Individualized Prediction of Reading Comprehension Ability Using Gray Matter Volume. (10th March 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cui, Zaixu; Su, Mengmeng; Li, Liangjie; Shu, Hua; Gong, Gaolang
• Is Part Of: Cerebral cortex. Volume 28:Number 5(2018)
• Page Start: 1656
• Page End: 1672
• Publication Date: 2017-03-10
• Subjects: cross-validation -- individual difference -- linguistic comprehension -- reading comprehension -- reading decoding; Cerebral cortex -- Periodicals; Brain -- Periodicals; 612.825
• DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhx061
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1047-3211

Abstract

Abstract: Reading comprehension is a crucial reading skill for learning and putatively contains 2 key components: reading decoding and linguistic comprehension. Current understanding of the neural mechanism underlying these reading comprehension components is lacking, and whether and how neuroanatomical features can be used to predict these 2 skills remain largely unexplored. In the present study, we analyzed a large sample from the Human Connectome Project (HCP) dataset and successfully built multivariate predictive models for these 2 skills using whole-brain gray matter volume features. The results showed that these models effectively captured individual differences in these 2 skills and were able to significantly predict these components of reading comprehension for unseen individuals. The strict cross-validation using the HCP cohort and another independent cohort of children demonstrated the model generalizability. The identified gray matter regions contributing to the skill prediction consisted of a wide range of regions covering the putative reading, cerebellum, and subcortical systems. Interestingly, there were gender differences in the predictive models, with the female-specific model overestimating the males' abilities. Moreover, the identified contributing gray matter regions for the female-specific and male-specific models exhibited considerable differences, supporting a gender-dependent neuroanatomical substrate for reading comprehension.