A longitudinal study on neuroanatomical predictors and growth profiles in dyslexia

Children's development of competent language, cognitive and social skills is important for living a normal and fulfilling life. Yet, a significant proportion of children suffers from the neurodevelopmental disorder developmental dyslexia (aka dyslexia), having an increased risk of societal exclusion and state-dependency. Hence, there is great need to improve differential diagnosis and guide appropriate intervention at young age. Brain imaging techniques such as structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allow one to quantify and localize brain regions associated with atypical development, underpinning potential brain anomalies involved in dyslexia. Additionally, correlating behavioral reading and spelling tests with brain measures derived from MRI allow one to generate hypotheses on mechanisms associated with dyslexia. The aim of the current doctoral research project, which is part of the overarching H2020 Marie Curie European Training Network on child neurocognitive disorders, is to help improving differential diagnosis of dyslexia by means of MRI and behavioral reading and spelling data. In the current doctoral research project, pre-reading children with and without a family risk for dyslexia were followed-up longitudinally and received a dyslexia diagnosis in retrospect. In this way, both at young age (e.g. before reading onset) and over the developmental course, potential causal factors (e.g. 'biomarkers') related to dyslexia can be identified. In the first study, pre-reading differences were investigated and it was observed that a smaller size of the fusiform gyrus is related to dyslexia per se, whereas a smaller size of the inferior and middle temporal gyri (less robust result) is related to a familial risk for dyslexia. In the third study, children were investigated over the developmental course, and it was observed that reading and spelling in grade 2 predict the size of the fusiform in grade 5. Another aim of the current doctoral research project is to improve the analyses of pediatric brain data in order to acquire optimal and reliable brain data. In the second study, the application of additional editing of pediatric brain data was investigated. The second study showed that additional editing of pediatric brain data has no major influence on statistical results. The outcomes of the three studies of the current doctoral research project contribute to a better differential diagnosis of dyslexia.

Publication year:2021

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