Working-memory training improves developmental dyslexia in Chinese children

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.05.009

Abstract

Abstract:

Although plasticity in the neural system underlies working memory, and working memory can be improved by training, there is thus far no evidence that children with developmental dyslexia can benefit from working-memory training. In the present study, thirty dyslexic children aged 8–11 years were recruited from an elementary school in Wuhan, China. They received working-memory training, including training in visuospatial memory, verbal memory, and central executive tasks. The difficulty of the tasks was adjusted based on the performance of each subject, and the training sessions lasted 40 minutes per day, for 5 weeks. The results showed that working-memory training significantly enhanced performance on the nontrained working memory tasks such as the visuospatial, the verbal domains, and central executive tasks in children with developmental dyslexia. More importantly, the visual rhyming task and reading fluency task were also significantly improved by training. Progress on working memory measures was related to changes in reading skills. These experimental findings indicate that working memory is a pivotal factor in reading development among children with developmental dyslexia, and interventions to improve working memory may help dyslexic children to become more proficient in reading.

Key words: neural regeneration, neurorehabilitation, developmental dyslexia, working memory, training, visuospatial memory, verbal memory, central executive task, visual rhyming task, reading fluency task, Chinese children, brain function, grants-supported paper, photographs-containing paper, neuroregeneration

Yan Luo, Jing Wang, Hanrong Wu, Dongmei Zhu, Yu Zhang. Working-memory training improves developmental dyslexia in Chinese children[J]. Neural Regeneration Research, 2013, 8(5): 452-460.

References

[1] Schlaggar BL, McCandliss BD. Development of neural systems for reading. Annu Rev Neurosci. 2007;30: 475-503.

[2] Zhu D, Wang J, Wu H. Working memory function in Chinese dyslexic children: a near-infrared spectroscopy study. J Huazhong Univ Sci Technolog Med Sci. 2012; 32(1):141-145.

[3] Eden GF, Jones KM, Cappell K, et al. Neural changes following remediation in adult developmental dyslexia. Neuron. 2004;44(3):411-422.

[4] Spironelli C, Penolazzi B, Vio C, et al. Cortical reorganization in dyslexic children after phonological training: evidence from early evoked potentials. Brain. 2010;133(11):3385-3395.

[5] Al Otaiba S, Fuchs D. Who are the young children for whom best practices in reading are ineffective? An experimental and longitudinal study. J Learn Disabil. 2006; 39(5):414-431.

[6] Beneventi H, Tønnessen FE, Ersland L. Dyslexic children show short-term memory deficits in phonological storage and serial rehearsal: an fMRI study. Int J Neurosci. 2009; 119(11):2017-2043.

[7] Wang JJ, Bi HY, Gao LQ, et al. The visual magnocellular pathway in Chinese-speaking children with developmental dyslexia. Neuropsychologia. 2010;48(12):3627-3633.

[8] Cohen-Mimran R, Sapir S. Deficits in working memory in young adults with reading disabilities. J Commun Disord. 2007;40(2):168-183.

[9] Zhu DM, Wang J, Wu HR. Switch dysfunction in developmental dyslexia: a study with Chinese children. Zhongguo Ertong Baojian Zazhi. 2011;19(3):207-209.

[10] Berninger VW, Raskind W, Richards T, et al. A multidisciplinary approach to understanding developmental dyslexia within working-memory architecture: genotypes, phenotypes, brain, and instruction. Dev Neuropsychol. 2008;33(6):707-744.

[11] Klingberg T, Forssberg H, Westerberg H. Training of working memory in children with ADHD. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 2002;24(6):781-791.

[12] Klingberg T, Fernell E, Olesen PJ, et al. Computerized training of working memory in children with ADHD--a randomized, controlled trial. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2005;44(2):177-186.

[13] Holmes J, Gathercole SE, Dunning DL. Adaptive training leads to sustained enhancement of poor working memory in children. Dev Sci. 2009;12(4):F9-15.

[14] Klingberg T. Training and plasticity of working memory. Trends Cogn Sci. 2010;14(7):317-324.

[15] Shiran A, Breznitz Z. The effect of cognitive training on recall range and speed of information processing in the working memory of dyslexic and skilled readers. J Neurolinguistics. 2011;24(5):524-537.

[16] Jaeggi SM, Buschkuehl M, Jonides J, et al. Improving fluid intelligence with training on working memory. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008;105(19):6829-6833.

[17] Dahlin KI. Effects of working memory training on reading in children with special needs. Read Writ. 2011;24(4): 479-491.

[18] Thorell LB. Do delay aversion and executive function deficits make distinct contributions to the functional impact of ADHD symptoms? A study of early academic skill deficits. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2007;48(11): 1061-1070.

[19] Gathercole SE, Pickering SJ. Assessment of working memory in six and seven year-old children. J Educ Psychol. 2000;92(2):377-390.

[20] Morra S. Issues in working memory measurement: testing for M capacity. Int J Behav Dev. 1994;17(1):143-159.

[21] Li SC, Lewandowsky S. Forward and backward recall: Different retrieval processes. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 1995;21(4):837-847.

[22] D’Amico A, Guarnera M. Exploring working memory in children with low arithmetical achievement. Learn Individ Differ. 2005;15(3):189-202.

[23] Siok WT, Perfetti CA, Jin Z, et al. Biological abnormality of impaired reading is constrained by culture. Nature. 2004; 431(7004):71-76.

[24] Siok WT, Niu Z, Jin Z, et al. A structural-functional basis for dyslexia in the cortex of Chinese readers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008;105(14):5561-5566.

[25] World Trade Organization. International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). Beijing: People’s Medical Publishing House.1993.

[26] Wang, XL, Tao BP. Chinese Character Recognition Test Battery and Assessment Scale for Primary School Children. Shanghai: Shanghai Education Press. 1993.

[27] Wu HR, Song RR, Yao B. The establishment of dyslexia checklist for chinese children. Zhongguo Xuexiao Weisheng. 2006;7(3):189-190.

[28] Luo Y, Wang J, Wu HR. Correlation between visual-spatial working memory and chinese language cognition of children with developmental dyslexia. Zhongguo Ertong Baojian Zazhi. 2011;19(10):881-883.

[29] Miller P, Kupfermann A. The role of visual and phonological representations in the processing of written words by readers with diagnosed dyslexia: evidence from a working memory task. Ann Dyslexia. 2009;59(1):12-33.

[30] Wild-Wall N, Oades RD, Schmidt-Wessels M, et al. Neural activity associated with executive functions in adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Int J Psychophysiol. 2009;74(1):19-27.

[31] Thorell LB. Do delay aversion and executive function deficits make distinct contributions to the functional impact of ADHD symptoms? A study of early academic skill deficits. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2007;48(11): 1061-1070.

[32] Gau SS, Shang CY. Executive functions as endophenotypes in ADHD: evidence from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Battery (CANTAB). J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2010;51(7):838-849.

[33] Olesen PJ, Westerberg H, Klingberg T. Increased prefrontal and parietal activity after training of working memory. Nat Neurosci. 2004;7(1):75-79.

[34] Fischer MH. Probing spatial working memory with the Corsi Blocks task. Brain Cogn. 2001;45(2):143-154.

[35] Bench CJ, Frith CD, Grasby PM, et al. Investigations of the functional anatomy of attention using the Stroop test. Neuropsychologia. 1993;31(9):907-922.

[36] Grossi G, Coch D, Coffey-Corina S, et al. Phonological processing in visual rhyming: a developmental ERP study. J Cogn Neurosci. 2001;13(5):610-625.

[37] Tan LH, Spinks JA, Eden GF, et al. Reading depends on writing, in Chinese. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005; 102(24):8781-8785.

[38] Cohen J. Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences. New York: Academic Press. 1988.