Assessing the neural dynamics of reading in deaf adults

阅读技能差是一个重大的公共卫生问题，因为识字率低与许多负面的社会和经济后果有关（例如，就业机会少，获得保健信息的机会有限，公民参与减少）。NIDCD 2017-2021年战略计划的一个优先领域包括研究“确定与使用手语作为主要交流方式的人成功理解和使用书面语言相关的中心和外围因素"（第48页）。为此，本项目研究了支持出生失聪或在婴儿早期失聪的成年手语者成功阅读的神经认知过程。主要目标是使用心理语言学范式和事件相关电位（ERPs）来区分与阅读相关的因素，这些因素影响聋人在识别单个单词（目标1和2）、识别多个平行单词（目标3）和理解句子（目标4）时阅读回路的功能。目的1检验了以下假设：感觉依赖的神经可塑性影响早期视觉和拼写过程的时间进程，但对于具有可比阅读水平的聋人和听力正常的读者来说，后期的词汇语义过程是相似的。目标2测试的假设，聋人读者优先的形态语义路线阅读形态复杂的单词，但更好的拼写利用形态分割路线。目的3：检验聋人阅读者由于早期耳聋引起的空间注意分布的变化而表现出更大的旁视-中央凹文字加工效应的假设。目的4测试这一假设的水平处理，并调查是否先前确定的差异，在ERP反应的语法违规（P600）聋人读者是由于违反和/或影响的类型早期语言剥夺。这些目标将通过创新的方法来实现，这些方法将联合收割机ERP与新颖的侧翼范例相结合，并与自然阅读过程中的共同注册眼球运动相结合。我们还使用线性混合效应回归，以确定连续措施的阅读，拼写和语音技能的ERP组件使用单次试验EEG数据的影响。这个项目的结果将促进我们对阅读系统神经可塑性的理解，并将是为阅读能力差的聋人创建有针对性的补救计划的关键。通过了解熟练的成年聋人读者如何弥补语言使用的减少，可以制定干预措施来促进这些技能。总的来说，这个项目将有助于建立一个框架，创造新的战略，以提高阅读技能的聋人儿童和成人。

Poor reading skills represent a significant public health concern because low literacy is associated with many negative social and economic outcomes (e.g., poor employment opportunities, limited access to health care information, reduced civic engagement). A Priority Area in NIDCD’s strategic plan for 2017-2021 includes research to “Identify central and peripheral factors associated with the successful comprehension and use of written language for people who use sign language as their primary way of communication (pg. 48)”. To that end, this project investigates the neuro-cognitive processes that support successful reading in adult signers who were born deaf or became deaf in early infancy. The primary goal is to use psycholinguistic paradigms and event-related potentials (ERPs) to differentiate deafness-related from reading-related factors that impact the functioning of the reading circuit when deaf adults recognize single-words (Aims 1 and 2), identify multiple words in parallel (Aim 3), and comprehend sentences (Aim 4). Aim 1 tests the hypothesis that sensory-dependent neural plasticity impacts the time course of early visual and orthographic processes, but that later lexico-semantic processes are similar for deaf and hearing readers with comparable reading levels. Aim 2 tests the hypothesis that deaf readers prioritize the morpho-semantic route for reading morphologically complex words but that better spellers utilize the morpho-segmentation route. Aim 3 tests the hypothesis that deaf readers exhibit greater parafoveal-on-foveal word processing effects due to changes in the distribution of spatial attention associated with early deafness. Aim 4 tests this hypothesis for sentence-level processing and also investigates whether the previously identified difference in the ERP response to grammatical violations (the P600) for deaf readers is due to the type of violation and/or to effects of early language deprivation. These aims will be achieved through innovative methods that combine ERPs with novel flanker paradigms and with co-registered eye-movements during natural reading. We also use linear mixed effects regression to identify the effects of continuous measures of reading, spelling, and phonological skills on ERP components using single trial EEG data. The results of this project will advance our understanding of the neuroplasticity of the reading system and will be key to creating targeted remediation programs for deaf adults with poor reading ability. By understanding how skilled adult deaf readers compensate for reduced access to speech, interventions can be crafted to promote those skills. Overall, this project will help build a framework for creating new strategies to improve reading skills in deaf children and adults.