Abstract
The visual word form area (VWFA) plays a significant role in the development of reading skills. However, the developmental course and anatomical properties of the VWFA have only limitedly been investigated. The aim of the current longitudinal MRI study was to investigate dynamic, bidirectional relations between reading, and the structure of the left fusiform gyrus at the early-to-advanced reading stage. More specifically, by means of bivariate correlations and a cross-lagged panel model (CLPM), the interrelations between the size of the left fusiform gyrus and reading skills (an average score of a word and pseudo-word reading task) were studied in a longitudinal cohort of 43 Flemish children (29M, 14F) with variable reading skills in grade 2 (the early stage of reading) and grade 5 (the advanced stage of reading) of primary school. Results revealed that better reading skills at grade 2 lead to a larger size of the left fusiform gyrus at grade 5, whereas there are no directional effects between the size of the left fusiform gyrus at grade 2 and reading skills at grade 5. Hence, according to our results, there is behavior-driven brain plasticity and no brain-driven reading change between the early and advanced stage of reading. Together with pre-reading brain studies showing predictive relations to later reading scores, our results suggest that the direction of brain–behavioral influences changes throughout the course of reading development.
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Data availability
The dataset for this manuscript is not publicly available, because the conditions of our ethics approval do not permit public archiving of anonymized study data and consent had only been obtained from participants for participation in the study and not to share data with third parties. Requests to access the data set and/or material should be directed to Pol Ghesquière (pol.ghesquiere@kuleuven.be) explaining the purpose of their request. In accordance with the EU general data protection regulation (GDPR), data will be released to requestors upon the following conditions: consent of the representative of the minor and a formal agreement between parties. Please note that the MRI data cannot be shared under any circumstance as MRI data are person-specific and, therefore, not anonymous.
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Acknowledgements
Thanks to Astrid de Vos, Jolijn Vanderauwera, Karlien Vanpoecke, Leen Van Essche, Liesbeth Celis, Lot Swerts, and Vân Phan for contributing in participant selection and data collection, to Karlien Vanpoecke, Lot Swerts and Vân Phan for assisting in quality checks of the images, and to all the involved children and their parents for participation. Thanks to the EU Horizon 2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network (ITN) in 2014: ‘Advancing brain research in children’s developmental neurocognitive disorders’ (Childbrain, #641652), to the Research Council KU Leuven (OT/12/044) and to the Research Foundation Flanders (G0920.12).
Funding
The study was supported by the EU Horizon 2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network (ITN) in 2014: ‘Advancing brain research in children’s developmental neurocognitive disorders’ (Childbrain, #641652), by the Research Council KU Leuven (OT/12/044) and by the Research Foundation Flanders (G0920.12).
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CB: conceptualization, methodology, validation, visualization, investigation, software, formal analysis, data curation, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing. LB: formal analysis, data curation, writing—review and editing. JW: methodology, validation, visualization, resources, writing—review and editing, supervision, project administration, and funding acquisition. PG: conceptualization, methodology, validation, resources, writing—review and editing, supervision, project administration, and funding acquisition. MV: conceptualization, methodology, validation, investigation, data curation, writing—review and editing, supervision, project administration, and funding acquisition.
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Beelen, C., Blockmans, L., Wouters, J. et al. Brain–behavior dynamics between the left fusiform and reading. Brain Struct Funct 227, 587–597 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-021-02372-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-021-02372-y