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

> **NIH NIH R37** · UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT STORRS · 2023 · $595,463

## Abstract

Treatment studies to date have shown pre-to-post changes in reading circuits with evidence-based
remediation of reading disability (RD), establishing a neural signature of successful treatment outcome.
However, insight into the neurobiological mechanisms by which treatment produces these changes
requires monitoring modulations of key brain regions throughout the course of treatment. 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 previous grant-cycle we employed multimodal
neuroimaging before, during, and after an in-school reading intervention and identified novel neurocognitive
pre-treatment factors and dynamic brain/behavior changes that predict individual differences in treatment
responsiveness. In the new cycle, we maintain the overarching goal of understanding variation in response
to reading remediation in RD learners with dynamic brain/behavior tracking designed to yield novel insights
into how remediation modifies brain organization for reading, and why it fails to do so adequately for some
RD children, but in the proposed continuation, we leverage the discoveries from the initial phase (the how
and why) to next examine what might constitute a more effective neurocognitive focus for treatment in
minimal-responders to conventional content. With pre-learning fMRI/MRS and frequent fNIRS/EEG tracking
and with both short-term adaptive learning experiments and longer-term Educational Technology based
learning programs we vary emphasis on orthographic, phonological, and component process training as
we seek to match learning content to individual differences in neurocognitive organization for these
component processes.
Project Summary/Abstract Page 6
 The proposed research examines the neurocognitive bases of treatment response to evidence-based
learning programs for reading remediation. We use pre and post treatment neuroimaging and frequent
neuroimaging during the course of treatment 1) to gain new insights into how treatment modulates brain
organization for literacy, language learning, and remediation; 2) why it fails todo so for some children, and 3)
what might constitute a more beneficial focus in minimal-responders. The proposed research represents a
key step towards the development of comprehensive and mechanistic models of the neural underpinnings of
typical and atypical reading development.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10698010
- **Project number:** 7R37HD090153-07
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT STORRS
- **Principal Investigator:** Kenneth R. Pugh
- **Activity code:** R37 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $595,463
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2022-09-06 → 2027-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10698010

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10698010, Tracking neurocognitive changes during evidence-based reading instruction in typically and atypically developing children (7R37HD090153-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10698010. Licensed CC0.

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