1. Participants
Tasks
Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) Neuroimaging
Speech and Print Processing Task
Analysis
Hemodynamic responses were preprocessed and analyzed using
Statistical Parametric Mapping (NIRS-SPM, Ver. 4)5.
Children
N=17
Ages 3.5-6.5y
Pre-Literacy
N = 6
Ages 3.5-4.5y (M=4.2)
Emergent Literacy
N = 11
Ages 4.5-6.5y (M=6.2)
What neurodevelopmental changes in language and reading networks
support the young child’s transition from pre-literate to emergent reader?
Pre-literate children are already proficient users of spoken language before
they embark on the challenge of reading. A child’s phonological awareness
at the onset of literacy is strongly predictive of later reading ability. 1,2
The Left Inferior Frontal Gyrus (LIFG) and the left Superior Temporal Gyrus
(STG), are crucially involved in relating phonological information to printed
text, phonological decoding and segmentation during reading, and
semantic word retrieval.3,4
Spoken language processing in the brain’s language and reading networks
changes as children transition from pre-literacy to emergent literacy
1 Wagner & Torgesen (1987). Psyc Bulletin, 101, 192-212.
2 Ziegler & Goswami (2005). Psyc Bulletin, 131, 3-29.
3 Pugh, et al. (2013). Brain Lang. 125, 173-83.
4 Jasinska & Petitto (2013). Dev Neuropsyc, 6, 87-101.
5 Ye, et al. (2009). Neuroimage, 44, 428-44
Patterns of neural activation that support spoken
language processing change over development as a
child learns to read
Pre-literate children showed greater activation in the
STG for spoken nonwords vs words
Emergent readers showed greater activation in the
LIFG for spoken nonwords vs words
Emergent readers also showed greater activation in
the bilateral IFG for reading versus spoken language
New Findings
At the onset of reading, the neural processing of print
and speech differ in ways that reveal how the
developing brain allocates neural resources towards
written language and begins to learn to read
Translational Impact
New insights into the brain-basis of emergent typical
reading can be used to understand children who are
struggling to learn to read
1Haskins Laboratories 2University of Connecticut, 3Yale University – Child Study Center
Neural Representations of Spoken and Written Language During Emergent Literacy
Kaja Jasińska1, Brian Parbhu1, Kathleen Shaw2, Nicole Landi1,2,3, Heather Bortfeld1,2, Ken Pugh1,2,3
*CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
kaja.jasinska@yale.edu
www.haskins.yale.edu/staff/jasinska/
Spoken Language Processing in Pre-Literacy versus Emergent Literacy
Inferior Frontal (IFG)
Word meaning
morphology, syntax
Superior Temporal
(STG)
Phonology
Temporoparietal
Letter to sound
correspondence
Occipitotemporal
Visual word form
Older Emergent Literacy GroupYounger Pre-Literacy Group
p = .05
Speech Nonwords>Words
Left Hemisphere
Hitachi ETG 4000
Speech Nonwords>Words
Left Hemisphere
Spoken Language versus Reading in Emergent Literacy
time (s)
-2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
activity
-0.2
-0.15
-0.1
-0.05
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
Printed(Word(
HbO(
HbR(
p=0.07(
Print>Speech(
Right(Hemisphere(
S;mulus(Offset(
Print>Speech(
Le@(Hemisphere(
p=0.05(
Modality
Lexicality
Auditory Words Print Words
Auditory Nonwords Print Nonwords
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
HYPOTHESIS
METHODS
RESULTS CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
Funding:
NIH R01 HD 048830 (K. Pugh, PI)
R03HD053409 (N. Landi, PI)