Arithmetic in the signing brain: Differences and similarities in arithmetic processing between deaf signers and hearing non-signers.

Deaf signers and hearing non-signers have previously been shown to recruit partially different brain regions during simple arithmetic. In light of the triple code model, the differences were interpreted as relating to stronger recruitment of the verbal system of numerical processing, that is, left angular and inferior frontal gyrus, in hearing non-signers, and of the quantity system of numerical processing, that is, right horizontal intraparietal sulcus, for deaf signers. The main aim of the present study was to better understand similarities and differences in the neural correlates supporting arithmetic in deaf compared to hearing individuals. Twenty-nine adult deaf signers and 29 hearing non-signers were enrolled in an functional magnetic resonance imaging study of simple and difficult subtraction and multiplication. Brain imaging data were analyzed using whole-brain analysis, region of interest analysis, and functional connectivity analysis. Although the groups were matched on age, gender, and nonverbal intelligence, the deaf group performed generally poorer than the hearing group in arithmetic. Nevertheless, we found generally similar networks to be involved for both groups, the only exception being the involvement of the left inferior frontal gyrus. This region was activated significantly stronger for the hearing compared to the deaf group but showed stronger functional connectivity with the left superior temporal gyrus in the deaf, compared to the hearing, group. These results lend no support to increased recruitment of the quantity system in deaf signers. Perhaps the reason for performance differences is to be found in other brain regions not included in the original triple code model.

Effects of a phonics intervention in a randomized controlled study in Swedish second-grade students at risk of reading difficulties.

Teaching phoneme awareness to children at risk for early reading difficulties has been recognized as successful in several studies. In this randomized controlled trial (RCT)-study, we add to this research by optimizing core procedural as well as teaching components in a phonics-directed intervention and extend the RCT reading intervention research into a semi-transparent language context. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of a novel Swedish intensive phonics program. This randomized controlled pre-test and post-test intervention study targeted second-grade students with early reading difficulties. Students were identified by a repeated screening procedure and allocated to intervention (n = 34) and control (n = 34) conditions. A 9-week intensive phonics-based program was administrated one-to-one, by special education teachers in Swedish mainstream elementary schools. Results show an improvement in the intervention group, compared with the controls on all outcome measures. Findings indicate that the supplementary phonics program, delivered with high intensity, can significantly increase word reading skills and reading comprehension in second-grade students with early reading difficulties.

Predicting Later Spelling from Kindergarten Spelling in U.S., Australian, and Swedish Children.

Purpose: Using data from 1,868 children from the US, Australia, and Sweden who took a 10-word spelling test in kindergarten and a standardized spelling test in Grades 1, 2, and (except for the Australian children) Grade 4, we examined two questions. First, does the quality of a child's errors on the kindergarten test help predict later spelling performance even after controlling for the number of correct responses on the kindergarten test? Second, does spelling develop at a faster pace in Swedish than in English? Method: We measured kindergarten error quality based on the number of letter additions, deletions, and substitutions needed to transform each error into the correct spelling. Using mixed-model analyses, we examined the relationship of this and other variables to later spelling performance. Results: Kindergarten error quality contributed significantly to the prediction of later spelling performance even after consideration of the number of correct spellings in kindergarten and other relevant variables. The Swedish children showed more rapid growth in spelling than the U.S. and Australian children, a difference that may reflect the greater transparency of spelling-to-sound links in Swedish. Conclusion: Information from a spelling test that is typically discarded-information about the nature of the errors-has value.

Arithmetic in the adult deaf signing brain.

We have previously shown that deaf signers recruit partially different brain regions during simple arithmetic compared to a group of hearing non-signers, despite similar performance. Specifically, hearing individuals show more widespread activation in brain areas that have been related to the verbal system of numerical processing, i.e., the left angular and inferior frontal gyrus, whereas deaf individuals engaged brain areas that have been related to the quantity system of numerical processing, i.e., the right horizontal intraparietal sulcus. This indicates that compared to hearing non-signers, deaf signers can successfully make use of processes located in partially different brain areas during simple arithmetic. In this study, which is a conceptual replication and extension of the above-presented study, the main aim is to understand similarities and differences in neural correlates supporting arithmetic in deaf compared to hearing individuals. The primary objective is to investigate the role of the right horizontal intraparietal gyrus, the left inferior frontal gyrus, the hippocampus, and the left angular gyrus during simple and difficult arithmetic and how these regions are connected to each other. A second objective is to explore what other brain regions support arithmetic in deaf signers. Up to 34 adult deaf signers and the same amount of hearing non-signers will be enrolled in an functional magnetic resonance imaging study that will include simple and difficult subtraction and multiplication. Brain imaging data will be analyzed using whole-brain analysis, region of interest analysis and connectivity analysis. This is the first study to investigate neural underpinnings of arithmetic of different difficulties in deaf individuals.

