Developmental dyslexia, developmental coordination disorder and comorbidity discrimination using multimodal...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Developmental dyslexia (DD) and developmental coordination disorder (DCD) frequently co-occur, suggesting shared neurobiological underpinnings.
• Previous neuroimaging studies have not directly compared children with DD, DCD, and those with both conditions (COM).

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate and differentiate the neural differences among typically developing (TD) children, children with DD, children with DCD, and children with both conditions (COM) using structural and functional MRI.
• To identify specific brain regions and imaging metrics that can discriminate between these groups.

Main Methods:

• Acquired structural and resting-state functional MRI data from 136 children (42 TD, 45 DD, 20 DCD, 29 COM).
• Analyzed differences in grey/white matter volumes and functional metrics (amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations, local/global connectivity).
• Employed machine learning models trained on imaging data to classify participants into DD, DCD, and COM groups.

Main Results:

• No single imaging index could differentiate between the DD, DCD, and COM groups.
• Combined structural (grey/white matter volumes) and functional (activity, connectivity) models successfully discriminated among the three groups.
• The functional model yielded the highest discrimination accuracy, with cerebellar regions being most discriminant for DCD and temporal lobe regions for DD.

Conclusions:

• Children with co-occurring DD and DCD exhibit subtle yet identifiable brain differences.
• A combination of structural and functional neuroimaging metrics is necessary to capture these complex differences.
• Functional brain imaging, particularly involving the cerebellum and temporal lobe, shows promise for differentiating neurodevelopmental disorders.