Preprint Brief Report Version 2 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

White Matter Integrity Correlates of the Reading Span

Ekaterina V. Pechenkova
* ,
Yana R. Panikratova
* ORCID logo ,
Maria A. Fomina
,
Elena A. Mershina
,
Daria A. Bazhenova
,
Liudmila A. Makovskaya
,
Alena D. Rumshiskaya
,
Olga V. Fedorova
,
Valentin E. Sinitsyn
ORCID logo ,
Irina S. Lebedeva
,
Roza M. Vlasova
Version 1 : Received: 12 January 2021 / Approved: 13 January 2021 / Online: 13 January 2021 (14:49:44 CET)
Version 2 : Received: 15 February 2021 / Approved: 17 February 2021 / Online: 17 February 2021 (12:18:07 CET)

How to cite: Pechenkova, E.V.; Panikratova, Y.R.; Fomina, M.A.; Mershina, E.A.; Bazhenova, D.A.; Makovskaya, L.A.; Rumshiskaya, A.D.; Fedorova, O.V.; Sinitsyn, V.E.; Lebedeva, I.S.; Vlasova, R.M. White Matter Integrity Correlates of the Reading Span. Preprints 2021, 2021010254. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202101.0254.v2 Pechenkova, E.V.; Panikratova, Y.R.; Fomina, M.A.; Mershina, E.A.; Bazhenova, D.A.; Makovskaya, L.A.; Rumshiskaya, A.D.; Fedorova, O.V.; Sinitsyn, V.E.; Lebedeva, I.S.; Vlasova, R.M. White Matter Integrity Correlates of the Reading Span. Preprints 2021, 2021010254. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202101.0254.v2

Abstract

Although working memory (WM) is crucial for intellectual abilities, not much is known about its brain underpinnings, especially the structural connectivity. We used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to look across the whole brain for the white matter integrity correlates of the individual differences in the reading span (verbal WM capacity during reading) in healthy adults. Right-handed healthy native Russian speakers (N = 67) underwent DTI on a 3T Philips Ingenia scanner. Verbal WM was assessed with the Daneman-Carpenter reading span test (Russian version). Fractional anisotropy maps from each participant were entered into the group tract-based spatial statistics analysis with the reading span as a covariate; the results were TFCE-corrected. After taking into account effects of age, sex, education and handedness, reading span positively correlated with the white matter integrity in multiple sites: the body, the genu and the splenium of corpus callosum; bilateral corona radiata (anterior, posterior, and superior); bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculus; several tracts in the right hemisphere only, including the internal and external capsule; bilateral superior parietal and frontal white matter. Although the left hemisphere is central for verbal processing, we revealed the important role of the right hemisphere white matter for the verbal WM capacity. Our finding indicates that larger verbal working memory span may originate from additional processing resources of the right hemisphere.

Keywords

working memory; reading span; white matter; DTI

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Anatomy and Physiology

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Comments (1)

Comment 1
Received: 17 February 2021
Commenter: Yana Panikratova
Commenter's Conflict of Interests: Author
Comment: Introduction is extended and methods are presented in greater detail. As more data have been collected, more participants were included, the data were re-analyzed and results and discussion are updated.
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