Neurocognitive mechanisms of co-occurring math difficulties in dyslexia: Differences in executive function and...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Reading disability (RD) frequently co-occurs with math disability (MD) in children.
• The underlying neurocognitive mechanisms of this comorbidity (RD+MD) are not well understood.
• Existing research often overlooks math skills in studies of RD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify behavioral and neurocognitive factors associated with co-occurring MD in children with RD.
• To compare children with RD only (RD-Only) versus those with RD+MD on various cognitive and neural measures.
• To investigate the role of executive functions and brain activity in RD+MD.

Main Methods:

• Behavioral assessments of phonological awareness, reading skills, and executive functions.
• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine brain mechanisms during word reading and visuospatial working memory tasks.
• Comparison of 86 children with RD, categorized into RD-Only and RD+MD groups.

Main Results:

• No significant differences in phonological awareness (behavioral or neural) between RD-Only and RD+MD groups.
• The RD+MD group exhibited poorer working memory and processing speed compared to the RD-Only group.
• Reduced brain activation in visual cortex during visuospatial working memory tasks was observed in the RD+MD group.

Conclusions:

• Co-occurring math disability in children with RD is associated with broader executive function deficits, particularly in working memory.
• Differences in visuospatial working memory and associated neural activity in visual cortex may underlie RD+MD.
• Findings highlight the importance of assessing math skills and executive functions in children with reading difficulties.