Role of family risk and of pre-reading auditory and neurostructural measures in predicting reading outcome

Author(s)
Lauren Blockmans, Narly Golestani, Josué Luiz Dalboni da Rocha, Jan Wouters, Pol Ghesquière, Maaike Vandermosten
Abstract

Some children who develop dyslexia show pre-reading auditory and speech processing difficulties. Furthermore, left auditory cortex structure might be related to family risk for dyslexia rather than to reading outcome. However, it remains unclear to what extent auditory and speech processing and auditory cortex structure mediate the relationship between family risk and reading. In the current longitudinal study, we investigated the role of family risk (measured using parental reading questionnaires) and of pre-reading auditory measures in predicting third grade word reading. We measured auditory and speech processing in 162 pre-readers varying in family risk. In 129 of them, we also acquired structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We quantified surface area and duplication patterns of the bilateral transverse temporal gyri (TTG(s)), and surface area of the bilateral planum temporale (PT). We found effects of pre-reading auditory and speech processing, surface area of the left first TTG and of bilateral PT and of left TTG duplication pattern on later reading. Higher pre-reading values on these measures were predictive of better word reading. Although we also found some evidence for an effect of family risk on auditory and speech processing, these latter measures did not mediate the strong relationship between family risk and later reading. Our study shows the importance of pre-reading auditory and speech processing and of auditory cortex anatomy for later reading. A better understanding of such interrelations during reading development will facilitate early diagnosis and intervention, which can be especially important given the continuity of family risk in the general population.

Organisation(s)
Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Biology, Vienna Cognitive Science Hub
External organisation(s)
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Université de Genève, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Journal
Neurobiology of Language
Volume
4
Pages
474-500
No. of pages
27
ISSN
2641-4368
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1162/nol_a_00111
Publication date
05-2023
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
301409 Neuroanatomy, 302027 Hearing, voice and language disorders, 301401 Brain research
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Neurology, Linguistics and Language
Portal url
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/role-of-family-risk-and-of-prereading-auditory-and-neurostructural-measures-in-predicting-reading-outcome(e5b8fa41-7960-48d7-8c8d-a337f7d71dde).html