Abstract
Phonological awareness is essential for reading, and is common to all language systems, including alphabetic languages and Japanese. This cognitive factor develops during childhood, and is thought to be associated with shifts in brain activity. However, the nature of this neurobiological developmental shift is unclear for speakers of Japanese, which is not an alphabetical language. The present study aimed to reveal a shift in brain functions for processing phonological information in native-born Japanese children. We conducted a phonological awareness task and examined hemodynamic activity in 103 children aged 7–12 years. While younger children made mistakes and needed more time to sort phonological information in reverse order, older children completed the task quickly and accurately. Additionally, younger children exhibited increased activity in the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), which may be evidence of immature phonological processing skills. Older children exhibited dominant activity in the left compared with the right DLPFC, suggesting that they had already acquired phonological processing skills. We also found significant effects of age and lateralized activity on behavioral performance. During earlier stages of development, the degree of left lateralization appears to have a smaller effect on behavioral performance. Conversely, in later stages of development, the degree of left lateralization appears to have a stronger influence on behavioral performance. These initial findings regarding a neurobiological developmental shift in Japanese speakers suggest that common brain regions play a critical role in the development of phonological processing skills among different languages systems, such as Japanese and alphabetical languages.
Highlights
The ability to read is vital to modern life
In terms of the waveforms of the ROIs, we found that the increase in oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) signals was larger at the left region of interest (L-ROI) than the right region of interest (R-ROI) in the Middle and High groups
We did not find a difference between the oxy-Hb signals in the L-ROI and R-ROI in the Low group, F(1,41) = 2.54, p = 0.12, whereas the signals were significantly larger at the L-ROI than the R-ROI in the Middle and High groups, F(1,34) = 5.88, p = 0.02, F(1,25) = 4.36, p = 0.04 (Figure 5)
Summary
The ability to read is vital to modern life. The action of reading words requires several abilities, including phonological awareness, vocabulary, naming speed, and visual perception (e.g., Cunningham et al, 1990; Carver, 1992). Phonological awareness is an important predictor of reading performance in the late stage of child development (Liberman et al, 1974). Phonological awareness refers to the ability to detect phonological structures in spoken or mentally recalled sounds and to discriminate between these and/or minimal units of the phoneme (Yopp, 1992; Torgesen et al, 1997). This awareness normally arises in the early stage of child development. Deficits in phonological awareness are often seen in children with developmental dyslexia who have severe difficulties reading and writing (Liberman, 1973; Chiappe et al, 2001; Ramus, 2001). Atypical brain functions are thought to underlie such deficits in this population (Paulesu et al, 2001; Temple et al, 2001; Shaywitz et al, 2002)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
