Mapping functional connectivity in dyslexic and normal reading children 

Developmental dyslexia is a specific reading disorder with a high prevalence and familial risk, that affects approximately 4-8% of the population. This disorder is associated with a basic phonological impairment, which affects the ability to recognize and manipulate the sound structure of words. Imaging studies found both functional and structural correlates. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies have localized the core activation deficits in dyslexia to parieto-temporal and occipito-temporal regions. Studies suggest that developmental dyslexia may represent a disconnection syndrome in which communication is impaired between cortical areas within the reading network. It was hypothesized that this impaired communication could be the result of a structural disturbance. Recently, studies investigating the white matter pathways with DTI and structural MRI found that there are differences in the connectivity between subjects with poor reading skills and control subjects.

However, it is still unclear how these structural and functional impairments might be related to each other. Therefore, it is of high importance to investigate both functional and structural aspects in the same cohort of subjects. This Ph.D. project aims to investigate the role of phonological processing and visual automation in word reading, in and normal reading children (2nd, 3rd and 5th graders). We will employ fMRI, DTI and EEG to study basic reading impairments and their relation to structural connectivity between occipito-temporal, parietal and frontal regions involved in orthographic and phonological processing.

Collaborations

Daniel Brandeis, Prof. Dr., Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Brain Mapping Research, University of Zurich

Contacts

Daniel Brandeis
brandeiskjpd.uzh.ch

Peter Klaver
peter.klaverkispi.uzh.ch

Former collaborators

Dr. phil. Sanne van der Mark
Kerstin Bucher, Dr. sc. nat. ETH

Funding Source

Neuroscience Center Zurich (ZNZ)

Publications

Van der Mark S, Bucher K*, Maurer U, Schulz E, Brem S, Buckenmüller J, Kronbichler M, Loenneker T, Klaver P, Martin E, Brandeis (2009). Children with dyslexia lack multiple specializations along the visual word-form (VWF) system. Neuroimage, 47(4): 1940-1949.

Schulz E, Maurer U, Van der Mark S, Bucher K, Brem S, Martin E, Brandeis D (2009). Reading for meaning in dyslexic and young children: distinct neural pathways but common endpoints. Neuropsychologia, 47(12): 2544-2557.

Schulz E, Maurer U, Van der Mark S, Bucher K, Brem S, Martin E, Brandeis (2008). Impaired semantic processing during sentence reading in children with dyslexia: combined fMRI and ERP evidence. Neuroimage, 41(1): 153-168.