Impact of literacy on the functional connectivity of vision and language related networks
NeuroImage. 2020-06-01; 213: 116722
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116722
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López-Barroso D(1), Thiebaut de Schotten M(2), Morais J(3), Kolinsky R(4), Braga LW(5), Guerreiro-Tauil A(5), Dehaene S(6), Cohen L(7).
Author information:
(1)Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, ICM, Inserm U 1127, CNRS UMR
7225, Sorbonne Université, F-75013, Paris, France; Cognitive Neurology and
Aphasia Unit, Centro de Investigaciones Médico-Sanitarias, Instituto de
Investigación Biomédica de Málaga (IBIMA), Málaga, Spain; Area of Psychobiology,
Faculty of Psychology and Speech Therapy, University of Malaga, Málaga, Spain.
Electronic address: .
(2)Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, ICM, Inserm U 1127, CNRS UMR
7225, Sorbonne Université, F-75013, Paris, France; Brain Connectivity and
Behaviour Laboratory, Sorbonne Universities, Paris, France; Groupe d’Imagerie
Neurofonctionnelle, Institut des Maladies Neurodégénératives-UMR 5293, CNRS, CEA
University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
(3)Unité de Recherche en Neurosciences Cognitives (UNESCOG), Center for Research
in Cognition and Neurosciences (CRCN), Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), CP
191, Avenue F. Roosevelt, 50, B-1050, Brussels, Belgium.
(4)Unité de Recherche en Neurosciences Cognitives (UNESCOG), Center for Research
in Cognition and Neurosciences (CRCN), Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), CP
191, Avenue F. Roosevelt, 50, B-1050, Brussels, Belgium; Fonds de la Recherche
Scientifique-FNRS, Rue d’Egmont, 5, B-1000, Brussels, Belgium.
(5)SARAH Network, International Center for Neurosciences and Rehabilitation,
71.535-005, Brasilia, Brazil.
(6)Collège de France, 11 Place Marcelin Berthelot, 75005, Paris, France; INSERM,
Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, NeuroSpin Center, Gif sur Yvette, 91191, France;
Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique, Direction des Sciences du Vivant, Institut
Frédéric Joliot, Neurospin Center, Gif sur Yvette, 91191, France; Université
Paris-Sud 11, 91405, Orsay, France.
(7)Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, ICM, Inserm U 1127, CNRS UMR
7225, Sorbonne Université, F-75013, Paris, France; Assistance Publique Hôpitaux
de Paris (AP-HP), Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière, Department of Neurology,
F-75013, Paris, France.
Learning to read leads to functional and structural changes in cortical brain
areas related to vision and language. Previous evidence suggests that the Visual
Word Form Area (VWFA), a region devoted to the recognition of letter strings in
literate persons, acts as an interface between both systems. While different
studies have performed univariate analyses to study the effects of literacy on
brain function, little is known about its impact on whole functional networks,
especially when literacy is acquired during adulthood. We investigated functional
connectivity in three groups of adults with different literacy status:
illiterates, ex-illiterates (i.e., who learned to read during adulthood), and
literates (i.e., who learned to read in childhood). We used a data-driven,
multivariate whole brain approach (Independent Component Analysis [ICA]) combined
with a region of interest (ROI) analysis in order to explore the functional
connectivity of the VWFA with four ICA networks related to vision and language
functions. ICA allowed for the identification of four networks of interest: left
fronto-parietal, auditory, medial visual and lateral visual functional networks,
plus a control right fronto-parietal network. We explored the effects literacy on
the connectivity between the VWFA and these networks, trying furthermore to
disentangle the roles of reading proficiency and age of acquisition (i.e.,
literacy status) in these changes. Results showed that functional connectivity
between the VWFA and the left fronto-parietal and lateral visual networks
increased and decreased, respectively, with literacy. Moreover, the functional
coupling of the VWFA and the auditory network decreased with literacy. This study
provides novel insights in the mechanisms of reading acquisition and brain
plasticity, putting to light the emergence of the VWFA as a bridge between
language and vision. Further studies are required to characterize the interplay
of proficiency and age of reading acquisition, and its relevance to models of
brain plasticity across lifespan.
Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.