title: Working-memory training improves developmental dyslexia in Chinese children.
abstract: Although plasticity in the neural system underlies working memory, and working memory can be improved by training, there is thus far no evidence that children with developmental dyslexia can benefit from working-memory training. In the present study, thirty dyslexic children aged 8-11 years were recruited from an elementary school in Wuhan, China. They received working-memory training, including training in visuospatial memory, verbal memory, and central executive tasks. The difficulty of the tasks was adjusted based on the performance of each subject, and the training sessions lasted 40 minutes per day, for 5 weeks. The results showed that working-memory training significantly enhanced performance on the nontrained working memory tasks such as the visuospatial, the verbal domains, and central executive tasks in children with developmental dyslexia. More importantly, the visual rhyming task and reading fluency task were also significantly improved by training. Progress on working memory measures was related to changes in reading skills. These experimental findings indicate that working memory is a pivotal factor in reading development among children with developmental dyslexia, and interventions to improve working memory may help dyslexic children to become more proficient in reading.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Women Health Care, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Wuhan Mental Health Center, Wuhan 430000, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Women Health Care, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: Hanrong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Women Health Care, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: Dongmei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Women Health Care, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
keywords: Chinese children; brain function; central executive task; developmental dyslexia; grants-supported paper; neural regeneration; neuroregeneration; neurorehabilitation; photographs-containing paper; reading fluency task; training; verbal memory; visual rhyming task; visuospatial memory; working memory