A Comparison of the Neuro-developmental Basis of Reading in Two Writing Systems

描述(由申请人提供)：尽管成功的阅读对儿童的教育和社会发展至关重要，但很少有研究探索阅读的神经表征及其在早期发展阶段的认知和感觉技能。我们提出了一项为期3年的纵向研究，使用功能磁共振成像结合一系列心理教育评估来研究典型的单语英语者从1到2到3年级阅读习得的功能神经解剖学。在英语读者中，我们预测左侧梭形回、上额叶回和下额叶回的活动可能会受到年龄的调节。此外，我们将在这三个时间点上将这些说英语的人与大陆说普通话的人中国进行直接比较，以考察正字法对涉及阅读习得的脑区的影响。由于字母和标志书写系统对语音、拼写、形态和语义过程有不同的要求，这样的比较将使我们能够识别普遍存在的阅读的神经基础，以及每种书写系统特有的大脑活动。成人数据表明，汉字加工对双侧梭形回和左额中回的需求更大，但并不像英语使用者通常所报道的那样涉及左额上回。为了测试这些差异，两国将采用可比较的实验方法来评估各种与阅读相关的行为和有助于这些技能的大脑活动。阅读增长的神经关联将通过涉及单词阅读和感觉运动技能的任务来评估。在这些范例中测量的与任务相关的活动将使用组内和组间分析进行评估，以分别评估发展和拼写的影响及其相互作用。与任务相关的活动与行为测量的表现之间的相关性，特别是单词识别和快速命名，将进一步有助于描述在这些不同的书写系统中支持阅读的技能的神经关联。这一结果将为比较混乱的读数提供标准数据。公共卫生相关性这项工作将为不同书写系统中正常阅读发展的神经关联提供新的见解，因为这些关联对于研究阅读发展障碍是必不可少的。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Although successful reading is critical to the educational and social development of children, few studies have explored the neural representation of reading and its constituent cognitive and sensory skills during the early stages of development. We propose a 3-year longitudinal study using fMRI in conjunction with a battery of psychoeducational assessments to investigate the functional neuroanatomy of reading acquisition in typically developing monolingual English speakers from the 1st to 2nd and on to the 3rd grade. In readers of English we predict left fusiform, superior temporal, and inferior frontal gyri activity to be modulated by age. In addition, we will make direct comparisons between these English speakers and monolingual Mandarin Chinese speakers in mainland China at these three time points, to examine the effects of orthography on the brain areas involved in reading acquisition. As alphabetic and logographic writing systems place different demands on phonological, orthographic, morphological and semantic processes, such comparisons will allow us to identify the neural basis of reading that is universal, as well as brain activity specific to each writing system. Adult data suggest that Chinese character processing makes greater demands on bilateral fusiform and left middle frontal gyri, but does not engage left superior temporal gyrus as is typically reported in English speakers. To test for these differences, comparable experimental approaches will be employed in both countries to assess a variety of reading-related behaviors and brain activity subserving these skills. Neural correlates of reading growth will be assessed using tasks that involve word reading and sensorimotor skills. Task-related activity measured during these paradigms will be evaluated using within- and between-group analyses to evaluate the effect of development and orthography, respectively, as well as their interactions. Correlations between task-related activity and performance on behavioral measures, particularly word recognition and rapid naming, will further help delineate the neural correlates of skills that support reading in these different writing systems. The result will provide normative data by which to compare disordered reading. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE This work will provide novel insight into the neural correlates of normal reading development in different writing systems, as these are essential to the investigation of disorders of reading development.