Open AccessDyslexia on a continuum: A complex network approach
Author(s) -
Erica S. Edwards,
Kali Burke,
James R. Booth,
Chris McNorgan
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0208923
Subject(s) - dyslexia , reading (process) , cognitive psychology , task (project management) , modality (human–computer interaction) , computer science , presentation (obstetrics) , psychology , artificial intelligence , linguistics , medicine , philosophy , management , economics , radiology
We investigated the efficacy of graph-theoretic metrics of task-related functional brain connectivity in predicting reading difficulty and explored the hypothesis that task conditions emphasizing audiovisual integration would be especially diagnostic of reading difficulty. An fMRI study was conducted in which 24 children (8 to 14 years old) who were previously diagnosed with dyslexia completed a rhyming judgment task under three presentation modality conditions. Regression analyses found that characteristic connectivity metrics of the reading network showed a presentation modality dependent relationship with reading difficulty: Children with more segregated reading networks and those that used fewer of the available connections were those with the least severe reading difficulty. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that a lack of coordinated processing between the neural regions involved in phonological and orthographic processing contributes towards reading difficulty.