Resting-state functional connectivity and reading subskills in children
Alexandra M. Cross,
Reshma Ramdajal,
Lien Peters,
Matthew R.J. Vandermeer,
Elizabeth P. Hayden,
Jan C. Frijters,
Karen A. Steinbach,
Maureen W. Lovett,
Lisa M.D. Archibald,
Marc F. Joanisse
Affiliations
Alexandra M. Cross
Brain and Mind Institute, The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; Corresponding author at: Brain and Mind Institute, The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
Reshma Ramdajal
Brain and Mind Institute, The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Lien Peters
Brain and Mind Institute, The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; Department of Psychology, The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
Matthew R.J. Vandermeer
Brain and Mind Institute, The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; Department of Psychology, The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
Elizabeth P. Hayden
Brain and Mind Institute, The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; Department of Psychology, The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
Jan C. Frijters
Child and Youth Studies, Brock University, St. Catherines, Canada
Karen A. Steinbach
The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto, Canada
Maureen W. Lovett
The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto, Canada; Paediatrics and Medical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Lisa M.D. Archibald
Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; Department of Psychology, The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
Marc F. Joanisse
Brain and Mind Institute, The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; Department of Psychology, The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; Haskins Laboratories, New Haven CT, USA
Individual differences in reading ability have been linked to characteristics of functional connectivity in the brain in both children and adults. However, many previous studies have used single or composite measures of reading, leading to difficulty characterizing the role of functional connectivity in discrete subskills of reading. The present study addresses this issue using resting-state fMRI to examine how resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) related to individual differences in children's reading subskills, including decoding, sight word reading, reading comprehension, and rapid automatized naming (RAN). Findings showed both positive and negative RSFC-behaviour relationships that diverged across different reading subskills. Positive relationships included increasing RSFC among left dorsal and anterior regions with increasing decoding proficiency, and increasing RSFC between the left thalamus and right fusiform gyrus with increasing sight word reading, RAN, and reading comprehension abilities. In contrast, negative relationships suggested greater functional segregation of attentional and reading networks with improved performance on RAN, decoding, and reading comprehension tasks. Importantly, the results suggest that although reading subskills rely to some extent on shared functional networks, there are also distinct functional connections supporting different components of reading ability in children.
