White matter pathways mediate parental effects on children's reading precursors
(2017) Brain and Language — Vol. 173, p. 10-19 (2017)
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- Previous studies have shown that the link between parental and offspring’s reading is mediated by thecognitive system of the offspring, yet information about the mediating role of the neurobiological systemis missing. This family study includes cognitive and diffusion MRI (dMRI) data collected in 71 pre-readersas well as parental reading and environmental data. Using sequential path analyses, which take intoaccount the interrelationships between the different components, we observed mediating effects of theneurobiological system. More specifically, fathers’ reading skills predicted reading of the child by operat-ing through a child’s left ventral white matter pathway. For mothers no clear mediating role of the neuralsystem was observed. Given that our study involves children who have not yet learned to read and thatenvironmental measures were taken into account, the paternal effect on a child’s white matter pathwayis unlikely to be only driven by environmental factors. Future intergenerational studies focusing on thegenetic, neurobiological and cognitive level of parents and offspring will provide more insight in the rel-ative contribution of parental environment and genes.
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Vandermosten, M., Cuynen, L., Vanderauwera, J., Wouters, J., & Ghesquière, P. (2017). White matter pathways mediate parental effects on children’s reading precursors. Brain and Language, 173, 10-19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2017.05.002 (Original work published 2017)