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Updated: May 22, 2026
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Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations
Published on: July 1, 2015
The relationship between phonological and auditory processing and brain organization in beginning readers
Kenneth R Pugh1, Nicole Landi, Jonathan L Preston
1Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT, United States. pugh@haskins.yale.edu
Brain and Language
|May 11, 2012
Summary
This study linked reading skills like phonological awareness and decoding to brain organization in beginning readers. Stronger skills correlated with specific brain regions involved in processing print and speech.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Literacy acquisition is a complex process involving both print and speech processing.
- Understanding the neural underpinnings of reading skills is crucial for identifying and supporting struggling readers.
- Previous research has identified various brain regions associated with reading, but their integration with specific early reading skills requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between behavioral measures of early reading skills and brain organization for print and speech.
- To identify shared neural correlates of phonological awareness, pseudoword decoding, and rapid auditory processing in beginning readers.
- To inform brain-based models of literacy acquisition.
Main Methods:
- Brain-behavior analyses were conducted on beginning readers.
- Performance on phonological awareness, pseudoword decoding, and rapid auditory processing tasks was assessed.
- Brain activation patterns related to print and speech processing were analyzed in relation to behavioral measures.
Main Results:
- Print-related brain activation showed correlations with reading skills in left hemisphere temporoparietal, occipitotemporal, inferior frontal, visual, visual attention, and subcortical regions.
- Speech-related brain activation was most strongly correlated with reading skills in the left hemisphere inferior frontal gyrus and precuneus.
- A shared set of brain regions was associated with varying levels of reading ability.
Conclusions:
- Specific brain regions are consistently associated with both print and speech processing in early literacy development.
- These findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the neural basis of reading acquisition.
- The results support the integration of print and speech neural networks in models of reading development.
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