Scientific Publications

Older children with online schooling requirements, unsurprisingly, were reported to have increased screen time during the first COVID-19 lockdown in many countries. Here, we ask whether younger children with no similar online schooling requirements also had increased screen time during lockdown. We examined children’s screen time during the first COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting closure of daycare centers worldwide, led to unprecedented changes in children’s learning environments. This period of increased time at home with caregivers, with limited access to external sources (e.g., daycares) provides a unique opportunity to examine the associations between the caregiver-child activities and children’s

Horowitz-Kraus, T., DiFrancesco, M., Greenwood, P., Scott, E., Vannest, J., Hutton, J., ... & Farah, R. (2020). Longer Screen Vs. Reading Time is Related to Greater Functional Connections Between the Salience Network and Executive Functions Regions in Children with Reading Difficulties Vs. Typical Readers. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 1-12. Abstract An adverse

Meri, R., Farah, R., & Horowitz-Kraus, T. (2020). Children with dyslexia utilize both top-down and bottom-up networks equally in contextual and isolated word reading. Neuropsychologia, 147, 107574. Abstract Introduction Executive functions (EF) include cognitive processes that support learning and reading. Children with dyslexia experience challenges with both reading and reading comprehension. The neurobiological support for

Zivan, M., & Horowitz-Kraus, T. (2020). Parent–child joint reading is related to an increased fixation time on print during storytelling among preschool children. Brain and cognition, 143, 105596. Abstract Print exposure in early childhood is related to linguistic skills such as oral language, reading comprehension and spelling during school years. A common way of

Ozeri-Rotstain, A., Shachaf, I., Farah, R., & Horowitz-Kraus, T. (2020). Relationship Between Eye‑Movement Patterns, Cognitive Load, and Reading Ability in Children with Reading Difficulties. Journal of psycholinguistic research. Abstract Children with reading difculties (RD) share challenges in executive functions (EF). Neurobiological correlates provide evidence for EF challenges during reading among these readers, but

Gutierrez-Colina, A. M., Vannest, J., Maloney, T., Wade, S. L., Combs, A., Horowitz-Kraus, T., & Modi, A. C. (2020). The neural basis of executive functioning deficits in adolescents with epilepsy: a resting-state fMRI connectivity study of working memory. Brain Imaging and Behavior, 1-11. Abstract Working memory deficits are common in youth with epilepsy

Farah, R., Greenwood, P., Dudley, J., Hutton, J., Ammerman, R. T., Phelan, K., ... & Horowitz-Kraus, T. (2020). Maternal depression is associated with altered functional connectivity between neural circuits related to visual, auditory, and cognitive processing during stories listening in preschoolers. Behavioral and Brain Functions, 16(1), 1-12. Abstract Background Maternal depression can influence the early

Farah, R., Tzafrir, H., & Horowitz-Kraus, T. (2020). Association between diffusivity measures and language and cognitive-control abilities from early toddler’s age to childhood. Brain Structure and Function, 1-20. Abstract Extensive improvements in executive functions and language abilities are accompanied by changes in functional connections within the brain and in gray and white matter

Nachshon, O., Farah, R., & Horowitz-Kraus, T. (2020). Decreased Functional Connectivity Between the Left Amygdala and Frontal Regions Interferes With Reading, Emotional, and Executive Functions in Children With Reading Difficulties. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 14, 104. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2020.00104 Abstract Introduction: Dyslexia is a reading disorder characterized by significant difficulty in reading, as well as reports of altered

Freedman, L., Zivan, M., Farah, R., & Horowitz-Kraus, T. (2020). Greater functional connectivity within the cingulo-opercular and ventral attention networks is related to better fluent reading: A resting-state functional connectivity study. NeuroImage: Clinical, 26, 102214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2020.102214 Highlights •Differences in functional connectivity (FC) of the cognitive-control networks were not found between the two reading groups.

Kraus, D., Vannest, J., Arya, R., Hutton, J. S., Leach, J. L., Mangano, F. T., ... & Horowitz‐Kraus, T. (2020). Reading in children with drug‐resistant epilepsy was related to functional connectivity in cognitive control regions. Acta Paediatrica. Abstract Aim: This study aimed to define whether individuals with drug-resistant focal epilepsy also used regions

Farah, R., Hutton, J., Dudley, J., & Horowitz-Kraus, T.  Brain and Cognition https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2020.105532 Highlights • Maternal reading is associated with higher fractional anisotropy in dorsal/ventral tracts in preschoolers. • Fractional anisotropy exhibited variability along the white matter tracts and between hemispheres. • Fractional anisotropy was higher in left compared to the right white

Hutton, J. S., Dudley, J., Horowitz-Kraus, T., DeWitt, T., & Holland, S. K. (2020). JAMA pediatrics, 174(1), e193869-e193869. Acta Paediatr. 2019 Dec 18. doi: 10.1111/apa.15124 AIM: Caregiver-child reading is advocated by health organisations, citing cognitive and neurobiological benefits. The influence of home literacy environment (HLE) on brain structure prior to kindergarten has not previously been studied. METHODS: Preschool-age

Farah, R., Meri, R., Kadis, D. S., Hutton, J., DeWitt, T., & Horowitz-Kraus, T. (2019). PloS one, 14(11). https://doi.org/10.1371/ journal.pone.0225445 Objectives Dialogic reading (DR) is a shared storybook reading intervention previously shown to have a positive effect on both literacy and general language skills. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of

Hutton, J. S., Dudley, J., Horowitz-Kraus, T., DeWitt, T., & Holland, S. K. (2020). JAMA pediatrics, 174(1), e193869-e193869. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.3869 Key Points Question  Is screen-based media use associated with differences in the structural integrity of brain white matter tracts that support language and literacy skills in preschool-aged children? Findings  In this cross-sectional study of 47 healthy prekindergarten children, screen

Zivan, M., Bar, S., Jing, X., Hutton, J., Farah, R., & Horowitz-Kraus, T. (2019). Screen-exposure and altered brain activation related to attention in preschool children: An EEG study. Trends in neuroscience and education, 17, 100117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tine.2019.100117 Highlights • Greater visual attention abilities after the storytelling intervention, but not after screen exposure. • Screen exposure

Hutton, J. S., Dudley, J., Horowitz-Kraus, T., DeWitt, T., & Holland, S. K. (2019). Brain connectivity, 9(7), 580-592. https://doi.org/10.1089/brain.2019.0679 The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents read with their children early and often and limits on screen-based media. While book sharing may benefit attention in children, effects of animated content are controversial, and

Meiri, R., Levinson, O., & Horowitz‐Kraus, T. (2019). Dyslexia, 25(3), 267-283. https://doi.org/10.1002/dys.1624 Fluent reading in children relies on executive functions (EF). Recent research suggests that EF skills also affect arithmetic abilities. Children with reading difficulties (RD) experience deficits in EF. It is still unknown to what extent these EF deficits are the basis for

Twait, E., Farah, R., Shamir, N., & Horowitz‐Kraus, T. (2019). Acta Paediatrica, 108(11), 1993-2000. https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.14841 Abstract Aim: Shared reading leads to better language and executive functions. This study was designed to examine the effect of dialogic reading compared to screen‐exposed intervention on executive functions using behavioural and electroencephalogram measures. Methods: The effect of six weeks of dialogic reading