Abstract
An adverse relationship between screen exposure time and brain functional/structural connectivity was reported in typically developing children, specifically related to neurobiological correlates of reading ability. As children with reading difficulties (RD) suffer from impairments in reading and executive functions (EF), we sought to determine the association between the ratio of screen time duration to reading time duration and functional connectivity of EF networks to the entire brain in children with RD compared to typical readers (TRs) using resting state data. Screen/reading time ratio was related to reduced reading and EF abilities. A larger screen/reading time ratio was correlated with increased functional connectivity between the salience network and frontal-EF regions in children with RD compared to TRs. We suggest that whereas greater screen/reading time ratio is related to excessive stimulation of the visual processing system in TRs, it may be related to decreased efficiency of the cognitive control system in RDs.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 681-692 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Child Psychiatry and Human Development |
| Volume | 52 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 2021 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2020, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
Funding
This study was supported by an NICHD Grant (RO1 HD086011, PI: Horowitz-Kraus).
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| National Institute of Child Health and Human Development | R01HD086011 |
| Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development |
Keywords
- Cognitive control
- Dyslexia
- Functional connectivity
- Reading ability
- Resting state
- Screen exposure
