.3390/biomimetics9060362 -
Behavioral Sciences (Basel, Switzerland) Jun 2024While genetic and environmental factors have been shown as predictors of children's reading ability, the interaction effects of identified genetic risk susceptibility...
Interaction between Risk Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms of Developmental Dyslexia and Parental Education on Reading Ability: Evidence for Differential Susceptibility Theory.
While genetic and environmental factors have been shown as predictors of children's reading ability, the interaction effects of identified genetic risk susceptibility and the specified environment for reading ability have rarely been investigated. The current study assessed potential gene-environment (G×E) interactions on reading ability in 1477 school-aged children. The gene-environment interactions on character recognition were investigated by an exploratory analysis between the risk single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), which were discovered by previous genome-wide association studies of developmental dyslexia (DD), and parental education (PE). The re-parameterized regression analysis suggested that this G×E interaction conformed to the strong differential susceptibility model. The results showed that rs281238 exhibits a significant interaction with PE on character recognition. Children with the "T" genotype profited from high PE, whereas they performed worse in low PE environments, but "CC" genotype children were not malleable in different PE environments. This study provided initial evidence for how the significant SNPs in developmental dyslexia GWA studies affect children's reading performance by interacting with the environmental factor of parental education.
PubMed: 38920839
DOI: 10.3390/bs14060507