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Variations in the neurobiology of reading in children and adolescents born full term and preterm.

ABSTRACT: Diffusion properties of white matter tracts have been associated with individual differences in reading. Individuals born preterm are at risk of injury to white matter. In this study we compared the associations between diffusion properties of white matter and reading skills in children and adolescents born full term and preterm. 45 participants, aged 9-17 years, included 26 preterms (born < 36 weeks' gestation) and 19 full-terms. Tract fractional anisotropy (FA) profiles were generated for five bilateral white matter tracts previously associated with reading: anterior superior longitudinal fasciculus (aSLF), arcuate fasciculus (Arc), corticospinal tract (CST), uncinate fasciculus (UF) and inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF). Mean scores on reading for the two groups were in the normal range and were not statistically different. In both groups, FA was associated with measures of single word reading and comprehension in the aSLF, AF, CST, and UF. However, correlations were negative in the full term group and positive in the preterm group. These results demonstrate variations in the neurobiology of reading in children born full term and preterm despite comparable reading skills. Findings suggest that efficient information exchange required for strong reading abilities may be accomplished via a different balance of neurobiological mechanisms in different groups of readers.

SUBMITTER: Travis KE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4845391 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Variations in the neurobiology of reading in children and adolescents born full term and preterm.

Travis Katherine E KE Ben-Shachar Michal M Myall Nathaniel J NJ Feldman Heidi M HM

NeuroImage. Clinical 20160414

Diffusion properties of white matter tracts have been associated with individual differences in reading. Individuals born preterm are at risk of injury to white matter. In this study we compared the associations between diffusion properties of white matter and reading skills in children and adolescents born full term and preterm. 45 participants, aged 9-17 years, included 26 preterms (born < 36 weeks' gestation) and 19 full-terms. Tract fractional anisotropy (FA) profiles were generated for five ...[more]

PMID: 27158588

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Project description:Individuals born very preterm (VPT; <32?weeks' gestational age) are at increased risk of impaired mathematics and word reading performance, as well as widespread white matter microstructural alterations compared with individuals born full term (FT; ?37?weeks' gestational age). To date, the link between academic performance and white matter microstructure is not well understood. This study aimed to investigate the associations between mathematics and reading performance with white matter microstructure in 114 VPT and 36 FT 13-year-old children. Additionally, we aimed to investigate whether the association of mathematics and reading performance with white matter microstructure in VPT children varied as a function of impairment. To do this, we used diffusion tensor imaging and advanced diffusion modelling techniques (Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging and the Spherical Mean Technique), combined with a whole-brain analysis approach (Tract-Based Spatial Statistics). Mathematics performance across VPT and FT groups was positively associated with white matter microstructural measurements of fractional anisotropy and neurite density, and negatively associated with radial and mean diffusivities in widespread, bilateral regions. Furthermore, VPT children with a mathematics impairment (>1 standard deviation below FT mean) had significantly reduced neurite density compared with VPT children without an impairment. Reading performance was not significantly associated with any of the white matter microstructure parameters. Additionally, the associations between white matter microstructure and mathematics and reading performance did not differ significantly between VPT and FT groups. Our findings suggest that alterations in white matter microstructure, and more specifically lower neurite density, are associated with poorer mathematics performance in 13-year-old VPT and FT children. More research is required to understand the association between reading performance and white matter microstructure in 13-year-old children.

Project description:Children born preterm (PT) are at risk for white matter injuries based on complications of prematurity. They learn to read but on average perform below peers born full term (FT). Studies have yet to establish whether properties of white matter pathways at the onset of learning to read are associated with individual variation later in reading development in PT children. Here, we asked whether fractional anisotropy (FA) at age 6 years is associated with reading outcome at age 8 years in PT children in the same pathways as previously demonstrated in a sample of FT children. PT (n = 34, mean gestational age = 29.5 weeks) and FT children (n = 37) completed diffusion MRI and standardized measures of non-verbal IQ, language, and phonological awareness at age 6 years. Reading skills were assessed at age 8 years. Mean tract-FA was extracted from pathways that predicted reading outcome in children born FT: left arcuate fasciculus (Arc), bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), and left inferior cerebellar peduncle (ICP). We explored associations in additional pathways in the PT children: bilateral inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, and uncinate fasciculus. Linear regression models examined whether the prediction of reading outcome at age 8 years based on mean tract-FA at age 6 years was moderated by birth group. Children born PT and FT did not differ significantly in tract-FA at age 6 years or in reading at age 8 years. Sex, socioeconomic status, and non-verbal IQ at age 6 years were associated with reading outcome and were included as covariates in all models. Birth group status significantly moderated associations between reading outcome and mean tract-FA only in the left Arc, right SLF, and left ICP, before and after consideration of pre-literacy skills. Microstructural properties of these cerebral and cerebellar pathways predicted later reading outcome in FT but not in PT children. Children born PT may rely on alternative pathways to achieve fluent reading. These findings have implications for plasticity of neural organization after early white matter injury.

