ArticleNeuroImage2021
Neurite density and arborization is associated with reading skill and phonological processing in children.
Article in NeuroImage, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Heritable and experience-dependent cortical traits of reading ability.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2026Article
- Short-Term Developmental Trajectories of Dorsal-Ventral Pathways and Their Relationships with First-Grade Learning.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Structural Brain Correlates of Poor Reading Comprehension.Neurobiology of language (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2026Article
- Eye blinks synchronize with musical beats during music listening.PLoS biology · 2025Article
- White Matter Networks of Phonological Awareness in Chinese Readers.Brain and behavior · 2025Article
- Mediational effects of reading-related intermediate phenotypes from polygenic scores to reading skills.NPJ science of learning · 2025Article
- Twin differences in lateral ventricle size accompany twin differences in phonological decoding.Brain structure & function · 2025Article
- Reading and White Matter Development: A Systematic Review of Neuroplastic Changes in Literacy.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Phonological decoding ability is associated with fiber density of the left arcuate fasciculus longitudinally across reading development.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2025Article
- Construction and Validation of a Machine Learning-Based Risk Prediction Model for Sleep Quality in Patients with OSA [Letter].Nature and science of sleep · 2025Article
- Investigating Dyslexia through Diffusion Tensor Imaging across Ages: A Systematic Review.Brain sciences · 2024Review
- White matter microstructural plasticity associated with educational intervention in reading disability.Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2024Article
- Fiber-specific structural properties relate to reading skills in children and adolescents.eLife · 2022Article
- Widespread effects of dMRI data quality on diffusion measures in children.Human brain mapping · 2022Article
- Structural brain network topological alterations in stuttering adults.Brain communications · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundStudies exploring neuroanatomic correlates of reading have associated white matter tissue properties with reading disability and related componential skills (e.g., phonological and single-word reading skills). Mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA) are widely used surrogate measures of tissue microstructure with high sensitivity; however, they lack specificity for individual microstructural features. Here we investigated neurite features with higher specificity in order to explore the underlying microstructural architecture.
methodsDiffusion weighted images (DWI) and a battery of behavioral and neuropsychological assessments were obtained from 412 children (6 - 16 years of age). Neurite indices influenced by orientation and density were attained from 23 major white matter tracts. Partial correlations were calculated between neurite indices and indicators of phonological processing and single-word reading skills using age, sex, and image quality metrics as covariates. In addition, mediation analysis was performed using structural equation modeling (SEM) to evaluate the indirect effect of phonological processing on reading skills.
resultsWe observed that orientation dispersion index (ODI) and neurite density index (NDI) were negatively correlated with single-word reading and phonological processing skills in several tracts previously shown to have structural correlates with reading efficiency. We also observed a significant and substantial effect in which phonological processing mediated the relationship between neurite indices and reading skills in most tracts.
conclusionsIn sum, we established that better reading and phonological processing skills are associated with greater tract coherence (lower ODI) and lower neurite density (lower NDI). We interpret these findings as evidence that reading is associated with neural architecture and its efficiency.
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