An fMRI study of multimodal semantic and phonological processing in reading disabled adolescents.
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated multimodal (visual and auditory) semantic and unimodal (visual only) phonological processing in reading disabled (RD) adolescents and non-impaired (NI) control participants. We found reduced activation for RD relative to NI in a number of left-hemisphere reading-related areas across all processing tasks regardless of task type (semantic vs. phonological) or modality (auditory vs. visual modality). Moreover, activation differences in these regions, which included the inferior frontal gyrus, the superior temporal gyrus, and the occipitotemporal region, were largely independent of in-scanner performance in our auditory semantic task. That is, although RD participants and NI participants differed in performance in visually presented conditions, they did not differ significantly in the auditory condition, yet similar patterns of reduced activation were observed in these regions across conditions. These findings indicate a neurobiological marker in RD that is independent of task, modality, or performance. These findings are discussed in the context of current neurobiological models of RD.
Landi
Nicole
N
Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, 230 S. Frontage, New Haven, CT 06520, USA. Nicole.landi@yale.edu
Mencl
W Einar
WE
Frost
Stephen J
SJ
Sandak
Rebecca
R
Pugh
Kenneth R
KR
D000293:Adolescent; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology; D002648:Child; D004410:Dyslexia / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D010700:Phonetics; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D011932:Reading; D012660:Semantics; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult