Phonological dyslexia: a test case for reading models.
Following brain damage, skilled readers may encounter more severe problems in reading nonwords than familiar words, a type of deficit referred to as phonological dyslexia. We report on 2 individuals with Alzheimer's disease who show phonological dyslexia. Although highly accurate in reading familiar words aloud (even those with irregular spelling, such as sew), they were quite impaired in nonword reading. Both patients performed well in phonological tasks involving the repetition, identification, and manipulation of phonemes of orally presented words and nonwords. These results challenge the idea, proposed in the context of connectionist and evolutionary theories, that phonological dyslexia originates from a phonological deficit. However, the results are consistent with reading models, such as the dual-route model, that attribute phonological dyslexia to a deficit that selectively affects the reading mechanisms responsible for deriving the sounds of nonwords. According to these models, such a deficit is not necessarily accompanied by a more general phonological impairment.
Cognitive Neuroscience Division, Taub Institute for Research in Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain.
Elise Caccappolo-van
EC
Vliet
Michele
M
Miozzo
Yaakov
Y
Stern
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D004411:Dyslexia, Acquired / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010700:Phonetics; D012720:Severity of Illness Index