Temporo-parietal brain activity as a longitudinal predictor of response to educational interventions among middle school struggling readers

J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2011 Sep;17(5):875-85. doi: 10.1017/S1355617711000890. Epub 2011 Jul 11.

Abstract

Spatiotemporal brain activation profiles were obtained from 27 middle school students experiencing difficulties in reading comprehension as well as word-level skills (RD) and 23 age- and IQ-matched non-reading impaired students during performance of an oral pseudoword reading task using Magnetoencephalography (MEG). Based on their scores on standardized reading fluency tests 1 year later, students with RD who showed significant improvement were classified as Adequate Responders (AR) whereas those not demonstrating such gains were classified as Inadequate Responders (IR). At baseline, activation profiles of the AR group featured increased activity in the left supramarginal and angular gyri, as well as in the superior and middle temporal gyri, bilaterally compared to IR. The degree of activity in these regions was a significant predictor of the amount of subsequent gains in reading fluency. These results extend previous functional brain imaging findings of beginning readers, suggesting that recruitment of brain areas that typically serve as key components of the brain circuit for reading is an important factor in determining response to intervention in older struggling readers.

Publication types

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Brain Mapping
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Checklist
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / methods*
  • Dyslexia / pathology
  • Dyslexia / rehabilitation*
  • Evoked Potentials / physiology
  • Female
  • Functional Laterality
  • Humans
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Magnetoencephalography
  • Male
  • Parietal Lobe / pathology
  • Parietal Lobe / physiopathology*
  • Reading
  • Temporal Lobe / pathology
  • Temporal Lobe / physiopathology*
  • Time Factors