Research Projects Funded by IDA Cerebral Asymmetry and Reading Development Although socioeconomic status is a strong predictor of academic achievement and reading skills, there are individual differences in reading skills that remain unexplained. The availability of MRI has provided the opportunity to move towards a neurobiological understanding of differences in reading and speech performance among children. Work from our lab and others suggest that planum temporale asymmetry predicts oral language impairment and awareness of speech sounds in normal children (Gauger et al., 1997; Leonard et al., 1996; Semrud-Clikeman, 1991; Plante 1990, 1991). However, it is not clear whether brain structure places limits on the development of phonological awareness, reading, and speech production throughout childhood. The primary goals of longitudinal study were to 1) confirm the relationship of children’s phonological awareness to planar asymmetry; and 2) establish if the rate of phonological development can be predicted by planar asymmetry. 39 children from the Alachua County public school system were assessed for their reading skills in kindergarten and 6th grade. Reading performance was related to neuroanatomical measures obtained from a 6th grade MRI. Multiple regression demonstrated a unique and significant contribution of planar asymmetry, hand preference, a planar asymmetry-hand preference interaction, and socioeconomic status to 6th grade reading skill (R=.771, p<.001). The rate of reading skill development was also uniquely predicted by planar asymmetry, hand preference and the interaction between planar asymmetry and hand preference (R=.633, p=<.001). All relationships were strongest for children from low socioeconomic families. The environmental advantages of a high socioeconomic family may compensate for the cognitive disadvantage of a symmetrical planum. The results suggest that children with both environmental and biological risk factors are in danger for reading failure. |