Ms A FUNCTIONAL AND RELATIONAL INVESTIGATION OF DIFFERENCES IN BRAIN REGIONS BASED ON GRAPH ANALYSIS METRICS IN CHILDREN WITH DYSLEXIA
Graph analysis of fMRI data in children with dyslexia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20701652Keywords:
Dyslexia, Correlation Analysis, Graph Analysis, Reading-task, Special EducationAbstract
Purpose: Developmental dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood and is characterized by persistent impairments in reading and writing abilities, despite adequate intellectual functioning and educational opportunities. Investigating the topological properties of functional brain networks in dyslexia can provide valuable insights into its underlying neural mechanisms.
Method: In this study, three groups were compared: children with primary dyslexia diagnosis (Dys, n=25), children with dyslexia who received education (EDys, n=24), and healthy children (HC, n=25). Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were acquired from all participants during both resting-state and continuous reading tasks. The data were preprocessed using FSL software, and graph-theoretical network analysis was conducted using the GRETNA toolbox. Nodal-level graph metrics, including degree centrality, betweenness centrality, nodal efficiency, nodal local efficiency, and nodal clustering coefficient, were computed. Functional differences between the resting state and the reading task within each group were examined and correlation analysis between the metrics was performed both across groups and within each group for both conditions.
Results: As a result of the graph analysis, significant differences across multiple metrics between conditions were identified in the right superior frontal gyrus, right superior parietal lobule, and right cerebellum in the Dys group. In the EDys group, multiple metric differences were observed in the left angular gyrus and the right superior temporal pole, whereas in the HC group, such differences were found in the right calcarine cortex and the left fusiform gyrus. Correlation analysis related to the reading task revealed a higher number of significant correlations among metrics in the EDys and HC groups.
Conclusion: These findings reveal the neurofunctional differences in brain activity that emerge in response to the reading task and also contribute to the understanding of the neural mechanisms associated with dyslexia.
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