Dialogic reading at age 2 is linked to frontal activation related to executive function at age 5: An fNIRS study.

Overview

Authors: Ming Yean Sia¹, Chia-Feng Lu², Ovid J L Tzeng^3,4, Shinmin Wang¹

Department of Child and Family Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan
Department of Biomedical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
Linguistic Institute, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan

Institutions: National Taiwan Normal University (Taiwan); National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (Taiwan); Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica (Taiwan); Taipei Medical University (Taiwan); Academia Sinica (Taiwan)

Journal: PloS one, volume 21, issue 6, article e0351177

Dates: received 31 January 2025; accepted 22 May 2026; published online 15 June 2026

Type: Research article · Language: English

License: CC BY

Identifiers: DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0351177 · PMID 42296083 · PMCID PMC13268133 · OpenAlex W7164802121

Open access: gold, a free copy (OpenAlex)

Status: data only

Categories: fNIRS (modality), human (organism), cognitive (subfield)

Methods: Spectral & time-frequency, Statistics, Connectivity, fMRI & imaging

MeSH: Executive Function*, Frontal Lobe*, Prefrontal Cortex*, Reading*, Child, Preschool, Female, Humans, Male, Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared (* major topic)

Topic: Reading and Literacy Development (Developmental and Educational Psychology, Psychology), according to OpenAlex

Funding: National Science and Technology Council (MOST 106-2511-S-003-052-MY3)

Citations: not cited yet (Europe PMC); 62 references in the paper

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between children’s dialogic reading (DR) experiences with parents at age 2 and their frontal neural responses related to executive function (EF) at age 5. To assess how the intensity of DR influences brain development, we quantitatively measured parental engagement in DR when children are at 2 years of age. Neural activations in frontal regions associated with EF were evaluated using functional near-infrared spectroscopy when children reached age 5. Our results reveal a significant positive correlation between parental dialogic interaction during shared book reading at age 2 and the activation of key brain regions related to EF – the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus – during a Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) task at age 5. This correlation persisted even after controlling for maternal education and children’s expressive vocabulary, indicating a robust relationship between early DR experiences and subsequent neural correlates of EF. The results suggest that early DR may help cultivate the neural infrastructure necessary for EF development. By focusing on DR at a young age and assessing neural activity during a classic EF task, the DCCS, our findings contribute additional evidence regarding the role of DR in shaping neural development associated with EF. These results highlight the importance of encouraging interactive DR practices in early childhood, as they not only support language development but also strengthen the neural pathways crucial for cognitive skills essential for academic success.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Code

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Data

Datasets cited

osf:uzwx9, at OSF; found in “Data Availability”

Data Availability

Anonymised data can be downloaded from https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/UZWX9.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Versions

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Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 4 authors, 9 MeSH terms, 1 funder, 56 references.

Cite

This paper

Sia, M. Y., Lu, C.-F., Tzeng, O. J. L., & Wang, S. (2026). Dialogic reading at age 2 is linked to frontal activation related to executive function at age 5: An fNIRS study. PloS one, 21(6), e0351177. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0351177

BibTeX

@article{sia2026dialogic, author = {Sia, Ming Yean and Lu, Chia-Feng and Tzeng, Ovid J L and Wang, Shinmin}, title = {{Dialogic reading at age 2 is linked to frontal activation related to executive function at age 5: An fNIRS study}}, journal = {PloS one}, year = {2026}, month = jun, volume = {21}, number = {6}, pages = {e0351177}, publisher = {PLOS}, issn = {1932-6203}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0351177}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0351177}, pmid = {42296083}, pmcid = {PMC13268133} }

RIS

TY - JOUR AU - Sia, Ming Yean AU - Lu, Chia-Feng AU - Tzeng, Ovid J L AU - Wang, Shinmin TI - Dialogic reading at age 2 is linked to frontal activation related to executive function at age 5: An fNIRS study T2 - PloS one J2 - PLoS One PY - 2026 DA - 2026/06/15 VL - 21 IS - 6 SP - e0351177 SN - 1932-6203 PB - PLOS DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0351177 UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0351177 LA - en ER -

CSL-JSON

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