Phonological Awareness and Verbal Short-Term Memory

Mann, Virginia A.; Liberman, Isabelle Y.

doi:10.1177/002221948401701005

Cited by 383 publications

(251 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Phonological memory and vocabulary measures, but not rapid naming, correlated with the word/paragraph-reading scores [41]. We had expected that vocabulary (on the account of its usual bilateral cortical distribution) would be better preserved in patients with isolated RH than normally left-lateralized abilities such as phonological processing [18], but this prediction was not supported, as we found similar levels of performance on all measures.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Literacy after cerebral hemispherectomy: Can the isolated right hemisphere read?

Bode¹,

Chanturidze

Mathern

et al. 2015

Epilepsy & Behavior

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Objectives: Cerebral hemispherectomy, a surgical procedure undergone to control intractable seizures, is becoming a standard procedure with more cases identified and treated early in life [33]. While the effect of the dominant hemisphere resection on spoken language has been extensively researched, little is known about reading abilities in individuals after left-sided resection. Left-lateralized phonological abilities are the key components of reading, i.e., grapheme-phoneme conversion skills [1]. These skills are critical for the acquisition of wordspecific orthographic knowledge and have been shown to predict reading levels in average readers as well as in readers with mild cognitive disability [26]. Furthermore, impaired phonological processing has been implicated as the cognitive basis in struggling readers. Here, we explored the reading skills in participants who have undergone left cerebral hemispherectomy. Methods: Seven individuals who have undergone left cerebral hemispherectomy to control intractable seizures associated with perinatal infarct have been recruited for this study. We examined if components of phonological processing that are shown to reliably separate average readers from struggling readers, i.e., phonological awareness, verbal memory, speed of retrieval, and size of vocabulary, show the same relationship to reading levels when they are mediated by the right hemisphere [2]. Results: We found that about 60% of our group developed both word reading and paragraph reading in the average range. Phonological processing measured by both phonological awareness and nonword reading was unexpectedly spared in the majority of participants. Phonological awareness levels strongly correlated with word reading. Verbal memory, a component of phonological processing skills, together with receptive vocabulary size, positively correlated with reading levels similar to those reported in average readers. Receptive vocabulary, a bilateral function, was preserved to a certain degree similar to that of strongly left-lateralized phonological skills [3]. Later seizure onset was associated with better reading levels. Conclusions: When cerebral hemispherectomy is performed to control seizures associated with very early (in utero) insult, it has been found that the remaining right hemisphere is still able to support reading and phonological processing skills that are normally mediated by the left hemisphere. Our results also suggest the existence of variability in individuals after hemispherectomy, even within groups having the same etiology and similar timing of insult.Published by Elsevier Inc.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Literacy after cerebral hemispherectomy: Can the isolated right hemisphere read?

Bode¹,

Chanturidze

Mathern

et al. 2015

Epilepsy & Behavior

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“…Previous work has demonstrated the importance of phonological structure to verbal WM by revealing an advantage in the serial recall of nonrhyming over rhyming words, with a greater advantage demonstrated by participants with better phonological sensitivity. For example, adults show a greater difference in recall of nonrhyming versus rhyming words than do children (Nittrouer & Miller, 1999), and children with typical reading skills show a greater difference than do children with phonologically based reading disorders (Mann & Liberman, 1984;Spring & Perry, 1983). Thus, children with reading disabilities are less able to store verbal material in short-term memory buffers than are typically reading children and adults.…”

Section: Phonological Sensitivity In CI Usersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Speech Recognition in Adults With Cochlear Implants: The Effects of Working Memory, Phonological Sensitivity, and Aging

Moberly

Harris

Boyce

et al. 2017

J Speech Lang Hear Res

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Purpose: Models of speech recognition suggest that "topdown" linguistic and cognitive functions, such as use of phonotactic constraints and working memory, facilitate recognition under conditions of degradation, such as in noise. The question addressed in this study was what happens to these functions when a listener who has experienced years of hearing loss obtains a cochlear implant. Method: Thirty adults with cochlear implants and 30 agematched controls with age-normal hearing underwent testing of verbal working memory using digit span and serial recall of words. Phonological capacities were assessed using a lexical decision task and nonword repetition. Recognition of words in sentences in speech-shaped noise was measured.Results: Implant users had only slightly poorer working memory accuracy than did controls and only on serial recall of words; however, phonological sensitivity was highly impaired. Working memory did not facilitate speech recognition in noise for either group. Phonological sensitivity predicted sentence recognition for implant users but not for listeners with normal hearing. Conclusion: Clinical speech recognition outcomes for adult implant users relate to the ability of these users to process phonological information. Results suggest that phonological capacities may serve as potential clinical targets through rehabilitative training. Such novel interventions may be particularly helpful for older adult implant users.

