Connection Between Reading Ability and the Development of Receptive Fields in the Dorsal and Ventral Streams

Abstract

This study seeks to address the connection between reading ability and the development of receptive fields in the dorsal and ventral visual streams. The ability to read is an important skill that children learn relatively early in life. However, some children struggle with reading disabilities such as dyslexia which may stem from visuo-spatial attention deficits. Previous research has shown that a child’s reading ability can be predicted by the strength of the leftward visuo-spatial bias apparent in children. This study compares the size and eccentricity of population receptive fields (pRFs) in different visual areas in the dorsal and ventral streams of the left and right hemispheres with reading test scores of participants. The results of this analysis show that the pRF size and eccentricity of the higher-level dorsal areas in the left hemisphere are more strongly associated with reading score than the pRF size and eccentricity of the higher-level dorsal areas in the right hemisphere. The pRFs of children in these areas generally had a larger size and eccentricity than those of the adults, and they tended to score lower on the reading test. The direction of development for these areas may be to get smaller and more central, since reading is a very foveal task that focuses on small letters and words. Since this study focused on development of typical readers, it can inform future studies about the developmental differences that come with dyslexia.