Differences between child and adult large-scale functional brain networks for reading tasks

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Developmental Neuroscience
• Neuroimaging

Background:

• Reading is a complex cognitive function involving widespread brain networks.
• Understanding developmental changes in reading networks is crucial for cognitive development research.
• Age-related differences in functional brain networks during reading tasks are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate age-related changes in large-scale functional brain networks during reading tasks.
• To compare functional brain network properties between children and adults performing rhyming and meaning judgment tasks.
• To elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying reading development.

Main Methods:

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were collected from 17 adults (19-28 years) and 16 children (11-13 years).
• Graph theoretical analyses were applied to investigate functional connectivity and network topology.
• Participants performed rhyming and meaning judgment tasks on visually presented Chinese characters.

Main Results:

• Adults showed stronger occipital connectivity (visual processing), while children exhibited stronger temporal connectivity (phonological processing).
• Adults displayed task-specific network differences, indicating greater specialization, whereas children's networks were less task-differentiated.
• Children had higher connectivity in subcortical regions, shifting to cortical regions in adults, suggesting a developmental trajectory from subcortical to cortical reliance.

Conclusions:

• Reading development involves significant changes in brain network connectivity properties.
• The findings suggest a developmental shift from subcortical to cortical network engagement during reading.
• These developmental changes in brain networks may be both domain-general and reading-specific.