How nature and nurture shape the reading brain

背景我的研究旨在了解阅读能力的认知和神经基础，重点是生物学如何与经验相结合，以塑造人类如何使用书面语言。阅读科学为熟练的阅读和发展提供了很好的模型，我们在理解这些与大脑组织和发展的联系方面也取得了很大的进步。然而，这些知识在很大程度上是基于熟练读者的理想化观点。拟议中的研究将通过捕捉阅读机制在个体和语言之间变化的重要方式将这一点提升到一个新的水平。我认为，我们的阅读系统是由生物学的限制如何感觉神经系统获取和处理视听信息，但也在语言的书写系统的设计差异，并在使用的整体和分析的途径翻译打印到声音的个体差异。我提出了一个研究计划，将测试书面语言识别的神经认知基础，跨越人类经验的广度，目标是达到一个更具包容性的阅读和大脑模型。使用行为和神经成像技术的组合，我的实验室成员和我将解决三个目标：1）研究读者如何在不同的大脑区域保持不同类型的书面语言神经代码; 2）这些不同的系统如何协调儿童学习阅读;和3）这些模式如何在不同的语言中，以及在双语读者中。将对成人和儿童进行阅读和口语能力的行为测量评估，这些测量旨在分离阅读的认知子成分。我们将使用功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）来识别支持阅读的大脑区域，然后使用表征相似性分析（RSA）来解码神经活动的模式。这将使我们能够仔细探索认知元素是如何在神经解剖学中编码的。在其他地方，脑电图（EEG）将被用来测量事件相关电位（ERP），指数阅读子过程在真实的时间。有趣的是，这些代码的性质在早期读者与专家读者之间的差异程度。同样，这些方法使我们能够确定跨语言差异和双语如何影响阅读的认知和神经模式。 影响这项研究将提供急需的见解，在发展和成年期的阅读涉及的认知和神经过程，以及这些是如何反映在不同类型的神经信号。这些见解将导致对这种独特的人类技能的更具包容性的理论。研究结果对于理解阅读发展的轨迹、优化阅读教学以及分离阅读障碍的潜在原因也具有重要意义。

Background My research seeks to understand the cognitive and neural bases of reading ability, focusing on how biology combines with experience to shape how humans use written language. The science of reading provides excellent models of skilled reading and development, and we have also made great strides in understanding how these are linked to brain organization and development. However, this knowledge is largely based on an idealized view of skilled readers. The proposed research will take this to the next level by capturing important ways in which reading mechanisms vary across individuals and languages. I argue that our reading system is shaped by biological constraints on how sensorineural systems acquire and process audio-visual information, but also by differences in the design of languages' writing systems, and by individual differences in the use of holistic and analytic pathways for translating print to sound. I am proposing a research program that will test the neurocognitive bases of written language recognition across a breadth of human experiences, with the goal of arriving at a more inclusive model of reading and the brain. Proposed Research Using a combination of behavioural and neuroimaging techniques, my lab members and I will address three objectives: 1) to examine how readers maintain different types of neural codes for written language within different brain regions; 2) how these different systems are coordinated as children learn to read; and 3) how these patterns differ across languages, and in bilingual readers. Adults and children will be assessed on behavioural measures of reading and spoken language abilities that are designed to isolate cognitive sub-components of reading. We will use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify brain regions supporting reading, and subsequently decode patterns of neural activity using representational similarity analysis (RSA). This will allow us to carefully probe how elements of cognition are coded in neuroanatomy. Elsewhere, electroencephalography (EEG) will be used to measure event-related potentials (ERPs) that index reading sub-processes in real time. Of interest is the extent to which the nature of these codes differ in early versus expert readers. Similarly, these approaches allow us to determine how cross-linguistic differences and bilingualism influence cognitive and neural patterns for reading. Impact This research will provide badly needed insights into the cognitive and neural processes involved in reading during development and adulthood, and how these are reflected in different types of neural signals. Such insights will lead to more inclusive theories of this uniquely human skill. The results will also have important implications for understanding the trajectory of reading development, optimizing reading instruction, and isolating the underlying causes of reading disorders.