Project IV — Magnetic Source Imaging (MSI)

Principal Investigator

Dr. Andrew C. Papanicolaou, Center for Clinical Neurosciences, Children’s Learning Instutute, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Additional Investigators

Dr. Shirin Sarkari, Center for Clinical Neurosciences, Children’s Learning Instutute, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Dr. Rebecca Billingsley-Marshall, Center for Clinical Neurosciences, Children’s Learning Instutute, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Dr. Jack M. Fletcher, University of Houston

Description of the Project

Project IV (MSI) proposes the use of magnetic source imaging, to evaluate the neural correlates of reading and reading intervention in children at risk for or with identified learning disabilities involving reading. This objective will be completed in relation to specific features of the brain activation profiles associated with different subtypes of poor readers based on the Reading Components model in Project I (Classification) and with adequate and inadequate response to different interventions in Projects II (Early Intervention) and III (Remediation).


In a series of functional imaging studies using MSI, we have shown that

  1. there exists a profile of brain activation recognizable at the single subject level, specific to a number of reading tasks;
  2. children with dyslexia (defined as a word level reading disorder) produce a distinctly different activation profile when engaged in these same tasks, also recognizable at the single subject level;
  3. that the profile is specific to dyslexia and not to the usual comorbidities (e.g., attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and associated disorders (e.g., math difficulties); and
  4. that the profile changes as a result of successful reading interventions.

To extend this research, we propose identify differences in the aberrant profiles specific to different subtypes of reading disabled children. Specifically, we will examine how activation profiles associated with various reading tasks that make different demands on reading component processes may vary for different reading disability subtypes. We will also establish task-specific features of brain activation profiles associated with adequate or inadequate response to instructional remediation, and discern small profile differences contingent on the precise nature and decoding demands of several reading tasks.


Finally, we will examine task-specific changes in the brain activation profiles associated with adequate and inadequate response to intensive instructional remediation in children who initially failed to benefit from Tier II intervention in order to assess the degree of normalization vs. compensation in the aberrant profiles of younger and older students after further, more intense Tier III intervention. To accomplish these aims we will make use of recently developed and validated objective and computerized methods for constructing functional brain images on the basis of non-invasive MSI recordings that facilitate disengagement of minute profile differences on averaged and individual subject data.


Project IV (MSI) proposes a systematic investigation of different brain profiles that vary with the classification of subtypes of reading disabilities and in relation to intervention that is closely linked with the other projects in this Center.

Population/Participants

Utilizes students from Projects II and III

Sites

Elementary and middle schools in Houston and Austin

Timeline

2006–2011

Findings/Publications

Research is ongoing.