This review paper aims to define the involvement of Executive Functions (EF) in reading fluency in typically developing children and those with reading difficulties (RD)/dyslexia using neuroimaging and cognitive measurements. The data presented in this review demonstrate how training reading fluency with EF principles improved reading fluency and…

This 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…

We examined interactions between baseline hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity in relation to executive functions (EF) in a sample (n = 1,005) of children in low wealth, nonurban communities at age 48 months. Salivary cortisol and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) represented baseline HPA…

Dyslexia, or reading difficulty (RD), is characterized by slow, inaccurate reading and accompanied by deficit in executive functions (EF) and altered functional connectivity (FC) in the related networks (i.e., cingulo-opercular). Individuals with RD also present with altered oculomotor gaze patterns that include longer fixation times. The…

Since the turn of the millennium, there has been a surge of interest in diverse forms of spontaneous thinking, such as mind-wandering, and their associated brain networks. Studies demonstrate the pervasiveness of these phenomena as well as their effects on education-relevant domains such as academic skills, well-being, creativity, executive…

Relational reasoning, the ability to detect meaningful patterns, matures through adolescence. The unique contributions of verbal analogical and nonverbal matrix relational reasoning to science and maths are not well understood. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were collected during science and maths problem-solving, and participants…

Executive function (EF) contributes significantly to reading comprehension across the lifespan. Emerging research indicates domain-specific assessments of EF are better suited for assessment and intervention in academic contexts. For example, "graphophonological-semantic cognitive flexibility" (GSF), the ability to flexibly switch…