Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32410968›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in human neuroscience2020

Decreased Functional Connectivity Between the Left Amygdala and Frontal Regions Interferes With Reading, Emotional, and Executive Functions in Children With Reading Difficulties.

Ohad Nachshon, Rola Farah, Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in human neuroscience, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 26% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Ohad NachshonEducational Neuroimaging Center, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
Rola FarahEducational Neuroimaging Center, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
Tzipi Horowitz-KrausEducational Neuroimaging Center, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
Technion – Israel Institute of Technology · ILCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center · US

Funding

The role of executive functions in reading and reading remediationR01HD086011 · NICHD · HUGO W. MOSER RES INST KENNEDY KRIEGER · PI HOROWITZ-KRAUS, TZIPI · 2016 to 2020
$2.5M
NICHD NIH HHS R01 HD086011
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionDyslexia is a reading disorder characterized by significant difficulty in reading, as well as reports of altered executive functions (EF). Children with reading difficulties (RD) experience a broad range of social and emotional problems. Recently it was suggested that children with RD have altered functional connections within the amygdala, which is related to emotional processing. Altered brain laterality related to reading was previously reported in children with RD. Hence, we sought to determine the differences in functional connectivity between the right and left emotional network as related to emotional challenges and the other reported difficulties in reading and EF in children with RD compared to typical readers.

methodsSixty-four 8 to 12 year old children, 27 children with RD and 37 age-matched typical readers, participated in the study. Reading, emotional, and EF abilities were assessed. Global efficiency of the emotional network was calculated and compared between the groups, and left vs. right functional connectivity of the amygdala was tested using the CONN toolbox. Functional connectivity measures were then associated with measures of reading, emotional, and EF abilities.

resultsChildren with RD showed significantly decreased emotional and EF abilities compared to typical readers. A negative correlation between reading, emotional, and EF abilities was determined in both groups. Neuroimaging results showed decreased global efficiency measures within the emotional network in children with RD, who also showed lower functional connectivity between the amygdala and the left and right frontal pole regions. Results also indicated increased functional connectivity of the right vs. left amygdala with left and right pre-central and post-central gyri regions, which were related to decreased reading, emotional, and EF abilities in both typical readers and children with RD.

conclusionThe positive relationship between EF and emotional abilities in children with RD strengthens the relationship between EF difficulties and emotional stress, which in turn may lower EF abilities (monitoring, inhibition, and attention) as well as decreased reading abilities. The emotional challenges in children with RD were associated with decreased functional connectivity of the left amygdala with pre/post central gyrus and cognitive-control regions. These findings suggest that although the right hemisphere is thought to be related to emotional stress, it was the decreased control of the left hemisphere that was related to emotional disturbance in children with RD.

Indexed as

anxietyemotional stateexecutive functionsfunctional connectivityreadingreading difficultiesreading taskresting state

Identifiers

PMID32410968
PMCPMC7198704
OpenAlexW3022879874

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.