Abstract
This dataset examines language development with a longitudinal design and includes diffusion- and T1-weighted structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), task-based functional MRI (fMRI), and a battery of psycho-educational assessments and parental questionnaires. We collected data from 5.5-6.5-year-old children (ses-5) and followed them up when they were 7-8 years old (ses-7) and then again at 8.5-10 years old (ses-9). To increase the sample size at the older time points, another cohort of 7-8-year-old children (ses-7) were recruited and followed up when they were 8.5–10 years old (ses-9). In total, 322 children who completed at least one structural and functional scan were included. Children performed four fMRI tasks consisting of two word-level tasks examining phonological and semantic processing and two sentence-level tasks investigating semantic and syntactic processing. The MRI data is valuable for examining changes over time in interactive specialization due to the use of multiple imaging modalities and tasks in this longitudinal design. In addition, the extensive psycho-educational assessments and questionnaires provide opportunities to explore brain-behavior and brain-environment associations.
Highlights
Background & SummaryThe preschool to elementary school period is crucial for language and reading development
Understanding brain changes underlying language and reading development in this fast-developing period is important for facilitating early language and reading acquisition and designing interventions for those who struggle
Over the course of development, activation within select regions becomes focal or specialized, with greater specialization related to better skill. This specialization of the brain is both intrinsically self-organized and influenced by environmental stimulation. This account has been supported by studies in face processing, social cognition, reading, and cognitive control[6], most previous developmental neuroimaging studies investigating language development have either only cross-sectionally examined children with wide age ranges[7,8] or have not examined multiple linguistic tasks[9,10]
Summary
The preschool to elementary school period is crucial for language and reading development. This dataset, with its longitudinal design, allows researchers to more effectively test theories of brain development. One could test one of the central assumptions of the Interactive Specialization account, that early connectivity will determine later specialization[6] Given that this dataset has multiple imaging tasks for each individual, one will be able to directly test for developmental changes in specialization at the word- and sentence-level. Will the longitudinal data allow one to test theories of brain development, but it will allow for testing predictive models that should be useful for early identification of children who show slow language and reading growth[12,13] This has direct implications for prevention through early intervention. We hope that our sharing of the raw data will aid in the reproducibility[14], reliability[14], and impact[15,16] of neuroimaging research
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