Multisensory Integration as a Pathway to Neural Specialization for Print in Typical And Dyslexic Readers Across Writing Systems

  • 9,777

    Total downloads

  • 47k

    Total views and downloads

Download PDFDownload EPUB

Submit your idea

You will be redirected to our submission process.

Submit your manuscript summarySubmit your manuscript

About this Research Topic

Submission closed

Background

The ability to decode and produce written language constitutes a major pillar for successful participation in modern technology-based societies. Efficient processing of graphs (i.e., characters of a written script which code linguistic units as phonemes or syllables; e.g., letters, aksharas) is the foundation of reading. Letter recognition ability is an essential precursor of word reading in alphabetic languages and is also an important predictor of future reading skills. However, ~5-10% of children are affected by developmental dyslexia, exhibiting anomalous letter processing and failing to acquire fluent decoding. Without adequate literacy skills, they are at risk for adverse academic, economic, and psychosocial consequences.

Neurocognitive research has established that skillful letter processing depends on a functionally specialized system for visual graph recognition that emerges along reading development, and whose core region is located at the left ventral occipitotemporal cortex (vOT). Thanks to this system, typical readers process graphs faster and differently than other symbols. Importantly, around the world, literacy instruction is often a multimodal learning process, linking visual graphs with speech-sounds and with motor gestures via handwriting. Indeed, graphs are multisensory representations and visual word recognition is supported by a widespread brain network including visual, spoken language, and motor systems.

The development of automatic letter-speech sound associations (audio-visual integration) is critical in the acquisition of reading skills, and a failure to automatize these associations results in an impairment of reading. Accordingly, during learning, parts of the auditory association cortex adapt to the processing of the letter-speech sound associations, and activation in phonological areas and in vOT increase with reading expertise.
Recent neuroimaging studies have also suggested that handwriting practice has a significant impact on the formation of a neural system specialized for graphs. Furthermore, behavioral results have shown that handwriting practice during learning may facilitate later graph recognition. Research in logographic languages such as Chinese unveils universal and language-specific brain circuits underlying multisensory integration in reading acquisition. Finally, results from neuropsychological cases have suggested that graphic motor knowledge acquired through handwriting might be a promising avenue to ameliorate letter identification in impaired readers.

The mechanisms by which learning audio-visual and motor-visual associations relate to (in)efficient graph recognition and reading across languages and writing systems are still open. This Research Topic aims to contribute to the understanding of these mechanisms, by providing a forum in which researchers from neurocognitive, behavioral, developmental, and educational scientific fields define the state of the art and future directions on this issue.

We welcome reviews of current work, original research, and opinion articles that focus on:

• The importance of multi-systems interplays during literacy acquisition across languages and writing systems;
• How visual information is mapped to auditory/motor information when learning to read;
• How the speech production system and the motor action system affect the development of the visual system for graph recognition and interact with other components of the reading network (e.g., the attentional system);
• How the integration of graphs and speech-sounds/motor actions for writing enable successful reading;
• Behavioral and neural markers of audio-visual and motor-visual integration that are related to letter and word recognition skills;
• How neural systems that support multimodal integration differ in normal and dyslexic readers;
• From an educational and clinical perspective, research into the potential of multisensory training to ameliorate reading acquisition.

Keywords: Visual-orthographic system, audio-visual integration, motor-visual integration, dyslexia, training

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

Topic editors

Frequently asked questions

  • Frontiers' Research Topics are collaborative hubs built around an emerging theme.Defined, managed, and led by renowned researchers, they bring communities together around a shared area of interest to stimulate collaboration and innovation.

    Unlike section journals, which serve established specialty communities, Research Topics are pioneer hubs, responding to the evolving scientific landscape and catering to new communities.

  • The goal of Frontiers' publishing program is to empower research communities to actively steer the course of scientific publishing. Our program was implemented as a three-part unit with fixed field journals, flexible specialty sections, and dynamically emerging Research Topics, connecting communities of different sizes and maturity.

    Research Topics originate from the scientific community. Many of our Research Topics are suggested by existing editorial board members who have identified critical challenges or areas of interest in their field.

