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Neural correlates of cognitive control deficits in children with reading disorder.

ABSTRACT: Reading disorder (RD) is characterized by deficient phonological processing, but children with RD also have cognitive control deficits, the neural correlates of which are not fully understood. We used fMRI to assess neural activity during the resolution of cognitive conflict on the Simon Spatial Incompatibility task and patterns of resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) from task control (TC) regions in 7-12-year-old children with RD compared to their typically developing (TD) peers. Relative to TD children (n = 17), those with RD (n = 16) over-engaged a right superior/medial frontal cluster during the resolution of conflict (p = .05). Relative to TD children (n = 18), those with RD (n = 17) also showed reduced RSFC (voxel-wise p < .001; cluster-size p < .05, FDR corrected) from cingulo-opercular seeds to left hemisphere fronto-parietal and temporo-parietal reading-related regions, perhaps reflecting reduced organization of TC circuits and reduced integration with reading-related regions. Children with RD additionally showed reduced RSFC between fronto-parietal and default mode network regions. Follow-up analyses in a subset of children with both useable task and resting state data (RD = 13; TD = 17) revealed that greater conflict-related activation of the right frontal Simon task ROI associated with better word-reading, perhaps suggesting a compensatory role for this over-engagement. Connectivity from fronto-parietal seeds significantly associated with Simon task performance and word-reading accuracy in RD children. These findings suggest that altered functioning and connectivity of control circuits may contribute to cognitive control deficits in children with RD. Future studies should assess the utility of adding cognitive control training to reading remediation programs.

SUBMITTER: Margolis AE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6765445 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Inhibitory control deficits are common in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and associated with more severe repetitive behaviors. Inhibitory control deficits may reflect slower execution of stopping processes, or a reduced ability to delay the onset of behavioral responses in contexts of uncertainty. Previous studies have documented relatively spared stopping processes in ASD, but whether inhibitory control deficits in ASD reflect failures to delay response onset has not been systematically assessed. Further, while improvements in stopping abilities and response slowing are seen through adolescence/early adulthood in health, their development in ASD is less clear. METHODS:A stop-signal test (SST) was administered to 121 individuals with ASD and 76 age and IQ-matched healthy controls (ages 5-28). This test included 'GO trials' in which participants pressed a button when a peripheral target appeared and interleaved 'STOP trials' in which they were cued to inhibit button-presses when a stop-signal appeared at variable times following the GO cue. STOP trial accuracy, RT of the stopping process (SSRT), and reaction time (RT) slowing during GO trials were examined. RESULTS:Relative to controls, individuals with ASD had reduced accuracy on STOP trials. SSRTs were similar across control and ASD participants, but RT slowing was reduced in patients compared to controls. Age-related increases in stopping ability and RT slowing were attenuated in ASD. Reduced stopping accuracy and RT slowing were associated with more severe repetitive behaviors in ASD. DISCUSSION:Our findings show that inhibitory control deficits in ASD involve failures to strategically delay behavioral response onset. These results suggest that reduced preparatory behavioral control may underpin inhibitory control deficits as well as repetitive behaviors in ASD. Typical age-related improvements in inhibitory control during late childhood/early adolescence are reduced in ASD, highlighting an important developmental window during which treatments may mitigate cognitive alterations contributing to repetitive behaviors.

Project description:BackgroundResearch on the neural bases of cognitive deficits in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has shown that working memory (WM) difficulties are associated with abnormalities in the prefrontal cortex. However, cognitive load impacts these findings, and no studies have examined the relation between WM load and neural underpinnings in children with ASD. Thus, the current study determined the effects of cognitive load on WM, using a visuo-spatial WM capacity task in children with and without ASD with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).MethodsWe used fMRI and a 1-back colour matching task (CMT) task with four levels of difficulty to compare the cortical activation patterns associated with WM in children (7-13 years old) with high functioning autism (N = 19) and matched controls (N = 17) across cognitive load.ResultsPerformance on CMT was comparable between groups, with the exception of one difficulty level. Using linear trend analyses, the control group showed increasing activation as a function of difficulty level in frontal and parietal lobes, particularly between the highest difficulty levels, and decreasing activation as a function of difficulty level in the posterior cingulate and medial frontal gyri. In contrast, children with ASD showed increasing activation only in posterior brain regions and decreasing activation in the posterior cingulate and medial frontal gyri, as a function of difficulty level. Significant differences were found in the precuneus, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and medial premotor cortex, where control children showed greater positive linear relations between cortical activity and task difficulty level, particularly at the highest difficulty levels, but children with ASD did not show these trends.ConclusionsChildren with ASD showed differences in activation in the frontal and parietal lobes-both critical substrates for visuo-spatial WM. Our data suggest that children with ASD rely mainly on posterior brain regions associated with visual and lower level processing, whereas controls showed activity in frontal lobes related to the classic WM network. Findings will help guide future work by localizing areas of vulnerability to developmental disturbances.

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Neural correlates of cognitive control deficits in children with reading disorder.

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