title: Contributions of Letter-Speech Sound Learning and Visual Print Tuning to Reading Improvement: Evidence from Brain Potential and Dyslexia Training Studies.
abstract: We use a neurocognitive perspective to discuss the contribution of learning letter-speech sound (L-SS) associations and visual specialization in the initial phases of reading in dyslexic children. We review findings from associative learning studies on related cognitive skills important for establishing and consolidating L-SS associations. Then we review brain potential studies, including our own, that yielded two markers associated with reading fluency. Here we show that the marker related to visual specialization (N170) predicts word and pseudoword reading fluency in children who received additional practice in the processing of morphological word structure. Conversely, L-SS integration (indexed by mismatch negativity (MMN)) may only remain important when direct orthography to semantic conversion is not possible, such as in pseudoword reading. In addition, the correlation between these two markers supports the notion that multisensory integration facilitates visual specialization. Finally, we review the role of implicit learning and executive functions in audiovisual learning in dyslexia. Implications for remedial research are discussed and suggestions for future studies are presented.
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1018 WS, The Netherlands. g.fragagonzalez@uva.nl.|Rudolf Berlin Center, Amsterdam 1018 WS, The Netherlands. g.fragagonzalez@uva.nl.
authors.forename: Gorka
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fraga González
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht 6200 MD, The Netherlands. gojko.zaric@maastrichtuniversity.nl.|Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Maastricht University, Maastricht 6200 MD, The Netherlands. gojko.zaric@maastrichtuniversity.nl.
authors.forename: Gojko
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Žarić
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1018 WS, The Netherlands. j.tijms@uva.nl.|Rudolf Berlin Center, Amsterdam 1018 WS, The Netherlands. j.tijms@uva.nl.|IWAL Institute, Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1001 EW, The Netherlands. j.tijms@uva.nl.
authors.forename: Jurgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tijms
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht 6200 MD, The Netherlands. m.bonte@maastrichtuniversity.nl.|Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Maastricht University, Maastricht 6200 MD, The Netherlands. m.bonte@maastrichtuniversity.nl.
authors.forename: Milene
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bonte
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1018 WS, The Netherlands. M.W.vanderMolen@uva.nl.|Amsterdam Brain and Cognition, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1018 WT, The Netherlands. M.W.vanderMolen@uva.nl.
authors.forename: Maurits W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: van der Molen
keywords: ERP; MMN; N170; associative learning; dyslexia; letter-speech sound integration; reading