The Science Matters: Language, Reading, & Brain John Gabrieli - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The Science Matters: Language, Reading, & Brain

John Gabrieli Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences & Martinos Imaging Center at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT

The Science Matters: Language, Reading, & Brain

• Home Language & Brain
• Supporting Early Reading for At-Risk Children
• New Synergy: Reading, Equity, and Education

VARIABLE EARLY EXPOSURE TO LANGUAGE

• Hart & Risley (1995) - record each month for 2.5 years
• ne full hour of every word spoken at home between

parent and child in 42 families, categorized as professional, working class, or welfare families (SES) - code and analyze every utterance in 1,318 transcripts - 30,000 pages Key findings

• variation in children’s IQ and language ability

related to amount parents speak to children

• children’s academic success at ages 9-10 related

to amount of talk heard at ages 0-3

30 Million Word Gap

Early Language Experience

Great variability in language exposure within SES groups

(LENA Natural Language Study, 2006)

Quantity & Quality of Language Experience

• Quantity -- words heard
• Quality
• - child-directed speech
• - conversational turns

“serve-and-volley” talking

LENA = Language ENvironment Analysis

• Small, child-worn recorder than can hold a whole day’s worth of audio (≥16 hours)
• Software automatically analyzes recordings and determines:
• How many “adult words” the child heard
• How many “child vocalizations” the child said
• How many “conversational turns” occurred between the child and any adult

SES “gaps” in Vocabulary & Words Heard

n = 60 children ages 4-6 years

Romeo et al., SfN 2016

Neuroimaging

grey matter structure (MRI) white matter structure (DTI) grey matter function (fMRI)

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) of Language Comprehension

• Forward Speech (stories)

comprehensible

• Backward Speech

incomprehensible, similar perception Forward > Backward Speech

• across all children
• varies with language experience

Language Areas of the Human Brain

Language Exposure and the Brain

z =

Romeo et al., Cerebral Cortex, 2018

More Conversational Turns Correlated with Greater Activation in Broca’s area (pars triangularis + pars opercularis

Language Exposure and the Brain

z =

Romeo et al., Cerebral Cortex 2018

statistical controls

SES nonverbal cognitive abilities all three verbal abilities

Language Exposure and the Brain

z =

Romeo et al., Cerebral Cortex 2018

two girls; same age; same SES different # of conversational turns

1200/day 600/day

Grey Matter = Cell Bodies White Matter = Myelinated Axons

WHITE MATTER OF THE HUMAN BRAIN

Ture, 2000

Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)

• visualizes white matter connectivity

in the brain

• measures movement of water at

microstructural level (microns)

Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) – Tractography

red = left-right; blue = up-down; green = front-back

Left Arcuate Fasciculus

Language Exposure and the Brain

More Conversational Turns & Greater Structural Connectivity in Left Arcuate Fasciculus

Romeo et al., Journal of Neuroscience, 2018

Language Exposure and the Brain

More Conversational Turns & Greater Structural Connectivity in Left Arcuate Fasciculus

Romeo et al., Journal of Neuroscience, 2018

The Science Matters: Language, Reading, & Brain

• Home Language & Brain
• Supporting Early Reading for At-Risk Children
• New Synergy: Reading, Equity, and Education

Interventions Work for Some Children, but not for all Children

Improvement +

• …………..

average

Summer Intervention with Seeing Stars (Lindamood-Bell)

• 65 1st and 2nd graders with reading disability (RD)
• 40 - 6 weeks/100 hours small group intervention
• 25 - waiting-list controls
• diverse socioeconomic status (SES)
• parental income, education, occupation
• structural brain imaging before and after

Romeo et al., Cerebral Cortex, 2018

About Half of Children Responded to Intervention

About Half of Children Responded to Intervention & Most of Those Were Lower SES

MRI – Lateral Views

Cortical Thickness Analysis

Only Effective Intervention Changes Brain Anatomy

Effective Intervention Ineffective Intervention No Intervention Control

The Science Matters: Language, Reading, & Brain

• Home Language & Brain
• Supporting Early Reading for At-Risk Children
• New Synergy: Reading, Equity, and Education

START LINE FOR READING

Reading for All Children

• Early Reading – Decoding Essential
• Supports for Decoding are most

effective in young children (K-1st grade) – not waiting for failure

• Supports for Decoding must be

intensive, small group, and in addition to other curriculum

• Similar support needed for dyslexia

and for lesser environmental support

Reading for All Children

• identify children at high risk before or

early in reading (K-1st)

• intensive summer support (100 hours)
• science evaluation before and after the

support – what works and for whom?

Accelerated Summer Program for Early Reading: Science & Education

Science Characterization Intervention – Targeted, Intensive, Personalized Science Evaluation

Reading for All Children

• identify children at high risk before or

early in reading (K-1st)

• intensive summer support (100 hours)
• science evaluation before and after the

support – what works and for whom?

• summer 2019 partnerships with MA

Dept of Elementary and Secondary Education & Cambridge Public Schools

The Science Matters: Language, Reading, & Brain

• Home Language & Brain

more conversational turns help grow brain structure and function for all SES

• Supporting Early Reading for At-Risk Children

summer program supports reading in at-risk children, especially from lower SES families

• New Synergy: Reading, Equity, and Education

partnership between science & public schools for summer programs in 2019 – more partners wanted