The pace of vocabulary growth during preschool predicts cortical structure at school age

Salomi S Asaridou; Özlem Ece Demir-Lira; Susan Goldin-Meadow; Steven L Small

doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.05.018

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The pace of vocabulary growth during preschool predicts cortical structure at school age

Journal article

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The pace of vocabulary growth during preschool predicts cortical structure at school age

Salomi S Asaridou, Özlem Ece Demir-Lira, Susan Goldin-Meadow and Steven L Small

Neuropsychologia, Vol.98, pp.13-23

04/2017

DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.05.018

PMCID: PMC5116280

PMID: 27212056

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Abstract

Children vary greatly in their vocabulary development during preschool years. Importantly, the pace of this early vocabulary growth predicts vocabulary size at school entrance. Despite its importance for later academic success, not much is known about the relation between individual differences in early vocabulary development and later brain structure and function. Here we examined the association between vocabulary growth in children, as estimated from longitudinal measurements from 14 to 58 months, and individual differences in brain structure measured in 3rd and 4th grade (8–10 years old). Our results show that the pace of vocabulary growth uniquely predicts cortical thickness in the left supramarginal gyrus. Probabilistic tractography revealed that this region is directly connected to the inferior frontal gyrus (pars opercularis) and the ventral premotor cortex, via what is most probably the superior longitudinal fasciculus III. Our findings demonstrate, for the first time, the relation between the pace of vocabulary learning in children and a specific change in the structure of the cerebral cortex, specifically, cortical thickness in the left supramarginal gyrus. They also highlight the fact that differences in the pace of vocabulary growth are associated with the dorsal language stream, which is thought to support speech perception and articulation. •Children differ greatly in the pace at which they acquire their vocabulary.•Pace of vocabulary growth longitudinally estimated in children 14–58 months old.•Vocabulary growth predicted cortical thickness in the left supramarginal gyrus.•Supramarginal gyrus connected to the frontal lobe via a dorsal fiber tract.

Vocabulary growth

Longitudinal

Cortical thickness

White matter connectivity

Probabilistic tractography

First language acquisition

Details

Title: Subtitle: The pace of vocabulary growth during preschool predicts cortical structure at school age
Creators: Salomi S Asaridou - University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
Özlem Ece Demir-Lira - The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Susan Goldin-Meadow - The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Steven L Small - University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Neuropsychologia, Vol.98, pp.13-23
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.05.018
PMID: 27212056
PMCID: PMC5116280
NLM abbreviation: Neuropsychologia
ISSN: 0028-3932
eISSN: 1873-3514
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd
Grant note: DOI: 10.13039/100000071, name: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, award: P01HD40605
Language: English
Date published: 04/2017
Academic Unit: Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Center for Social Science Innovation
Record Identifier: 9984002411902771

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