Dyslexia: a new synergy between education and cognitive neuroscience.
Reading is essential in modern societies, but many children have dyslexia, a difficulty in learning to read. Dyslexia often arises from impaired phonological awareness, the auditory analysis of spoken language that relates the sounds of language to print. Behavioral remediation, especially at a young age, is effective for many, but not all, children. Neuroimaging in children with dyslexia has revealed reduced engagement of the left temporo-parietal cortex for phonological processing of print, altered white-matter connectivity, and functional plasticity associated with effective intervention. Behavioral and brain measures identify infants and young children at risk for dyslexia, and preventive intervention is often effective. A combination of evidence-based teaching practices and cognitive neuroscience measures could prevent dyslexia from occurring in the majority of children who would otherwise develop dyslexia.
Gabrieli
John D E
JD
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Harvard-Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Division of Health Sciences and Technology and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, 43 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. gabrieli@mit.edu
D001184:Articulation Disorders; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004410:Dyslexia / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D004493:Education; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D010700:Phonetics; D011932:Reading; D012073:Remedial Teaching; D013067:Speech Perception; D014796:Visual Perception