Open AccessLonger Screen Vs. Reading Time is Related to Greater Functional Connections Between the Salience Network and Executive Functions Regions in Children with Reading Difficulties Vs. Typical Readers
Author(s) -
Tzipi HorowitzKraus,
Mark DiFrancesco,
Paige Greenwood,
Elisha Scott,
Jennifer Vannest,
John Hutton,
Jon Dudley,
Mekibib Altaye,
Rola Farah
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
child psychiatry and human development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.042
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1573-3327
pISSN - 0009-398X
DOI - 10.1007/s10578-020-01053-x
Subject(s) - psychology , reading (process) , salience (neuroscience) , functional connectivity , cognition , developmental psychology , association (psychology) , default mode network , audiology , cognitive psychology , executive functions , neuroscience , medicine , political science , law , psychotherapist
An adverse relationship between screen exposure time and brain functional/structural connectivity was reported in typically developing children, specifically related to neurobiological correlates of reading ability. As children with reading difficulties (RD) suffer from impairments in reading and executive functions (EF), we sought to determine the association between the ratio of screen time duration to reading time duration and functional connectivity of EF networks to the entire brain in children with RD compared to typical readers (TRs) using resting state data. Screen/reading time ratio was related to reduced reading and EF abilities. A larger screen/reading time ratio was correlated with increased functional connectivity between the salience network and frontal-EF regions in children with RD compared to TRs. We suggest that whereas greater screen/reading time ratio is related to excessive stimulation of the visual processing system in TRs, it may be related to decreased efficiency of the cognitive control system in RDs.