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“…Individuals with DD are often unable to access the underlying sound structures of words, creating a difficulty in mapping sounds to written language (15)(16)(17)(18). Phonological processing skills have been found to be a key predictor of later reading ability in preschool and elementary schoolaged children (19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31). In addition to phonological processing deficits, a range of other linguistic impairments have been observed in infants and prereading children who later exhibit weak reading scores, including speech perception (23,26), syntax production, and comprehension (32)(33)(34)(35), language comprehension (26), receptive vocabulary (22,34), and rapid automatized naming abilities (23,24,34,(36)(37)(38).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional characteristics of developmental dyslexia in left-hemispheric posterior brain regions predate reading onset

Raschle

Zuk²,

Gaab³

2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

208

190

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Individuals with developmental dyslexia (DD) show a disruption in posterior left-hemispheric neural networks during phonological processing. Additionally, compensatory mechanisms in children and adults with DD have been located within frontal brain areas. However, it remains unclear when and how differences in posterior left-hemispheric networks manifest and whether compensatory mechanisms have already started to develop in the prereading brain. Here we investigate functional networks during phonological processing in 36 prereading children with a familial risk for DD (n = 18, average age = 66.50 mo) compared with age and IQ-matched controls (n = 18; average age = 65.61 mo). Functional neuroimaging results reveal reduced activation in prereading children with a family-history of DD (FHD + ), compared with those without (FHD − ), in bilateral occipitotemporal and left temporoparietal brain regions. This finding corresponds to previously identified hypoactivations in left hemispheric posterior brain regions for school-aged children and adults with a diagnosis of DD. Furthermore, left occipitotemporal and temporoparietal brain activity correlates positively with prereading skills in both groups. Our results suggest that differences in neural correlates of phonological processing in individuals with DD are not a result of reading failure, but are present before literacy acquisition starts. Additionally, no hyperactivation in frontal brain regions was observed, suggesting that compensatory mechanisms for reading failureare not yet present. Future longitudinal studies are needed to determine whether the identified differences may serve as neural premarkers for the early identification of children at risk for DD.is a specific learning disability that affects about 5-17% of all children (1, 2). DD is characterized by difficulties with accurate and fluent word recognition and poor spelling and decoding performance. DD cannot be accounted for by poor vision, hearing, or a lack of motivation. Molecular-genetic, twin, and family studies have shown a marked familial risk for DD, with an increasing prevalence in families with one or more members with a diagnosis of DD or reading difficulties (e.g., refs. 3 and 4). In addition, several DD susceptibility genes crucial for early brain development have been reported (5-8). DD can have severe social and psychological consequences (9-11) and may impact a child's life beyond their academic pursuits. Studies have shown that children with learning disabilities are less likely to complete high school (12) and are more likely to enter the juvenile justice system (13).Most researchers, clinicians, and reading specialists agree that DD typically results from a weakness in the ability to manipulate oral speech sounds of language (2,14). Individuals with DD are often unable to access the underlying sound structures of words, creating a difficulty in mapping sounds to written language (15-18). Phonological processing skills have been found to be a key predictor of later reading ability in pr...

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Phonological Awareness and Verbal Short-Term Memory

Cited by 383 publications

References 18 publications

Literacy after cerebral hemispherectomy: Can the isolated right hemisphere read?

Literacy after cerebral hemispherectomy: Can the isolated right hemisphere read?

Speech Recognition in Adults With Cochlear Implants: The Effects of Working Memory, Phonological Sensitivity, and Aging

Functional characteristics of developmental dyslexia in left-hemispheric posterior brain regions predate reading onset

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