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. 2020 Mar 20:11:420.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00420. eCollection 2020.

Intrinsic Cerebro-Cerebellar Functional Connectivity Reveals the Function of Cerebellum VI in Reading-Related Skills

Chen Ang  1 , Jia Zhang  1 , Mingyuan Chu  2 , Hehui Li  1 , Mengyu Tian  1 , Xiaoxia Feng  1 , Manli Zhang  3 , Li Liu  1 , Xiangzhi Meng  3   4 , Guosheng Ding  1
Affiliations

Intrinsic Cerebro-Cerebellar Functional Connectivity Reveals the Function of Cerebellum VI in Reading-Related Skills

Chen Ang et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

The engagement of the cerebellum VI in reading was reported in both typically developing and dyslexic readers. However, it is still not clear how the cerebellum VI contributes to reading. Here we have examined the correlation of intrinsic cerebro-cerebellar functional connectivity with two critical reading-related skills-phonological awareness (PA) and rapid automatized naming (RAN)-with fMRI technology. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that the cerebellum may contribute to reading either by phonological skills or by automatizing skills. We chose the left and right cerebellum VI as ROIs, and we calculated the intrinsic cerebro-cerebellar functional connectivity during a resting state. We further explored whether and how cerebro-cerebellar resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) is associated with individuals' reading-related skills including PA and RAN. The results showed that the functional connectivity between the left supramarginal gyrus and bilateral cerebellum VI was related to RAN, and the connectivity between the left insula and right cerebellum VI was related to PA. However, the effect of PA did not survive after the RAN was regressed out. Control analyses further confirmed that it was the intrinsic cerebro-cerebellar functional connectivity rather than the local cerebellar functionality that associated with phonological awareness ability and rapid automatized naming ability. For the first time, the relationship between cerebro-cerebellar resting state functional connectivity and specific reading-related skills has been explored, and this has deepened our understanding of the way the cerebellum VI is involved in reading.

Keywords: cerebellum VI; fMRI; phonological awareness; rapid automatized naming; resting state functional connectivity.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
The location of ROIs. (A) The coordinate of the left cerebellum VI is [–22, –68, –20] and the right cerebellum VI is [24, –66, –24]. (B) The location of control ROI. The right cerebellum V [6, –64, –10], a motion-related region, is used for a control analysis.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Significant correlation between cerebro-cerebellar functional connectivity and PA/RAN. (A) Functional connectivity between left cerebellum VI and left SMG was positively correlated with RAN. (B) Functional connectivity between right cerebellum VI and left INS was positively correlated with PA. (C) Functional connectivity between right cerebellum VI and left SMG was positively correlated with RAN under a loose threshold. L.SMG, the left supramarginal gyrus; L.INS, the left insula; RAN, rapid automatized naming; PA, phonological awareness.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
(A) The correlations between ALFF intensity in the cerebellum and reading-related skills. (B) The correlations between cerebellum V–cerebrum RSFC and the reading-related skills. L.SMG, the left supramarginal gyrus; L.INS, the left insula; RAN, rapid automatized naming; PA, phonological awareness; RSFC, resting state functional connectivity. The p value in the picture is the uncorrected p value.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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