Biology subjects

Klimovich-Gray, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Klimovich-Gray, A..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Benefits of Music Training for Learning to Read: Evidence from Cortical Tracking of Speech in Children

Musical training has long been argued to boost early phonological and reading abilities. Cortical tracking of speech (CTS) has been proposed as a mechanism for this music-to-literacy transfer. In this study, we examined how musical training shapes CTS in young readers and whether it facilitates literacy benefits. In a sample of 57 children aged 5-9, musical training was linked to enhanced reading and phonological awareness (PA). EEG during story listening revealed that higher left-hemispheric and lower right-hemispheric CTS were also associated with higher reading scores. However, children with higher musicality exhibited stronger reading skills at lower levels of left-hemispheric CTS, suggesting more adult-like speech analysis. Critically, PA mediated the relationship between musicality and reading: greater musicality was associated with stronger PA, which in turn predicted higher reading performance, independent of demographic and cognitive factors. These findings indicate that musical training supports literacy by enhancing PA and shaping left-lateralized speech processing.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2023

Non-verbal skills in auditory word processing: Implications for typical and dyslexic readers

Dyslexia is characterized by poor phonological skills and atypical neural responses to text and speech stimuli, while non-verbal intelligence remains unaffected. However, the impact of non-verbal intelligence on language-evoked neural responses in dyslexia is underexplored. This study examines non-verbal intelligences effects on neural responses to auditory words in typical and dyslexic readers. Participants completed IQ tests, reading and phonological assessments, and underwent magnetoencephalography recordings while listening to words. Event-related brain field responses at different stages of auditory word processing (100ms, 200ms, 400ms) were analyzed in relation to non-verbal IQ scores and reading performance. Higher non-verbal IQ in typical readers yielded earlier right hemisphere perceptual responses (100ms). Dyslexic readers showed no IQ-related latency effects but those with lower non-verbal IQ displayed amplified left hemisphere response amplitudes at 100ms. These findings confirm the link between non-verbal cognitive abilities and early auditory word processing in adults, highlighting distinct effects in dyslexia and controls.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2023

The contribution of early language exposure to the cortical tracking of speech

Cortical tracking of speech is relevant for the development of speech perception skills. However, no study to date has explored whether and how cortical tracking of speech is shaped by accumulated language experience, the central question of this study. In 35 bilingual children (6 y.o.) with considerably bigger experience in one language, we collected electroencephalography data while they listened to continuous speech in their two languages. Cortical tracking of speech was assessed at acoustic-temporal and lexico-semantic levels. Children showed more robust acoustic-temporal tracking in the least experienced language, and more sensitive cortical tracking of semantic information in the most experienced language. Additionally, and only for the most experienced language, acoustic-temporal tracking was specifically linked to phonological abilities, and lexico-semantic tracking to vocabulary knowledge. Our results indicate that accumulated linguistic experience is a relevant maturational factor for the cortical tracking of speech at different levels during early language acquisition.

neuroscience↗