How nature and nurture shape the reading brain

背景我的研究试图了解阅读能力的认知和神经基础，重点是生物学和经验如何结合来塑造人类使用书面语言的方式。阅读科学为熟练阅读和发展提供了极好的模型，我们也在理解这些如何与大脑组织和发展联系方面取得了长足进步。然而，这些知识在很大程度上是基于对熟练读者的理想化看法。这项拟议的研究将通过捕捉阅读机制在不同个人和语言之间差异的重要方式，将这一研究带到一个新的水平。我认为，我们的阅读系统是由感觉神经系统获取和处理视听信息的生理限制决定的，也是由语言书写系统设计的差异以及将纸质文字转换为声音的整体和分析路径的使用的个体差异决定的。我正在提议一项研究计划，该计划将在广泛的人类经验中测试书面语言识别的神经认知基础，目标是得出一个更具包容性的阅读和大脑模型。拟议研究结合行为和神经成像技术，我的实验室成员和我将致力于三个目标：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)当儿童学习阅读时，这些不同的系统是如何协调的；3)这些模式在不同语言和双语读者中有何不同。成人和儿童将接受阅读和口语能力的行为测量，旨在分离阅读的认知子成分。我们将使用功能磁共振成像(FMRI)来识别支持阅读的大脑区域，然后使用代表性相似性分析(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(EEG)将被用来测量实时索引读取子过程的事件相关电位(ERPs)。令人感兴趣的是这些代码的性质在早期读者和专家读者中的不同程度。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。这项研究将对阅读发展和成年期涉及的认知和神经过程提供亟需的见解，以及这些过程如何反映在不同类型的神经信号中。这样的洞察力将带来关于这一独特人类技能的更具包容性的理论。研究结果还将对了解阅读发展轨迹、优化阅读教学、隔离阅读障碍的深层原因具有重要意义。

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.