Functional Connectivity Fingerprints of Emerging Reading Skill in the First Months of Schooling.
Overview
- Department of Human Development & Family Science Purdue University West Lafayette Indiana USA
- CRPN, CNRS Aix‐Marseille University Marseille France
- Department of Language Science and Technology The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong SAR China
- Department of Communty Health Systems University of California San Francisco California USA
- LPL, CNRS Aix‐Marseille University Aix‐en‐Provence France
- School of Education University of California Davis California USA
- Department of Psychology University of Michigan Ann Arbor Michigan USA
- Department of Psychological Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs Connecticut USA
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.
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.
Code
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Data
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Data Availability Statement
Subject‐level exported time series data from ROIs used for connectivity analysis is publicly available at https://
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.
Versions
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Version 1, 30 September 2026: the first record
Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 9 authors, 6 keywords, 11 MeSH terms, 4 funders, 58 references.
Cite
This paper
Marks, R. A., Bouhali, F., Sun, X., Caballero, J. F., Kepinska, O., Uchikoshi, Y., Beltz, A., Kovelman, I., & Hoeft, F. (2026). Functional Connectivity Fingerprints of Emerging Reading Skill in the First Months of Schooling. Developmental science, 29(2), e70142. https://
BibTeX
@article{marks2026functi
author = {Marks, Rebecca A. and Bouhali, Florence and Sun, Xin and Caballero, Jocelyn F. and Kepinska, Olga and Uchikoshi, Yuuko and Beltz, Adriene and Kovelman, Ioulia and Hoeft, Fumiko},
title = {{Functional Connectivity Fingerprints of Emerging Reading Skill in the First Months of Schooling}},
journal = {Developmental science},
year = {2026},
month = mar,
volume = {29},
number = {2},
pages = {e70142},
publisher = {Wiley},
issn = {1363-755X},
doi = {10.1111/
url = {https://
pmid = {41700331},
pmcid = {PMC12910327}
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
AU - Marks, Rebecca A.
AU - Bouhali, Florence
AU - Sun, Xin
AU - Caballero, Jocelyn F.
AU - Kepinska, Olga
AU - Uchikoshi, Yuuko
AU - Beltz, Adriene
AU - Kovelman, Ioulia
AU - Hoeft, Fumiko
TI - Functional Connectivity Fingerprints of Emerging Reading Skill in the First Months of Schooling
T2 - Developmental science
J2 - Dev Sci
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/
VL - 29
IS - 2
SP - e70142
SN - 1363-755X
PB - Wiley
DO - 10.1111/
UR - https://
LA - en
ER -
CSL-JSON
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"author": [
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