Neural Basis of Language Processing

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Whereas children learn spoken language seemingly effortlessly, learning to read develops slowly through the school years and requires explicit instruction and training. Although children vary in the ease with which they acquire this complex skill, reading eventually becomes automatic for most individuals. The present proposal examines the neural basis of reading, by evaluating the changes that undergo the neurocognitive language network with the development of reading skill. We hypothesize that substantial restructuring of the language network occurs to support reading, and that orthographic access (i.e., printed word access) during spoken word recognition is a marker of this. This Discovery Grant will fund Dr. Amy Desroches and her research team in the Development of Reading and Language Laboratory at the University of Winnipeg. Our research takes a multi-modal approach, examining the neural mechanisms underlying reading development using both event-related potentials (ERPs) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This collection of studies will monitor neural responses to orthographic similarity during spoken word recognition in four groups: adults, school-aged good readers, beginning readers, and preschoolers. The specific aim of this work is to isolate the neural mechanisms that develop to support reading. We will examine how the language network changes to accommodate reading as reading-skill develops. The results have broad implications for the diagnosis and treatment of developmental dyslexia, the most prevalent learning disorder in North America.