CENTER FOR RESEARCH IN
COGNITION & NEUROSCIENCES/ConnexConnex

Online seminar. Teams link: https://bit.ly/3fabVbq

Reading development is a gradual process that starts with letter-to-sound decoding in the first grades of primary school and advances to fast automated recognition of words in later grades. During this process, it is assumed that maturational and schooling-induced neural changes take place, yet studies investigating brain dynamics in relation to reading development are scarce. With regard to dyslexia, brain differences compared to typical readers have repeatedly been found, even prior to reading onset, however, it is unknown whether neural trajectories in children with dyslexia are deviant compared to typical readers. In this talk, I will discuss two longitudinal MRI studies that provide information on brain dynamics in relation to reading development. In one study, we collected structural MRI data prior to reading onset (kindergarten), in the early reading phase (grade 2) and the advanced reading phase (grade 5), allowing us to investigate whether neurodevelopment of specific white matter tracts and cortical regions belonging to the reading network are altered in children with dyslexia. In the other study, we conducted a preventive reading intervention in pre-readers at risk for dyslexia to investigate intervention-induced brain changes. I will also discuss some of the methodological challenges when analyzing pediatric and longitudinal MRI data.