A fMRI neuroimaging dataset of word reading with semantic and phonological localizers in children and adolescents

Here we describe the public neuroimaging and behavioural dataset entitled "A fMRI neuroimaging dataset of word reading with semantic and phonological localizers in children and adolescents" available on the OpenNeuro project (https://openneuro.org). This dataset examines neural mechanisms of reading development in children and adolescents 10-17 years of age who have typical hearing (<i>N</i> = 83) as part of a larger longitudinal study involving deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children. The data includes T1-weighted structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and task based functional MRI (fMRI). In total, 83 children performed six fMRI tasks, including two reading tasks, one involving 'visual word rhyming' judgments and the other involving 'visual word meaning' judgments. The visual word rhyming task parametrically manipulated orthographic and phonological conflict and the visual word meaning task manipulated the strength of semantic association. Children also performed four 'localizer' tasks including 'picture rhyming', 'picture meaning', 'speech reading' involving matching lip movements, and 'signed language' involving matching handshape, location or movement. The use of localizers is innovative allowing one to independently identify regions involved in phonological and semantic processing without phonological or orthographic input to examine how these mechanisms may be involved in reading. There is also a comprehensive battery of standardized assessments that measures hearing, reading, language, and cognitive processes that enable detailed analyses of brain-behaviour relationships. Moreover, questionnaires were administered to comprehensively describe the developmental and health history of the participants.