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Published on: June 29, 2021
Phonological Skills Mediate the Association Between Left Beta/Gamma Oscillation and Reading Ability in Chinese
Yao Jia1,2, Lu Zhang1, Yazhou Li3
1Shaanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Behavior and Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China.
Purpose:
This study aimed to investigate whether Chinese children with dyslexia exhibit atypical left-hemispheric beta/gamma oscillatory patterns during nonverbal auditory processing and to examine whether phonological skills mediate the relationship between these oscillations and reading ability.
Method:
Forty-two Chinese children with dyslexia and 47 typically developing controls underwent electroencephalography recording while listening to amplitude-modulated white noise (1-80 Hz). Event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) was quantified over the left- and right-hemisphere regions of interest. Behavioral assessments measured reading accuracy, phonological awareness, and rapid automatized naming.
Results:
Compared to controls, children with dyslexia showed significantly reduced left-hemispheric beta/gamma oscillations and altered hemispheric asymmetry. Left-hemispheric ERSP was associated with reading accuracy in the dyslexia group. Mediation analysis confirmed that phonological skills partially mediated the relationship between left-hemispheric oscillations and reading accuracy.
Conclusions:
The results provide electrophysiological evidence that Chinese children with dyslexia show reduced left-hemispheric beta/gamma responses and altered hemispheric asymmetry during nonverbal auditory processing. They further suggest that variation in left-hemispheric auditory oscillatory responses may be associated with literacy partly through phonological skills.
Supplemental Material:
https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.34024734.
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