Spoken language proficiency predicts print-speech convergence in beginning readers

Rebecca A Marks; Ioulia Kovelman; Olga Kepinska; Myriam Oliver; Zhichao Xia; Stephanie L Haft; Leo Zekelman; Priscilla Duong; Yuuko Uchikoshi; Roeland Hancock; Fumiko Hoeft

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116021

Spoken language proficiency predicts print-speech convergence in beginning readers

Neuroimage. 2019 Nov 1:201:116021. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116021. Epub 2019 Jul 13.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA.
² Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, USA. Electronic address: kovelman@umich.edu.
³ Department of Psychiatry and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China; Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA; Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA.
⁶ Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, 53226, USA; Department of Psychology, Palo Alto University, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA.
⁷ School of Education, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
⁸ Department of Psychological Sciences and Brain Imaging Research Center (BIRC), University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, 06269, USA; Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA.
⁹ Department of Psychiatry and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA; Department of Psychological Sciences and Brain Imaging Research Center (BIRC), University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, 06269, USA; Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA. Electronic address: fumiko.hoeft@uconn.edu.

Abstract

Learning to read transforms the brain, building on children's existing capacities for language and visuospatial processing. In particular, the development of print-speech convergence, or the spatial overlap of neural regions necessary for both auditory and visual language processing, is critical for literacy acquisition. Print-speech convergence is a universal signature of proficient reading, yet the antecedents of this convergence remain unknown. Here we examine the relationship between spoken language proficiency and the emergence of the print-speech network in beginning readers (ages 5-6). Results demonstrate that children's language proficiency, but not their early literacy skill, explains variance in their print-speech neural convergence in kindergarten. Furthermore, print-speech convergence in kindergarten predicts reading abilities one year later. These findings suggest that children's language ability is a core mechanism guiding the neural plasticity for learning to read, and extend theoretical perspectives on language and literacy acquisition across the lifespan.

Keywords: Brain development; Child language; Reading acquisition; fMRI.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Child
Child, Preschool
Female
Humans
Language*
Learning / physiology*
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Neuronal Plasticity / physiology*
Reading*
Speech / physiology*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding