Individual differences in reading ability have been linked to characteristics of functional connectivity in the brain in both children and adults. However, many previous studies have used single or composite measures of reading, leading to difficulty characterizing the role of functional connectivity in discrete subskills of reading. The present study addresses this issue using resting-state fMRI to examine how resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) related to individual differences in children's reading subskills, including decoding, sight word reading, reading comprehension, and rapid automatized naming (RAN). Findings showed both positive and negative RSFC-behaviour relationships that diverged across different reading subskills. Positive relationships included increasing RSFC among left dorsal and anterior regions with increasing decoding proficiency, and increasing RSFC between the left thalamus and right fusiform gyrus with increasing sight word reading, RAN, and reading comprehension abilities. In contrast, negative relationships suggested greater functional segregation of attentional and reading networks with improved performance on RAN, decoding, and reading comprehension tasks. Importantly, the results suggest that although reading subskills rely to some extent on shared functional networks, there are also distinct functional connections supporting different components of reading ability in children.

阅读能力的个体差异与儿童和成人大脑功能连接的特征有关。然而，许多先前的研究使用单一或复合的阅读测量方法，导致难以描述功能连接在离散的阅读亚技能中的作用。本研究使用静息态功能磁共振成像来研究静息态功能连接 (RSFC) 与儿童阅读子技能的个体差异之间的关系，包括解码、视觉单词阅读、阅读理解和快速自动命名 (RAN)。研究结果表明，RSFC 行为的积极和消极关系在不同的阅读子技能中存在差异。正相关包括随着解码能力的提高，左侧背侧和前部区域的 RSFC 增加，以及随着视觉单词阅读、RAN 和阅读理解能力的提高，左侧丘脑和右侧梭状回之间的 RSFC 增加。相比之下，负面关系表明注意力和阅读网络的功能分离更大，在 RAN、解码和阅读理解任务上的性能有所提高。重要的是，研究结果表明，尽管阅读子技能在一定程度上依赖于共享的功能网络，但也有不同的功能连接支持儿童阅读能力的不同组成部分。相比之下，负面关系表明注意力和阅读网络的功能分离更大，在 RAN、解码和阅读理解任务上的性能有所提高。重要的是，研究结果表明，尽管阅读子技能在一定程度上依赖于共享的功能网络，但也有不同的功能连接支持儿童阅读能力的不同组成部分。相比之下，负面关系表明注意力和阅读网络的功能分离更大，在 RAN、解码和阅读理解任务上的性能有所提高。重要的是，研究结果表明，尽管阅读子技能在一定程度上依赖于共享的功能网络，但也有不同的功能连接支持儿童阅读能力的不同组成部分。