L/M speed-matching ratio predicts reading in children.
OBJECTIVE
Many behavioral studies have found impaired perception of dynamic visual stimuli in dyslexia and several neuroimaging studies have found reduced activation of the human motion area MT+ in dyslexia. These results are often interpreted as a magnocellular (MC) deficit in dyslexia. It has also been claimed that colored filters can help dyslexics to read. One defining feature of the MC-pathway is a greater weight for L-cone input than M-cone input, and at most very weak S-cone input. We measured the subjective speed matches between L-, M-, and S-cone isolating stimuli in good and poor readers.


METHODS
Subjects performed a speed-matching task with drifting cone-isolating stimuli to find the point of subjective equality between two drifting patterns. Such a task is known to activate cortical area MT+, presumably via the MC-pathway.


RESULTS
L- to M-cone speed-match ratios were negatively correlated with single-word (r=-0.46) and irregular-word reading (r=-0.56) but not with non-word reading.


CONCLUSIONS
Results suggest that relative L-cone sensitivity within the MC-pathway may limit orthographic reading performance.
Chase
Chris
C
Department of Psychology, Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, California 91711, USA. chris.chase@claremontmckenna.edu
Dougherty
Robert F
RF
Ray
Nicola
N
Fowler
Susan
S
Stein
John
J
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology; D015350:Contrast Sensitivity / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011601:Psychophysics / Q000379:methods; D011932:Reading; D017949:Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014787:Vision Tests; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology*