# Functional Connectivity Fingerprints of Emerging Reading Skill in the First Months of Schooling

## TL;DR

The study shows how brain connectivity changes as children develop early reading skills in the first months of school.

## Contribution

The study reveals how brain network organization evolves with emerging literacy skills in young children.

## Key findings

- Beginning readers showed more mature and symmetrical brain network organization compared to pre-readers.
- Better readers had increased left lateralization and stronger connections in language hubs like the Visual Word Form Area.
- Reading skill was linked to more efficient and focal neural connectivity in language regions.

## Abstract

The transition from pre‐reading to early word reading skill in early childhood is a time of profound developmental change. To understand changes in brain networks associated with reading development, this study examined individual differences in functional connectivity for reading at the start of formal literacy instruction. Sixty‐six kindergarteners (ages 5–6) completed a visual word processing task during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Based on standardized literacy assessments, participants were characterized as Pre‐Readers (alphabetic knowledge but unable to read words) or Beginning Readers (some word reading ability). We compared patterns of task‐based functional connectivity between children at different stages of literacy development using confirmatory subgroup Group Iterative Multilevel Model Estimation (cs‐GIMME). cs‐GIMME is a data‐driven method that estimates individualized network connections between a
priori regions of interest. Pre‐ and Beginning Readers did not differ in overall network complexity (number of functional connections between regions of interest). However, distinct periods of reading development corresponded to differences in network centrality, defined as the proportion of network connections involving specific regions of interest. Pre‐Readers had more distributed connections and greater within‐right hemisphere connectivity. In comparison, Beginning Readers demonstrated more symmetrical network organization, and greater centrality of the Visual Word Form Area and other left hemisphere language hubs. Increased reading skill was linearly associated with increased left lateralization, potentially reflecting more mature networks and greater print processing efficiency. These findings provide novel insights into child brain development during the first year of formal schooling by revealing links between emerging literacy skills and functional neural connectivity.

We measured 5–6‐year‐olds’ brain activity during visual word processing and found that distinct stages of reading development were related to differences in network connectivity.Beginning readers had more mature networks than their pre‐reading peers.Overall, better readers had more left‐lateralized, focal connections between language regions.Results show individual differences in the reading brain in the first months of school.

We measured 5–6‐year‐olds’ brain activity during visual word processing and found that distinct stages of reading development were related to differences in network connectivity.

Beginning readers had more mature networks than their pre‐reading peers.

Overall, better readers had more left‐lateralized, focal connections between language regions.

Results show individual differences in the reading brain in the first months of school.