Abstract
White matter tissue properties are known to correlate with performance across domains ranging from reading to math, to executive function. Here, we use a longitudinal intervention design to examine experience-dependent growth in reading skills and white matter in grade school-aged, struggling readers. Diffusion MRI data were collected at regular intervals during an 8-week, intensive reading intervention. These measurements reveal large-scale changes throughout a collection of white matter tracts, in concert with growth in reading skill. Additionally, we identify tracts whose properties predict reading skill but remain fixed throughout the intervention, suggesting that some anatomical properties stably predict the ease with which a child learns to read, while others dynamically reflect the effects of experience. These results underscore the importance of considering recent experience when interpreting cross-sectional anatomy–behavior correlations. Widespread changes throughout the white matter may be a hallmark of rapid plasticity associated with an intensive learning experience.
Highlights
White matter tissue properties are known to correlate with performance across domains ranging from reading to math, to executive function
We find that the arcuate fasciculus (AF) and inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF) exhibit experiencedependent change within weeks of the intervention onset, while tissue properties within the posterior CC remain fixed
To summarize individual differences in reading, we report Reading Skill, a composite score that incorporates our full battery of reading tests from the Woodcock–Johnson[44] and Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE)[45] standardized assessments
Summary
White matter tissue properties are known to correlate with performance across domains ranging from reading to math, to executive function. We identify tracts whose properties predict reading skill but remain fixed throughout the intervention, suggesting that some anatomical properties stably predict the ease with which a child learns to read, while others dynamically reflect the effects of experience These results underscore the importance of considering recent experience when interpreting cross-sectional anatomy–behavior correlations. A number of recent studies, working within this framework, have identified features of the white matter that predict reading outcomes in dyslexia[12] and reading-related skills, like phonological awareness, in prereading children[10,13] The implication of these observations is that underlying anatomical differences may predestine certain individuals to struggle with learning to read. This system includes, but is not limited to, the core reading circuitry
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