John Hutton|Tzipi Horowitz?Kraus|Alan L. Mendelsohn|Tom DeWitt|Scott K. Holland
Home Reading Environment and Brain Activation in Preschool Children Listening to Stories
Community Medical Center|Bellevue Hospital Center|New York University|Community Medical Center|Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
parentchild reading widely advocated promote cognitive development including recommendations american academy pediatrics begin practice birth although parentchild reading shown behavioral studies improve oral language print concepts quantifiable effects brain previously studied study used blood oxygen leveldependent functional magnetic resonance imaging examine relationship home reading environment brain activity story listening task sample preschoolage children hypothesized listening stories children greater home reading exposure would exhibit higher activation leftsided brain regions involved semantic processing extraction meaningnineteen 3 5yearold children selected longitudinal study normal brain development completed blood oxygen leveldependent functional magnetic resonance imaging using ageappropriate story listening task narrative alternated tones performed series wholebrain regression analyses applying composite subscale individual readingrelated items validated stimqp measure home cognitive environment explanatory variables neural activationhigher reading exposure stimqp reading subscale score positively correlated p 05 corrected neural activation leftsided parietaltemporaloccipital association cortex hub region supporting semantic language processing controlling household incomein preschool children listening stories greater home reading exposure positively associated activation brain areas supporting mental imagery narrative comprehension controlling household income neural biomarkers may help inform ecobiodevelopmental models emergent literacy