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Review
. 2021 Dec 20:12:726882.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.726882. eCollection 2021.

How Learning to Read Changes the Listening Brain

Linda Romanovska  1 , Milene Bonte  1
Affiliations
Review

How Learning to Read Changes the Listening Brain

Linda Romanovska et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Reading acquisition reorganizes existing brain networks for speech and visual processing to form novel audio-visual language representations. This requires substantial cortical plasticity that is reflected in changes in brain activation and functional as well as structural connectivity between brain areas. The extent to which a child's brain can accommodate these changes may underlie the high variability in reading outcome in both typical and dyslexic readers. In this review, we focus on reading-induced functional changes of the dorsal speech network in particular and discuss how its reciprocal interactions with the ventral reading network contributes to reading outcome. We discuss how the dynamic and intertwined development of both reading networks may be best captured by approaching reading from a skill learning perspective, using audio-visual learning paradigms and longitudinal designs to follow neuro-behavioral changes while children's reading skills unfold.

Keywords: audio-visual plasticity; dorsal and ventral reading networks; dyslexia; reading development; reading-induced plasticity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A representation of the dorsal (green) and ventral (pink) reading networks of the brain’s audio-visual reading network. IFG: inferior frontal gyrus; IPL: inferior parietal lobe; STG: superior temporal gyrus; STS: superior temporal sulcus; vOTC: ventral occipito-temporal cortex; pSTC: posterior superior temporal cortex; HG: Heschl’s gyrus; PT: planum temporale.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Areas where reduced cortical activation has been reported in readers with dyslexia alongside frequently observed differences in functional (white lines) and structural (light blue lines) connectivity between readers with and without dyslexia. IFG: inferior frontal gyrus; IPL: inferior parietal lobe; STG: superior temporal gyrus; vOTC: ventral occipito-temporal cortex; LSS: letter-speech sound.
Figure 3
Figure 3
A representation of the relative dorsal (green) and ventral (pink) cortical reading network contribution over the course of reading development.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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