title: Developmental dyslexia and explicit long-term memory.
abstract: The reduced verbal long-term memory capacities often reported in dyslexics are generally interpreted as a consequence of their deficit in phonological coding.The present study was aimed at evaluating whether the learning deficit exhibited by dyslexics was restricted only to the verbal component of the long-term memory abilities or also involved visual-object and visual-spatial domain. A further goal of the present study was to investigate the predictive value of non-verbal long-term memory abilities with respect to word and non-word reading in dyslexic children.In accordance with these aims, performances of 60 dyslexic children were compared with that of 65 age-matched normal readers on verbal, visual-spatial and visual-object task.Results documented a generalized impairment of episodic long-term memory capacities in dyslexic children and the results did not vary as a function of children's age.Furthermore, in addition to verbal measures, also individual differences in non-verbal long-term memory tasks turn out to be good predictors of reading difficulties in dyslexics.Our findings indicate that the long-term memory deficit in dyslexia is not limited to the dysfunction of phonological components but also involves visual-object and visual-spatial aspect, thus suggesting that dyslexia is associated to multiple cognitive deficits.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, I.R.C.C.S. Children's Hospital Bambino Gesù, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Deny
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Menghini
authors.forename: Giovanni Augusto
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Carlesimo
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marotta
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Finzi
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vicari
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001245:Association Learning; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D004410:Dyslexia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D057567:Memory, Long-Term; D011939:Mental Recall; D012016:Reference Values; D012153:Retention, Psychology; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014706:Verbal Learning