Brain response dynamics during novel script reading as compared to familiar script reading
Poster No:
1033
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Amelie Haugg1,2, Nada Frei1,2, Alexander Zeller1, Chayenne Garcia1, Vinzenz Schmid1, Anna-Marie Conrad1, Sara Steinegger1, Martina Röthlisberger1,2, Silvia Brem1,3,2
Institutions:
1University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, 2NCCR Evolving Language, Zurich, Switzerland, 3Neuroscience Center Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
First Author:
Co-Author(s):
Martina Röthlisberger
University of Zurich|NCCR Evolving Language
Zurich, Switzerland|Zurich, Switzerland
University of Zurich|NCCR Evolving Language
Zurich, Switzerland|Zurich, Switzerland
Silvia Brem
University of Zurich|Neuroscience Center Zurich|NCCR Evolving Language
Zurich, Switzerland|Zurich, Switzerland|Zurich, Switzerland
University of Zurich|Neuroscience Center Zurich|NCCR Evolving Language
Zurich, Switzerland|Zurich, Switzerland|Zurich, Switzerland
Introduction:
Learning to read is a complex cognitive process that requires the development of an extensive, specialized reading network (RN) in the brain [1]. This network's functional organization becomes increasingly refined and consolidated through continued practice [2]. In this study, we investigated how, in adults, different brain regions of this established RN respond to processing words in a recently learned artificial script (AS) compared to a native and highly familiar Latin script (LS). Further, we analyzed the influence of attention and working memory on the reading process in the novel and well-established scripts.
Methods:
61 typical-reading, native German-speaking adults (24.10 years, 38 f) participated in the study and completed tests to assess working memory, attention, and reading fluency. In the MRI scanner (3T), participants trained 12 associations between letters written in the AS and phonemes of the German alphabet. Then, they performed a lexical decision task with words and pseudowords written in AS and LS (Figure 1). Finally, fluency in reading the newly learned AS was tested outside the scanner. fMRI data analyses with SPM12 included standard preprocessing and a general linear model with two regressors of interest (AS and LS). For ROI analyses, mean beta values were extracted from predefined brain regions of the RN. Finally, the activation time series of key brain regions were extracted using the eigenvalues of the signal.
Results:
Fluency in reading AS correlated more strongly with attention (r(60)=0.56, p<0.001) and working memory (r(60)=0.38, p=0.003) measures than LS reading fluency (attention: r(60)=0.26, p=0.04; difference: z(60)=1.90, p=0.03; working memory: r(60)=0.10, p=0.46; difference: z(60)=1.63, p=0.05), but AS and LS reading fluency were not correlated (r(60)=0.04, p=0.77). When comparing AS to LS reading during the lexical decision task, we observed activation (FWE-corrected p<0.05) in the multiple demand (MDN) network [3], the middle occipital gyrus, thalamus, ventral tegmental area (VTA), and in key regions of the RN such as the lexical and perceptual visual word form area [4] (VWFA; Figure 2A). Activation in the whole MDN was not correlated with attention (r(60)=0.14, p=0.28) or working memory (r(60)=0.12, p=0.36), while VWFA activity was associated with working memory (lexical VWFA: r(60)=0.28, p=0.03; perceptual VWFA: r(60)=0.24, p=0.07), but not with attention (lexical VWFA: r(60)=0.177, p=0.17; perceptual VWFA: r(60)=0.11, p=0.39). BOLD time courses of the MDN and VWFA showed rapid increases and decreases in activation during each LS stimulus presentation, but sustained activation throughout the entire AS condition (Figure 2B). Other key regions of the RN, such as the superior temporal gyrus (STG) and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), demonstrated stimulus-driven increases and decreases for both AS and LS stimuli, while activation in non-reading-related brain regions such as the VTA appeared to not be driven by individual stimuli.
Conclusions:
Our results show the influence of attention and working memory on reading performance in a recently learned script compared to a well-known script. This is consistent with the more pronounced activation of the MDN network during AS compared to LS processing, demonstrating the increase in cognitive effort during novel script reading. Subsequent time course analyses of AS and LS processing unveiled a pronounced difference in the dynamics of the BOLD response within key brain regions of the RN. While most brain regions demonstrated increased sustained activation during AS but not during LS reading, this was not the case for the STG, IFG, and angular gyrus. Further, our findings demonstrate that several brain regions not only exhibited distinct activation intensity but also a shift in the timing of peak activation between AS and LS reading, emphasizing the importance of considering temporal dynamics in neural processing when investigating lexical stimuli of different familiarity.
Language:
Reading and Writing 1
Learning and Memory:
Learning and Memory Other 2
Modeling and Analysis Methods:
Activation (eg. BOLD task-fMRI)
Keywords:
ADULTS
Cognition
FUNCTIONAL MRI
Language
Learning
Other - Reading
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
Provide references using author date format
[2] Turkeltaub, P. E., Gareau, L., Flowers, D. L., Zeffiro, T. A., & Eden, G. F. (2003). Development of neural mechanisms for reading. Nature neuroscience, 6(7), 767-773.
[3] Duncan, J. (2010). The multiple-demand (MD) system of the primate brain: mental programs for intelligent behaviour. Trends in cognitive sciences, 14(4), 172-179.
[4] Lerma-Usabiaga, G., Carreiras, M., & Paz-Alonso, P. M. (2018). Converging evidence for functional and structural segregation within the left ventral occipitotemporal cortex in reading. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(42), E9981-E9990.