  • As an editor, Research Topics will help you build your journal, as well as your community, around emerging, cutting-edge research. As research trailblazers, Research Topics attract high-quality submissions from leading experts all over the world.

    A thriving Research Topic can potentially evolve into a new specialty section if there is sustained interest and a growing community around it.

  • Each Research Topic must be approved by the specialty chief editor, and it falls under the editorial oversight of our editorial boards, supported by our in-house research integrity team. The same standards and rigorous peer review processes apply to articles published as part of a Research Topic as for any other article we publish.

    In 2023, 80% of the Research Topics we published were edited or co-edited by our editorial board members, who are already familiar with their journal's scope, ethos, and publishing model. All other topics are guest edited by leaders in their field, each vetted and formally approved by the specialty chief editor.

  • Publishing your article within a Research Topic with other related articles increases its discoverability and visibility, which can lead to more views, downloads, and citations. Research Topics grow dynamically as more published articles are added, causing frequent revisiting, and further visibility.

    As Research Topics are multidisciplinary, they are cross-listed in several fields and section journals – increasing your reach even more and giving you the chance to expand your network and collaborate with researchers in different fields, all focusing on expanding knowledge around the same important topic.

    Our larger Research Topics are also converted into ebooks and receive social media promotion from our digital marketing team.

     

  • Frontiers offers multiple article types, but it will depend on the field and section journals in which the Research Topic will be featured. The available article types for a Research Topic will appear in the drop-down menu during the submission process.

    Check available article types here 

  • Yes, we would love to hear your ideas for a topic. Most of our Research Topics are community-led and suggested by researchers in the field. Our in-house editorial team will contact you to talk about your idea and whether you’d like to edit the topic. If you’re an early-stage researcher, we will offer you the opportunity to coordinate your topic, with the support of a senior researcher as the topic editor. 

    Suggest your topic here 

  • A team of guest editors (called topic editors) lead their Research Topic. This editorial team oversees the entire process, from the initial topic proposal to calls for participation, the peer review, and final publications.

    The team may also include topic coordinators, who help the topic editors send calls for participation, liaise with topic editors on abstracts, and support contributing authors. In some cases, they can also be assigned as reviewers.

  • As a topic editor (TE), you will take the lead on all editorial decisions for the Research Topic, starting with defining its scope. This allows you to curate research around a topic that interests you, bring together different perspectives from leading researchers across different fields and shape the future of your field. 

     

    You will choose your team of co-editors, curate a list of potential authors, send calls for participation and oversee the peer review process, accepting or recommending rejection for each manuscript submitted.

  • As a topic editor, you're supported at every stage by our in-house team. You will be assigned a single point of contact to help you on both editorial and technical matters. Your topic is managed through our user-friendly online platform, and the peer review process is supported by our industry-first AI review assistant (AIRA).

  • If you’re an early-stage researcher, we will offer you the opportunity to coordinate your topic, with the support of a senior researcher as the topic editor. This provides you with valuable editorial experience, improving your ability to critically evaluate research articles and enhancing your understanding of the quality standards and requirements for scientific publishing, as well as the opportunity to discover new research in your field, and expand your professional network.

  • Yes, certificates can be issued on request. We are happy to provide a certificate for your contribution to editing a successful Research Topic.

  • Research Topics thrive on collaboration and their multi-disciplinary approach around emerging, cutting-edge themes, attract leading researchers from all over the world.

  • As a topic editor, you can set the timeline for your Research Topic, and we will work with you at your pace. Typically, Research Topics are online and open for submissions within a few weeks and remain open for participation for 6 – 12 months. Individual articles within a Research Topic are published as soon as they are ready.

    Find out more about our Research Topics

  • Our fee support program ensures that all articles that pass peer review, including those published in Research Topics, can benefit from open access – regardless of the author's field or funding situation.

    Authors and institutions with insufficient funding can apply for a discount on their publishing fees. A fee support application form is available on our website.

  • In line with our mission to promote healthy lives on a healthy planet, we do not provide printed materials. All our articles and ebooks are available under a CC-BY license, so you can share and print copies.

     

Participating Journals

Impact

  • 47kTopic views
  • 36kArticle views
  • 9,777Article downloads
View impact