Neurosci Biobehav Rev︱ Hongyan Bi's research group reveals similarities and differences in neural mechanisms of dyslexia children with different writing systems

Author ︱ Li Yizhen editor in charge ︱ Wang Sizhen From 2014 to 2022, "National Reading" has been included in the government work report nine times in a row, however, there is such a group of "can't read" in the world: developmental dyslexia ( developmental dyslexia, DD)
.

They receive a normal education, have a normal IQ, do not have any neurological disease or audio-visual problems, but still have special difficulties in learning reading skills [1]
.

DD exists in all languages ​​and affects 5%-17.
5% of school-age children in Western countries [2] and 4%-9% of school-age children in China [3]
.

Figure 1 Dyslexia (Source: Kimel E & Asissar M, Frontiers for Young Minds, 2020) Different writing systems have different characteristics
.

For example, alphabetic languages ​​have clear letter-sound correspondence rules; while Chinese does not have spelling rules like alphabetic languages, but one glyph corresponds to one syllable and semantics, and has unique two-dimensional spatial visual features [4]
.

The process of learning to read continuously remodels the visual and speech functional areas of the brain, especially in children (Fig.
2), and as a result, children with DD display abnormalities in the corresponding areas of the brain
.

So, do and how the neural mechanisms of alphabetic and Chinese DD children exhibit cross-language consistency and specificity? The current cross-language studies are few and the results are inconsistent, which may be related to the small sample size and diverse analysis methods of previous studies
.

Figure 2 The reading brain (Source: Dehaene et al.
, Nat Revs Neurosci, 2015) Recently, Bi Hongyan's research group from the Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences published a paper entitled "Comparative research on neural dysfunction in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews" Children with dyslexia under different writing systems: A meta-analysis study", which aims to study the common and specific neural mechanisms of alphabetic language and Chinese dyslexia children
.

Using the signed differential mapping (SDM) meta-analysis method, the study included functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of 22 alphabetic language DD children and 10 Chinese DD children during reading or reading-related tasks.
) study, firstly investigated the respective neural mechanisms of alphabetic language and Chinese DD children, and secondly investigated the common and specific neural mechanisms of the two, and used meta-analytic connectivity modeling (MACM) and behavioral data elements in healthy people.
Analytical methods further explored the nature of abnormal brain regions
.

 The meta-analysis found that the activation of the left inferior frontal cortex (IFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in alphabetic language and Chinese DD children was attenuated (Fig.
3A).
MACM found that ACC and IFC have functions Meta-analysis of connectivity, behavioral data found that both brain regions tended to activate during attentional tasks
.

This suggests that children with DD of different writing systems share common attention-related brain dysfunction
.

In addition, the study also found that the activation of the left occipitotemporal area (visual word form area and middle temporal gyrus) and the inferior parietal lobe was decreased in alphabetic language DD children (Fig.
3A); In the lateral middle temporal gyrus, the activation of the left rectal gyrus was enhanced (Fig.
3B)
.

This indicates that children with DD of different writing systems have specific brain function abnormalities related to the characteristics of their respective writing systems
.

Figure 3 A Chinese and alphabetic language dyslexic children and their common weak activation, B Chinese dyslexic children's overactivation (Source: Li Y, Bi HY, Neurosci Biobehav Rev, 2022) Conclusion and discussion, inspiration and prospect The findings suggest both consistent and specific mechanisms of neural deficits in children with developmental dyslexia (DD) across different writing systems
.

For the first time, research has uncovered a common neurological deficit related to attention in children with DD across languages
.

This provides a new idea for the cross-language model of DD, that is, children with DD in different languages ​​may have common attention deficits
.

In addition, the study provides a basis for future interventions on the prevalence of DD, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, transcranial electrical stimulation to anchor the left subfrontal cortex, anterior cingulate gyrus brain regions, and improve attention when reading DD.

.

Of course, the study also found the specificity of the neural mechanisms of children with DD in different writing systems, which may be related to the characteristics of different languages, providing a further in-depth understanding of the neural mechanisms of children with DD in different writing systems
.

Link to the original text: https://doi.
org/10.
1016/j.
neubiorev.
2022.
104650 This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31671155)
.

Corresponding author Bi Hongyan (Photo provided by: Bi Hongyan Laboratory, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences) Talent recruitment The research group of Chen Tao/Li Yunqing/Zhuo Min collaborated to reveal the synapses and molecular mechanisms of pain empathy【2】Transl Psychiatry︱Li Yan/Zhang Jie’s team used transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation for the first time in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in school-aged children【2】 3] Aging Cell Review︱ Zhang Hong/Chen Yingzhi/Tian Mei Collaborated to review the mechanism of gut microbiota regulating microglia function in cognitive aging [4] Front Cell Neurosci Review︱Microglia: ischemic stroke The hub of intercellular communication【5】Review of Trends Neurosci︱Research progress on biological clock and blood glucose circadian rhythm【6】Front Aging Neurosci︱Sun Tao’s research group proposed a new protocol for 11C-PiB-PET imaging for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease【6 ] Review of Front Aging Neurosci︱The double-edged sword role of astrocytes in the neurovascular unit after cerebral ischemia[8]HBM︱Region-based spatial standardization method of brain MRI images to achieve accurate registration of brain regions[9] ] J Neuroinflammation︱ Ying Peng's group reveals the regulatory role of microglia mitophagy in morphine-induced central nervous system inflammatory inhibition [10] Curr Biol︱ Novelty detection and surprise and recency in the primate brain Relevant high-quality scientific research training courses recommended [1] Symposium on Patch Clamp and Optogenetics and Calcium Imaging Technology May 21-22 Tencent Conference References (swipe up and down to read) 1, World Health Organization.
International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems-10th Revision.
4th ed.
Geneva: World Health Organization Press, 2011.
2, Shaywitz SE, Shaywitz BA.
Dyslexia (specific reading disability).
Biological psychiatry, 2005, 57(11): 1301 - 1309.
3, Zhang Chengfen, Zhang Jinghuan, Yin Rongsheng, Zhou Jing, Chang Shumin.
A study on Chinese reading difficulties of Chinese students.
Psychological Science, 1996, 19(4): 222–226.
4, Li X, Huang L, Yao P & Hyönä J.
Universal and specific reading mechanisms across different writing systems.
Nature Reviews Psychology, Edition 2022︱Sizhen Wang End of this article