Myelin water imaging in children with dyslexia and typically developing children
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1
Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology, Department Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Belgium
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2
Icometrix (Belgium), Belgium
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3
Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Belgium
Developmental dyslexia is a learning disorder characterized by poor reading and/or spelling abilities despite normal intelligence. Recently, several studies have used MRI to investigate dyslexia at the neural level, especially focusing on the role of white matter pathways and structural connectivity. An alternative approach to study white matter is myelin water imaging (MWI), a quantitative MRI method that allows to indirectly assess myelin content in the brain. The main aim of this study is to compare a myelin-specific index known as myelin water fraction (MWF) between dyslexic and normal reading children and to investigate the relationship with cognitive-phonological and perceptual-auditory skills. More specifically, we used MWI in a group of 72 fifth-graders, of whom 25 were classified as dyslexics. We investigated whether MWF is related to reading or various reading-related skills such as phonological awareness and letter knowledge. Moreover, given the role of myelin in maintaining the neural conduction speed, MWF could be an important marker in the context of the temporal auditory processing deficits that sometimes occur in dyslexia. Therefore, we also looked at correlations with auditory processing measures such as rise time and speech-in-noise perception. Overall, the use of myelin-specific imaging might be an important step to gain insight on the neurobiological basis of the dysconnectivity and the neural anomalies that are typically observed in dyslexia.
Lay Summary:
Children with dyslexia often exhibit differences in brain structure and function, however the exact cause is not yet clear. One way to better understand it is by using neuroimaging methods, for example MRI. For this study, we used MRI to investigate myelin in the brains of children with and without dyslexia, in relation to their reading skills. Myelin is a substance necessary for organization and fast processing in the brain, and therefore important for everyday tasks like reading. By studying changes related to myelin, we might be able to explain some of the neural differences seen in dyslexia.
Keywords:
Developmental dyslexia (DD),
Magnetic Resonance Imaging,
Myelin water fraction (MWF),
Myelin water imaging,
Auditory temporal processing
Conference:
Belgian Brain Congress 2018 — Belgian Brain Council, LIEGE, Belgium, 19 Oct - 19 Oct, 2018.
Presentation Type:
e-posters
Topic:
NOVEL STRATEGIES FOR NEUROLOGICAL AND MENTAL DISORDERS: SCIENTIFIC BASIS AND VALUE FOR PATIENT-CENTERED CARE
Citation:
Economou
M,
Phan
T,
Ghesquière
P,
Wouters
J and
Vandermosten
M
(2019). Myelin water imaging in children with dyslexia and typically developing children.
Front. Neurosci.
Conference Abstract:
Belgian Brain Congress 2018 — Belgian Brain Council.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2018.95.00092
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Received:
31 Aug 2018;
Published Online:
17 Jan 2019.
*
Correspondence:
Miss. Maria Economou, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology, Department Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, maria.economou@kuleuven.be