John O. Glass1, Shawna L. Palmer2, Wilburn E. Reddick1, Dana Wallace3, Nicholas S. Phillips1, Robert J. Ogg1, Amar Gajjar4
1Division of Translational Imaging Research, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA; 2Department of Behavioral Medicine, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA; 3Department of Biostatistics, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA; 4Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
This study examines the relationship between reading ability and white matter integrity among patients treated for pediatric infratentorial brain tumors. Fifty-four patients completed a neuropsychology evaluation and MR imaging at 12 months post-diagnosis. A voxel-based analysis evaluated associations between fractional anisotropy maps and Word Attack scores, identifying left and right temporal-parietal clusters. Regression models, controlling for age at treatment and risk arm, revealed significant relationships between these regions and three reading scores. The white matter integrity in these regions may contribute to the patients reading ability by strengthening communication between visual, auditory, and language cortical areas.