PhD Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus | Can the country road get us home faster than the highway? Triggering cognitive control to improve reading and language in children: Evidence using fMRI and EEG

We aimed to pinpoint the role of cognitive control in two main communication-related abilities in children: language and reading. We used executive functions (EF)-based reading and language interventions to determine the effects on neural circuits supporting language, and reading in 4-12 year-old children using fMRI and EEG. Results showed improved EFs, linguistic and reading abilities, and indicated greater functional connectivity between brain regions associated with EF and visual processing during reading, as well as during resting-state. In the younger age group, greater attention- and inhibition-related ERPs were observed following the training. The importance of EFs in reading development and their role in both developmental disorders (such as dyslexia) and typical developing children will be discussed.