Project description:AimTo assess associations between white matter properties and pre-reading skills (phonological awareness and receptive and expressive language) in children born preterm and at term at the onset of reading acquisition.MethodSix-year-old children born preterm (n=36; gestational age 22-32wks) and at term (n=43) underwent diffusion magnetic resonance imaging and behavioural assessments. Tracts were selected a priori based on findings from a study of 6-year-old children born at term: the left-hemisphere arcuate fasciculus and superior longitudinal fasciculus, and right-hemisphere uncinate fasciculus. Using linear regression, we assessed associations between fractional anisotropy of tracts and phonological awareness and receptive and expressive language scores. We investigated whether associations were moderated by prematurity.ResultsFractional anisotropy of the left-hemisphere arcuate fasciculus contributed unique variance to phonological awareness across birth groups. The association between fractional anisotropy of the right-hemisphere uncinate fasciculus and receptive and expressive language was significantly moderated by prematurity.InterpretationA left-hemisphere tract was associated with phonological awareness in both birth groups. A right-hemisphere tract was associated with language only in the term group, suggesting that expressive and receptive language is mediated by different white matter pathways in 6-year-old children born preterm. These findings provide novel insights into similarities and differences of the neurobiology of pre-reading skills between children born preterm and at term at reading onset.What this paper addsWhite matter properties and pre-reading abilities were associated in children born preterm at the onset of reading. The neurobiology of phonological awareness was similar in children born preterm versus children born at term at 6 years. The neurobiology of language was different in children born preterm versus children born at term at 6 years.

Project description:Introduction: Previous research suggests children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD or "autism") born extremely and very preterm face substantially delayed development than their peers born full-term. Further, children born preterm are proposed to show a unique behavioral phenotype, which may overlap with characteristics of autism, making it difficult to disentangle their clinical presentation. To clarify the presentation of autism in children born preterm, this study examined differences in key indicators of child development (expressive language, receptive language, fine motor, and visual reception) and characteristics of autism (social affect and repetitive, restricted behaviors). Materials and Methods: One fifty-eight children (136 full-term, twenty-two preterm) diagnosed with autism, aged 22-34 months, were identified prospectively using the Social Attention and Communication Surveillance tools during community-based, developmental surveillance checks in the second year of life. Those identified at "high likelihood" of an autism diagnosis were administered the Mullen Scales of Early Learning and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule. Results: The children born preterm and full-term did not differ significantly in their fine motor, visual reception, expressive language, or receptive language skills. No significant differences in social affect and repetitive and restrictive behavior traits were found. Discussion: The findings of this study differs from previous research where children diagnosed with autism born very or extremely preterm were developmentally delayed and had greater autistic traits than their term-born peers. These null findings may relate to the large proportion of children born moderate to late preterm in this sample. This study was unique in its use of a community-based, prospectively identified sample of children diagnosed with autism at an early age. It may be that children in these groups differ from clinic- and hospital-based samples, that potential differences emerge later in development, or that within the autism spectrum, children born preterm and full-term develop similarly. It was concluded that within the current sample, at 2 years of age, children diagnosed with autism born preterm are similar to their peers born full-term. Thus, when clinicians identify characteristics of autism in children born preterm, it is important to refer the child for a diagnostic assessment for autism.

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Variations in the neurobiology of reading in children and adolescents born full term and preterm.

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Variations in the neurobiology of reading in children and adolescents born full term and preterm.

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