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Neural specialization of phonological and semantic processing in young children.

ABSTRACT: This study aimed to examine early specialization of brain regions for phonological and semantic processing of spoken language in young children. Thirty-five typically developing children aged from 5 to 6 years performed auditory phonological (same sound judgment) and semantic (related meaning judgment) word-level tasks. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined specialization within the language network, by conducting three levels of analysis. First, we directly compared activation between tasks and found a greater sound judgment as compared to meaning judgment activation in left superior temporal gyrus (STG) and supramarginal gyrus. In contrast, greater meaning judgment as compared to sound judgment task activation was found in left middle temporal gyrus (MTG). Second, we examined the brain-behavior correlations and found that phonological skill was correlated with the task difference in activation in left superior temporal sulcus, whereas semantic skill was correlated with the task difference in activation in left MTG. Third, we compared between two experimental conditions within each task and found a parametric effect in left STG for the sound judgment task, and a parametric effect in left MTG for the meaning judgment task. The results of this study indicate that, by the age of 5-6?years, typically developing children already show some specialization of temporo-parietal brain regions for phonological and semantic processes. However, there were no task differences in the left inferior frontal gyrus suggesting that the frontal cortex may not yet be specialized in this age range, which is consistent with the delayed maturation of the frontal cortex.

SUBMITTER: Weiss Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6261343 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Neural specialization of phonological and semantic processing in young children.

Weiss Yael Y Cweigenberg Hannah G HG Booth James R JR

Human brain mapping 20180628 11

This study aimed to examine early specialization of brain regions for phonological and semantic processing of spoken language in young children. Thirty-five typically developing children aged from 5 to 6 years performed auditory phonological (same sound judgment) and semantic (related meaning judgment) word-level tasks. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined specialization within the language network, by conducting three levels of analysis. First, we directly compared activatio ...[more]

PMID: 29956400

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Project description:Behavioral research shows that children's phonological ability is strongly associated with better word reading skills, whereas semantic knowledge is strongly related to better reading comprehension. However, most neuroscience research has investigated how brain activation during phonological and semantic processing is related to word reading skill. This study examines if connectivity during phonological processing in the dorsal inferior frontal gyrus (dIFG) to posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG) pathway is related to word reading skill, whereas connectivity during semantic processing in the ventral inferior frontal gyrus (vIFG) to posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG) pathway is related to reading comprehension skill. We used behavioral and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from a publicly accessible dataset on OpenNeuro.org. The research hypotheses and analytical plan were pre-registered on the Open Science Framework. Forty-six children ages 8-15 years old were included in the final analyses. Participants completed an in-scanner reading task tapping into phonology (i.e., word rhyming) and semantics (i.e., word meaning) as well as standardized measures of word reading and reading comprehension skill. In a series of registered and exploratory analyses, we correlated connectivity coefficients from generalized psychophysiological interactions (gPPI) with behavioral measures and used z-scores to test the equality of two correlation coefficients. Results from the preregistered and exploratory analyses indicated weak evidence that functional connectivity of dIFG to pSTG during phonological processing is positively correlated with better word reading skill, but no evidence that connectivity in the vIFG-pMTG pathway during semantic processing is related to better reading comprehension skill. Moreover, there was no evidence to support the differentiation between the dorsal pathway's relation to word reading and the ventral pathway's relation to reading comprehension skills. Our finding suggesting the importance of phonological processing to word reading is in line with prior behavioral and neurodevelopmental models.

Dataset Information

Neural specialization of phonological and semantic processing in young children.

Publications

Neural specialization of phonological and semantic processing in young children.

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