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Investigating the Neural Substrate of Developmental Dyslexia: A Multimodal Parcellation Study
Poster Session A - Sandbox Series, Thursday, October 24, 10:00 - 11:30 am, Great Hall 3 and 4
This poster is part of the Sandbox Series.
Zian Huang1, Daniel Gallagher1, Shinri Ohta1; 1Kyushu University
Dyslexia, a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting reading and writing abilities, presents a complex challenge in understanding its neural mechanisms because the ability to process written language involves the interplay of multiple brain regions for visual, language, and auditory processing (Dehaene et al., 2015). It is reported that congenital dyslexia is estimated to be up to 7% of the world population, irrespective of language background (Yang et al. 2022). People suffering from dyslexia experience many difficulties in their daily lives, so it is critical to provide proper education and intervention for patients. This study aims to identify the brain regions associated with dyslexia by utilizing functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from the OpenNeuro repository. By employing multimodal parcellation (Glasser et al. 2018), we can achieve a more precise and detailed examination of brain regions associated with dyslexia. This detailed mapping will serve as a solid foundation for our future studies, where we will modulate the activity of these brain regions through non-invasive brain stimulation methods, thereby providing a fundamental basis for developing effective interventions for treating dyslexia in the future. The study utilizes functional and structural MRI data of dyslexic children in the OpenNeuro (Banfi et al. 2022) so that we can investigate the differences in brain function between dyslexic and typically developed children. Multimodal parcellation allows for the subdivision of the brain into distinct regions of interest (ROIs), facilitating a fine-grained analysis of functional/anatomical differences. In addition, we will examine structural differences associated with dyslexia using voxel-based/surface-based morphometry (VBM/SBM) (Ashburner et al. 2000, Dale et al. 1999, Fischl et al. 1999). Through these analyses, enhanced by the precision of multimodal parcellation, we aim to identify the whole brain networks associated with dyslexia more accurately. Through the study, we expect to find clear differences in brain structure and network activity between children with dyslexia and healthy individuals. We further expect to observe altered functional connectivity, which may act in two ways. One is reduced connectivity in language-related regions, such as the left temporoparietal region, Broca's area, and the left occipitotemporal cortex, crucial for phonological processing, word recognition, and reading fluency. The other one is increased connectivity in compensatory regions like right hemisphere homologs of the traditional left hemisphere language areas. As to structural differences, we will focus on the cortical thickness and surface area; for example, dyslexic children may exhibit a thinner cortex in the left occipitotemporal cortex. By elucidating functional and structural brain differences with multimodal parcellation, we will pinpoint specific brain areas and networks involved, contributing to a deeper understanding of the neural basis of dyslexia. We aim to contribute to the growing body of research on dyslexia, ultimately improving the lives of those affected by this condition.
Topic Areas: Disorders: Developmental, Reading