Reading Dyslexia Differently
Scientists studying the brains of dyslexic children say they can now accurately predict which child will overcome their disability and which will continue to struggle to read throughout later life.
A Stanford University research team has been using brain scans on children with dyslexia and they can tell with 90 percent accuracy which kids will overcome the learning disability and which kids will struggle their whole lives.
It’s not a matter of mind reading but rather of better understanding which areas of the brain are associated with reading. While this personalized treatment isn’t ready for every child now, perhaps a brain scan of a dyslexic child in the future will help parents decide which course of action to take in helping their child overcome or reduce dyslexia.
Brain areas showing greater activation among good readers vs. poor readers
Scientists are now convinced there is a marker in the brain that points to an outcome of dyslexia but they aren’t sure which parts of the brain govern the individual behaviors associated with reading or other cognitive processes like attention or working memory.
In the Stanford study, Fumiko Hoeft found that children who had greater activation in one part of the brain had a better chance to compensate for dyslexia. She also discovered that children with more connectivity between brain regions on the right side of the brain are better able to overcome their deficit.
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