A retrospective longitudinal study of cognitive and language skills in poor reading comprehension.

Fifty-six specific poor reading comprehenders (SPRC) were selected in Grade 4 and retrospectively compared to good comprehenders at preschool (age 5) and at the end of kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 2. The results revealed deficits in vocabulary, grammar, verbal memory and early deficits in phonological awareness in most of the SPRC sample, beginning in preschool. The reading comprehension deficits in children with SPRC were not as marked in earlier assessments in Grade 1 and 2, probably because of the greater dependence on word decoding in reading comprehension in the early grades.

Geometry in the brain optimized for sign language - A unique role of the anterior superior parietal lobule in deaf signers.

Geometry has been identified as a cognitive domain where deaf individuals exhibit relative strength, yet the neural mechanisms underlying geometry processing in this population remain poorly understood. This fMRI study aimed to investigate the neural correlates of geometry processing in deaf and hearing individuals. Twenty-two adult deaf signers and 25 hearing non-signers completed a geometry decision task. We found no group differences in performance, while there were some differences in parietal activation. As expected, the posterior superior parietal lobule (SPL) was recruited for both groups. The anterior SPL was significantly more activated in the deaf group, and the inferior parietal lobule was significantly more deactivated in the hearing group. In conclusion, despite similar performance across groups, there were differences in the recruitment of parietal regions. These differences may reflect inherent differences in brain organization due to different early sensory and linguistic experiences.

Decoding Abilities in Adolescents with Intellectual Disabilities: The Contribution of Cognition, Language, and Home Literacy.

Decoding abilities in individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) are substantially lower than for typical readers. The underlying mechanisms of their poor reading remain uncertain. The aim of this study was to investigate the concurrent predictors of decoding ability in 136 adolescents with non-specific ID, and to evaluate the results in relation to previous findings on typical readers. The study included a broad range of cognitive and language measures as predictors of decoding ability. A LASSO regression analysis identified phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming (RAN) as the most important predictors. The predictors explained 57.73% of the variance in decoding abilities. These variables are similar to the ones found in earlier research on typically developing children, hence supporting our hypothesis of a delayed rather than a different reading profile. These results lend some support to the use of interventions and reading instructions, originally developed for typically developing children, for children and adolescents with non-specific ID.

Investigating Reading Comprehension in Adolescents with Intellectual Disabilities: Evaluating the Simple View of Reading.

Reading comprehension difficulties are common in individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID), but the influences of underlying abilities related to reading comprehension in this group have rarely been investigated. One aim of this study was to investigate the Simple View of Reading as a theoretical framework to describe cognitive and linguistic abilities predicting individual differences in reading comprehension in adolescents with non-specific ID. A second aim was to investigate whether predictors of listening comprehension and reading comprehension suggest that individuals with ID have a delayed pattern of development (copying early grade variance in reading comprehension) or a different pattern of development involving a new or an unusual pattern of cognitive and linguistic predictors. A sample of 136 adolescents with non-specific ID was assessed on reading comprehension, decoding, linguistic, and cognitive measures. The hypotheses were evaluated using structural equation models. The results showed that the Simple View of Reading was not applicable in explaining reading comprehension in this group, however, the concurrent predictors of comprehension (vocabulary and phonological executive-loaded working memory) followed a delayed profile.

Instruction effects in implicit artificial grammar learning: a preference for grammaticality.

Human implicit learning can be investigated with implicit artificial grammar learning, a paradigm that has been proposed as a simple model for aspects of natural language acquisition. In the present study we compared the typical yes-no grammaticality classification, with yes-no preference classification. In the case of preference instruction no reference to the underlying generative mechanism (i.e., grammar) is needed and the subjects are therefore completely uninformed about an underlying structure in the acquisition material. In experiment 1, subjects engaged in a short-term memory task using only grammatical strings without performance feedback for 5 days. As a result of the 5 acquisition days, classification performance was independent of instruction type and both the preference and the grammaticality group acquired relevant knowledge of the underlying generative mechanism to a similar degree. Changing the grammatical stings to random strings in the acquisition material (experiment 2) resulted in classification being driven by local substring familiarity. Contrasting repeated vs. non-repeated preference classification (experiment 3) showed that the effect of local substring familiarity decreases with repeated classification. This was not the case for repeated grammaticality classifications. We conclude that classification performance is largely independent of instruction type and that forced-choice preference classification is equivalent to the typical grammaticality classification.