title: Phonological awareness predicts activation patterns for print and speech.
abstract: Using fMRI, we explored the relationship between phonological awareness (PA), a measure of metaphonological knowledge of the segmental structure of speech, and brain activation patterns during processing of print and speech in young readers from 6 to 10 years of age. Behavioral measures of PA were positively correlated with activation levels for print relative to speech tokens in superior temporal and occipito-temporal regions. Differences between print-elicited activation levels in superior temporal and inferior frontal sites were also correlated with PA measures with the direction of the correlation depending on stimulus type: positive for pronounceable pseudowords and negative for consonant strings. These results support and extend the many indications in the behavioral and neurocognitive literature that PA is a major component of skill in beginning readers and point to a developmental trajectory by which written language engages areas originally shaped by speech for learners on the path toward successful literacy acquisition.
authors.affiliation: Haskins Laboratories, 300 George Street, New Haven, CT 06511, USA. frosts@haskins.yale.edu
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Frost
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Landi
authors.forename: W Einar
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Mencl
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sandak
authors.forename: Robert K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Fulbright
authors.forename: Eleanor T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Tejada
authors.forename: Leslie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jacobsen
authors.forename: Elena L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Grigorenko
authors.forename: R Todd
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Constable
authors.forename: Kenneth R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Pugh
mesh_terms: D001364:Awareness / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D002648:Child; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007807:Language Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology; D010700:Phonetics; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011932:Reading; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology*; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology