# Tracking neurocognitive changes during evidence-based reading instruction in typically and atypically developing children

> **NIH NIH R37** · HASKINS LABORATORIES, INC. · 2021 · $517,606

## Abstract

Treatment studies have shown pre to post changes in reading circuits with evidence based remediation of
reading disability, establishing the neural signature of successful treatment outcome. However, insight into the
neurobiological mechanisms by which treatment produces these consequences/outcome requires monitoring
modulations of key brain regions throughout the course of treatment and such data are lacking. Moreover, in
any cohort some RD children with highly similar profiles on standardized testing at the beginning of intervention
will show large gains and others will not. In the current proposal children with reading difficulties will be
followed through an evidence-based training program focused on learning print-sound relationships with
progressive emphasis at three grain sizes (grapheme-to-phoneme (GP), body/rime, and morphological) and
the school-based small group instruction will be supplemented by online practice to reinforce training with an
evidence-based computer assisted reading instruction (CARI). Cognitive testing and functional neuroimaging
(before and after the intervention) with comparisons to untreated RD and TD control groups will allow for the
identification of key neurocognitive factors associated with response to treatment. Eight recordings of brain
activity using functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) imaging throughout the 20 weeks of instruction will
be used to identify how online modulation of circuits during treatment relates to weekly measures of reading
performance - growth spurts (or regressions) over the course of treatment. This dynamic tracking study will
yield new insights into how evidence-based training modulates brain organization for learning to support
reading gains and why it fails to do so for some children. Specific Aims are: 1) To examine the pre to post
training changes in print and speech activation and functional connectivity in relation to variable treatment
responses. 2) To track dynamic adaptive changes in activation and functional connectivity during treatment
that predict local growth spurts and outcomes in RD. Aim 3) To examine neurocognitive changes associated
with training on progressively larger grain-size units during treatment (GP, body/rime, morphological) and how
these patterns are qualified by individual differences in pre-treatment profiles.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10207696
- **Project number:** 5R37HD090153-05
- **Recipient organization:** HASKINS LABORATORIES, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Kenneth R. Pugh
- **Activity code:** R37 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $517,606
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-11 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10207696

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10207696, Tracking neurocognitive changes during evidence-based reading instruction in typically and atypically developing children (5R37HD090153-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10207696. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*