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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 20, 2025

Training Synesthetic Letter-color Associations by Reading in Color

Training Synesthetic Letter-color Associations by Reading in Color

Published on: February 20, 2014

Brain-behavior dynamics between the left fusiform and reading.

Caroline Beelen¹, Lauren Blockmans², Jan Wouters²

¹Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.

Brain Structure & Function

|September 12, 2021

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Better reading skills in early development enhance the left fusiform gyrus size later on. This indicates behavior-driven brain plasticity, not brain-driven reading changes, during reading skill acquisition.

Keywords:

Left fusiform gyrus Longitudinal MRI Reading development Reading skills Visual word form area

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Developmental Psychology
Cognitive Science

Background:

The visual word form area (VWFA), located in the left fusiform gyrus, is crucial for reading development.
Limited research exists on the longitudinal changes and anatomical properties of the VWFA during reading acquisition.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the dynamic, bidirectional relationship between reading skills and the structural development of the left fusiform gyrus.
To examine how reading ability influences brain structure and vice versa from early to advanced reading stages.

Main Methods:

Longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study.
Cross-lagged panel model (CLPM) and bivariate correlations.
Assessment of 43 children from grade 2 to grade 5, with variable reading skills.

Main Results:

Stronger reading skills in grade 2 predicted a larger left fusiform gyrus size in grade 5.
No significant directional effect was found from left fusiform gyrus size in grade 2 to reading skills in grade 5.
Evidence supports behavior-driven brain plasticity rather than brain-driven reading changes.

Conclusions:

The direction of influence between brain structure and reading behavior shifts during reading development.
Early reading proficiency shapes subsequent neural development in the visual word form area.
Reading acquisition involves adaptive changes in brain structure driven by behavioral experience.