Multimodal imaging of temporal processing in typical and atypical language development

Abstract

New approaches to understanding language and reading acquisition propose that the human brain's ability to synchronize its neural firing rate to syllable-length linguistic units may be important to children's ability to acquire human language. Yet, little evidence from brain imaging studies has been available to support this proposal. Here, we summarize three recent brain imaging (functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and magnetoencephalography (MEG)) studies from our laboratories with young English-speaking children (aged 6-12 years). In the first study (fNIRS), we used an auditory beat perception task to show that, in children, the left superior temporal gyrus (STG) responds preferentially to rhythmic beats at 1.5 Hz. In the second study (fMRI), we found correlations between children's amplitude rise-time sensitivity, phonological awareness, and brain activation in the left STG. In the third study (MEG), typically developing children outperformed children with autism spectrum disorder in extracting words from rhythmically rich foreign speech and displayed different brain activation during the learning phase. The overall findings suggest that the efficiency with which left temporal regions process slow temporal (rhythmic) information may be important for gains in language and reading proficiency. These findings carry implications for better understanding of the brain's mechanisms that support language and reading acquisition during both typical and atypical development.

Microstructural changes of whole brain in patients with comitant strabismus: evidence from a diffusion tensor imaging study

“…The superior temporal gyrus located in the temporal lobe of the human brain is involved in the processing of language. 16 A previous study has shown that the superior temporal area controls the representation of three-dimensional structures and shapes. 17 It has been well known that patients with strabismus often manifest dysfunction of fusion and stereopsis.…”

Neural correlates of phonological processing: Disrupted in children with dyslexia and enhanced in musically trained children

“…As phonological processing skills require perception of individual speech sounds, which requires discerning basic auditory components that distinguish speech sounds, atypical neural responses to basic auditory stimuli have also been observed in struggling readers ( Gaab et al, 2007a ; Stefanics et al, 2011 ; Kovelman et al, 2015 ). Moreover, basic auditory training has demonstrated changes to these neural responses along with improvements in reading achievement among children with dyslexia ( Temple et al, 2003 ; Gaab et al, 2007a ).…”

Print-Speech Convergence Predicts Future Reading Outcomes in Early Readers

“…The presumption is that poor integration across modalities may contribute to poor reading outcomes. At the level of brain, this implies a neurolinguistic system that is suitably adept at processing information through both spoken and printed modalities, and one that might depend upon functional convergence across modalities to achieve proficient reading (Braze et al, 2011; Kovelman et al, 2015; Liberman, 1992; Shankweiler et al, 2008). How this cooperative relationship between visual and auditory language processing develops within early readers' neurobiological networks and how re-organization of language systems for reading supports the development of fluent and automated reading over time are key questions with implications for both theory and practice (Dehaene, Cohen, Morais, & Kolinsky, 2015; Shankweiler et al, 2008).…”