Schedule of Events | Symposia

How does the environment wire the brain for literacy? Modeling the relationship between SES, white matter, oral language, and reading

Poster Session E - Monday, March 31, 2025, 2:30 – 4:30 pm EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom

Martina Villa^1,2 (martina.villa@uconn.edu), Nabin Koirala^2,3, Meaghan Perdue^4,5, Lee Branum-Martin⁶, Nicole Landi^1,2; ¹Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, USA, ²Child Study Center, Yale University, USA, ³Brain Imaging Research Core, University of Connecticut, USA, ⁴University of Calgary, Department of Radiology, Canada, ⁵Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Canada, ⁶Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, USA

Reading is pivotal for educational and occupational success in modern society, therefore, understanding the factors that contribute to variation in reading skill is a major educational objective. Although cognitive and neurobiological contributions to reading are well documented, the contribution of environmental factors remains understudied. One well-described environmental influence on reading is socioeconomic status (SES), which has also been linked to neural development. A small body of literature has shown that SES predicts reading and the integrity of reading-related white matter tracts; however, these studies have not attempted to parcel out the direct and indirect contributions of SES to reading via white matter integrity. Similarly, while many studies link SES and reading to oral language, only one has tested for mediation. The current study uses SEM in a large sample of children from the Healthy Brain Network biobank to test the direct and indirect paths by which SES influences reading through white matter integrity and oral language. Nine white matter tracts (bilateral ILF, SLF, and IFOF; left AF and UF; right CST) and two measures of oral language (phonological awareness (PA) and vocabulary) were selected based on previous literature. Modeling results revealed an effect of SES on reading that was indirectly affected by PA and vocabulary, but not by white matter integrity. Although we did not observe and indirect effect of white matter integrity, it was weakly associated with SES, reading, PA, and vocabulary. Findings will be discussed in the context of existing models of neurobiological and environmental influences on reading.

Topic Area: LANGUAGE: Other