Functional magnetic resonance imaging sequential-finger movement activation differentiating good and poor writers.

Good and poor fifth-grade writers differed, after controlling for multiple comparisons, in 42 brain regions on group maps and then individual brain analyses for functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) contrast between tapping adjacent fingers sequentially and same finger repeatedly. Of these, 11 regions were correlated with both handwriting and spelling (transcription). Gender differences on the fMRI contrast, with girls more activated, occurred only in left superior parietal, which was correlated with handwriting and spelling. Significance of serial organization of fingers for handwriting and spelling is discussed.