The Influence of Executive Processing on Reading Comprehension During Adolescence

Abstract

AbstractThis paper reviews three studies investigating the relationship between brain regions involved in executive control and those involved in reading comprehension in typically‐developing teens. In the first study, three regions of posterior left lateral prefrontal cortex (i.e., precentral gyrus, inferior frontal junction, inferior frontal gyrus) were consistently activated across three task domains: reading comprehension, numerical estimation, and executive processes in working memory, suggesting these regions exert domain‐general executive control. In a second study, brain activity in the precentral gyrus during reading comprehension was found to be associated with individual differences in reading achievement. A subsequent investigation indicated that while all three prefrontal regions exhibit greater connectivity to the angular gyrus during reading comprehension compared to symbol identification, each also exhibits unique connectivity to distinct posterior regions implicated in reading processes. Hence, reading difficulties during adolescence may arise, in part, from difficulties in executive control over processing in language‐related brain regions.