Poster Slam Session B, Tuesday, August 20, 2019, 3:00 – 3:15 pm, Finlandia Hall, Angela Grant
Associations between cortical surface structure and reading related skills
Meaghan Perdue1,2, Joshua Mednick1, Kenneth Pugh1,2,3, Nicole Landi1,2,3;1University of Connecticut, 2Haskins Laboratories, 3Yale University
Research using functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) research has identified areas of reduced activation and gray matter volume in children and adults with reading disability1,2,3, but associations between cortical structure and individual differences in reading skills in typically developing children remain underexplored. Furthermore, the majority of research linking gray matter structure to reading ability quantifies gray matter in terms of volume, and cannot specify unique contributions of cortical surface area and thickness to these relationships. The present study applied a continuous analytic approach to investigate associations between distinct surface-based properties of cortical structure and individual differences in reading-related skills. Structural MRI scans and standardized measures of reading and language skills were acquired from a sample of typically developing children (N=76; ages 4.67-9.5 years; 42 females, 34 males). Correlations between cortical structure (thickness and surface area) and reading-related skills (word identification, pseudoword decoding, phonological awareness, and rapid automatized naming) were conducted using a surface-based vertex-wise approach in Freesurfer4. Separate models were created to assess associations between each behavioral measure independently for cortical thickness and surface area in each hemisphere. Results were evaluated at a cluster-corrected threshold of p = .05. Cortical thickness in the left superior temporal cortex, including Heschl’s gyrus, was positively correlated with word and pseudoword reading performance. No significant associations between cortical surface structure and phonological awareness or rapid naming were identified. No significant correlations with cortical surface area were identified. The observed positive correlation between cortical thickness in the left superior temporal cortex and word/pseudoword reading ability is consistent with previous reports of reduced gray matter volume in the left superior temporal cortex in reading disability1,3. Reduced cortical thickness in the left superior temporal cortex may reflect reduced neuroanatomical resources for spoken language processing that support the development of skilled reading5. References: 1. Eckert, M. A., Berninger, V. W., Vaden, K. I. J., Gebregziabher, M., & Tsu, L. (2016). Gray matter features of reading disability: A combined meta-analytic and direct analysis approach. ENeuro, 3(1), 1–15. 2. Maisog, J. M., Einbinder, E. R., Flowers, D. L., Turkeltaub, P. E., & Eden, G. F. (2008). A meta- analysis of functional neuroimaging studies of dyslexia. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1145(1), 237–259. 3. Richlan, F., Kronbichler, M., & Wimmer, H. (2013). Structural abnormalities in the dyslexic brain: A meta-analysis of voxel-based morphometry studies. Human Brain Mapping, 34(11), 3055–3065. 4. Dale, A. M., Fischl, B., & Sereno, M. I. (1999). Cortical surface-based analysis I. Segmentation and surface reconstruction. NeuroImage, 9, 179–194. 5. Clark, K. A., Helland, T., Specht, K., Narr, K. L., Manis, F. R., Toga, A. W., & Hugdahl, K. (2014). Neuroanatomical precursors of dyslexia identified from pre-reading through to age 11. Brain, 137, 3136–3141.
Themes: Reading, Development
Method: Other
Poster B79