Functional MRI of Sentence Comprehension in Children with Dyslexia: Beyond Word Recognition

Sentence comprehension (SC) studies in typical and impaired readers suggest that reading for meaning involves more extensive brain activation than reading isolated words. Thus far, no reading disability/dyslexia (RD) studies have directly controlled for the word recognition (WR) components of SC tasks, which is central for understanding comprehension processes beyond WR. This experiment compared SC to WR in 29, 9–14 year olds (15 typical and 14 impaired readers). The SC-WR contrast for each group showed activation in left inferior frontal and extrastriate regions, but the RD group showed significantly more activation than Controls in areas associated with linguistic processing (left middle/superior temporal gyri), and attention and response selection (bilateral insula, right cingulate gyrus, right superior frontal gyrus, and right parietal lobe). Further analyses revealed this overactivation was driven by the RD group's response to incongruous sentences. Correlations with out-of-scanner measures showed that better word- and text-level reading fluency was associated with greater left occipitotemporal activation, whereas worse performance on WR, fluency, and comprehension (reading and oral) were associated with greater right hemisphere activation in a variety of areas, including supramarginal and superior temporal gyri. Results provide initial foundations for understanding the neurobiological correlates of higher-level processes associated with reading comprehension

DISTRIBUTIVE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IN THE CITY: DIFFERENTIAL ACCESS IN TWO MIXED ISRAELI CITIES

The socio-economic inferiority of the Arab minority compared to the Jewish majority and the unequal distribution of resources between Jewish and Arab towns in Israel are well known facts. However, so far there has been no evidence establishing whether unequal resource allocation also occurs within mixed Jewish-Arab cities. Based on high-resolution sociodemographic and infrastructure data, this paper examines the access that populations of differing socio-economic levels and ethnic identity have to green spaces in the mixed Jewish-Arab cities of Ramla and Lod. Results show that the Arab minority in these cities has much less access to green spaces than the Jewish majority. The findings produced in this study can serve as a basis for public debates concerning injustice in the distribution of urban services and help urban planners achieve a more balanced and fair allocation. It can also serve as a powerful tool for empowering minorities, social organisations and NGOs and motivating them to act against spatial inequality and social discrimination. Copyright (c) 2005 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG.