The Neurobiology of Language and Reading Development

What have we found?

• The neural basis of phonological awareness and word reading skills

We are interested in understanding how the neural bases for various linguistic processes are related to reading skills from kindergarten to elementary school years.

The reading rope model (Scarborough, 2001) only demonstrates language skills contributing to subsequent reading comprehension in one direction. But literacy acquisition actually changes the nature of spoken language processing. In our research, we aim to use brain measures to better isolate different linguistic processes and address three questions: 1. Are the neural bases of various linguistic processes reciprocally related to reading skills longitudinally? 2. Are there developmental changes in the brain in this relationship? 3. Are there developmental changes in the linguistic factors contributing to this relationship?

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