Dyslexia Brain
Reading
Q: How do dyslexics process letters and words?
A: Dyslexia simply means trouble with reading. Trouble comes in a wide variety of ways. For instance, some dyslexics have difficulty with certain short consonants (like b and d) while many others have problems distinguishing the vowel sounds. Cognitive training helps them better identify, separate, blend, and analyze the phonemes (sounds) of language more distinctly and accurately.
Researchers indicate that during the first six months of life, when sounds are being hardwired in a baby’s brain, nerve cells may clump up in the language center, thereby interfering with the ability to receive and transmit certain messages.3
Fortunately, this need not be a permanent condition. Because of the extreme adaptability of the brain, cognitive training can restructure these pathways, removing the logjams to allow messages to flow more smoothly.
Dyslexia Brain – Can it be improved?
Q: Does the brain actually change as the result of training reading-related cognitive skills?
A: With the advent of fMRI (a way of looking at what’s active in the brain during a task like reading) we can see the change in the brain as a result of specialized training.4 For example, in a good reader, an area in the occipito-temporal region is most active, and in a poor reader, the activity is scattered in numerous areas. After a period of auditory-based cognitive training, the previously poor fMRI image now shows the pattern of a good reader’s fMRI. The brain changed, and we can see it!
Return To Other Cognitive Learning Topics
3 Gopnik, A., Meltzoff, A., and Kuhl, P. The Scientist in the Crib: Minds, Brains, and How Children Learn. William Morrow & Company. 1999.
4 Karnia, A. Karnia., Morocza, I.A., Bitana, T., Shaule, S., Kushnirb,
T., Breznitz, Z. An fMRI study of the differential effects of word presentation rates (reading acceleration) on dyslexic readers’ brain activity patterns. Journal of Neurolinguistics. 18 (197–219). 2005.
Excerpts of the book Unlock the Enstein Inside by Dr. Ken Gibson
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