Longitudinal changes in cortical responses to letter-speech sound stimuli in 8–11 year-old children

Abstract While children are able to name letters fairly quickly, the automatisation of letter-speech sound mappings continues over the first years of reading development. In the current longitudinal fMRI study, we explored developmental changes in cortical responses to letters and speech sounds acro...

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Main Authors: Linda Romanovska, Roef Janssen, Milene Bonte
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2022-01-01
Series:npj Science of Learning
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-021-00118-3
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author Linda Romanovska
Roef Janssen
Milene Bonte
author_facet Linda Romanovska
Roef Janssen
Milene Bonte
author_sort Linda Romanovska
collection DOAJ
description Abstract While children are able to name letters fairly quickly, the automatisation of letter-speech sound mappings continues over the first years of reading development. In the current longitudinal fMRI study, we explored developmental changes in cortical responses to letters and speech sounds across 3 yearly measurements in a sample of 18 8–11 year old children. We employed a text-based recalibration paradigm in which combined exposure to text and ambiguous speech sounds shifts participants’ later perception of the ambiguous sounds towards the text. Our results showed that activity of the left superior temporal and lateral inferior precentral gyri followed a non-linear developmental pattern across the measurement sessions. This pattern is reminiscent of previously reported inverted-u-shape developmental trajectories in children’s visual cortical responses to text. Our findings suggest that the processing of letters and speech sounds involves non-linear changes in the brain’s spoken language network possibly related to progressive automatisation of reading skills.
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spelling doaj.art-8a9e7bab59ff447fb8bf6198ba6e63b72022-12-21T17:23:21ZengNature Portfolionpj Science of Learning2056-79362022-01-017111210.1038/s41539-021-00118-3Longitudinal changes in cortical responses to letter-speech sound stimuli in 8–11 year-old childrenLinda Romanovska0Roef Janssen1Milene Bonte2Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Department Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht UniversityMaastricht Brain Imaging Center, Department Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht UniversityMaastricht Brain Imaging Center, Department Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht UniversityAbstract While children are able to name letters fairly quickly, the automatisation of letter-speech sound mappings continues over the first years of reading development. In the current longitudinal fMRI study, we explored developmental changes in cortical responses to letters and speech sounds across 3 yearly measurements in a sample of 18 8–11 year old children. We employed a text-based recalibration paradigm in which combined exposure to text and ambiguous speech sounds shifts participants’ later perception of the ambiguous sounds towards the text. Our results showed that activity of the left superior temporal and lateral inferior precentral gyri followed a non-linear developmental pattern across the measurement sessions. This pattern is reminiscent of previously reported inverted-u-shape developmental trajectories in children’s visual cortical responses to text. Our findings suggest that the processing of letters and speech sounds involves non-linear changes in the brain’s spoken language network possibly related to progressive automatisation of reading skills.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-021-00118-3
spellingShingle Linda Romanovska
Roef Janssen
Milene Bonte
Longitudinal changes in cortical responses to letter-speech sound stimuli in 8–11 year-old children
npj Science of Learning
title Longitudinal changes in cortical responses to letter-speech sound stimuli in 8–11 year-old children
title_full Longitudinal changes in cortical responses to letter-speech sound stimuli in 8–11 year-old children
title_fullStr Longitudinal changes in cortical responses to letter-speech sound stimuli in 8–11 year-old children
title_full_unstemmed Longitudinal changes in cortical responses to letter-speech sound stimuli in 8–11 year-old children
title_short Longitudinal changes in cortical responses to letter-speech sound stimuli in 8–11 year-old children
title_sort longitudinal changes in cortical responses to letter speech sound stimuli in 8 11 year old children
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-021-00118-3
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AT roefjanssen longitudinalchangesincorticalresponsestoletterspeechsoundstimuliin811yearoldchildren
AT milenebonte longitudinalchangesincorticalresponsestoletterspeechsoundstimuliin811yearoldchildren