title: Postural control is not systematically related to reading skills: implications for the assessment of balance as a risk factor for developmental dyslexia.
abstract: Impaired postural control has been associated with poor reading skills, as well as with lower performance on measures of attention and motor control variables that frequently co-occur with reading difficulties. Measures of balance and motor control have been incorporated into several screening batteries for developmental dyslexia, but it is unclear whether the relationship between such skills and reading manifests as a behavioural continuum across the range of abilities or is restricted to groups of individuals with specific disorder phenotypes. Here were obtained measures of postural control alongside measures of reading, attention and general cognitive skills in a large sample of young adults (n = 100). Postural control was assessed using centre of pressure (CoP) measurements, obtained over 5 different task conditions. Our results indicate an absence of strong statistical relationships between balance measures with either reading, cognitive or attention measures across the sample as a whole.
authors.affiliation: Sør-Trøndelag University College, Trondheim, Norway.
authors.forename: Håvard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Loras
authors.affiliation: Sør-Trøndelag University College, Trondheim, Norway; Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
authors.forename: Hermundur
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sigmundsson
authors.affiliation: Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
authors.forename: Ann-Katrin
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Stensdotter
authors.affiliation: Aston Brain Centre, School of Life and Health Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Joel B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Talcott
mesh_terms: D004410:Dyslexia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011932:Reading; D012307:Risk Factors; D055815:Young Adult