-
The Permanente Journal 2016
Topics: Adult; Agnosia; Anomia; Color Perception; Dyslexia; Female; Humans
PubMed: 27352419
DOI: 10.7812/TPP/15-165 -
Journal of AAPOS : the Official... Dec 2017Reading is a major life activity, as recognized by the US Congress in the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008, and the education code of most US...
Reading is a major life activity, as recognized by the US Congress in the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008, and the education code of most US states requires schools to evaluate reading and implement reading programs to addresses students' reading difficulties. Currently, such legislation is employed to identify accommodations needed for children with bilateral visual impairment and for children with dyslexia and/or related learning disabilities. Yet recent research has shown that children with the most common form of monocular visual impairment-amblyopia-read slowly. Slow reading can be detrimental to academic performance and learning, which in turn may affect self-esteem. Parents and educators can work together to implement accommodations (eg, extra time) to help amblyopic students succeed in their daily school tasks, and improve their performance on the timed, standardized tests that are critical for promotion and admission to magnet schools, TAG programs, high schools, and colleges. Children with other visual disorders that cause visual impairment in one eye (eg, glaucoma, cataract, trauma, etc) should also be considered for academic accommodations.
Topics: Accommodation, Ocular; Amblyopia; Child; Child, Preschool; Dyslexia; Educational Status; Humans; Infant; Ophthalmology; Pediatrics; Psychology, Child; Reading
PubMed: 28870794
DOI: 10.1016/j.jaapos.2017.06.013 -
The European Journal of Neuroscience Nov 2018The capacity for language is one of the key features underlying the complexity of human cognition and its evolution. However, little is known about the neurobiological... (Review)
Review
The capacity for language is one of the key features underlying the complexity of human cognition and its evolution. However, little is known about the neurobiological mechanisms that mediate normal or impaired linguistic ability. For developmental dyslexia, early postmortem studies conducted in the 1980s linked the disorder to subtle defects in the migration of neurons in the developing neocortex. These early studies were reinforced by human genetic analyses that identified dyslexia susceptibility genes and subsequent evidence of their involvement in neuronal migration. In this review, we examine recent experimental evidence that does not support the link between dyslexia and neuronal migration. We critically evaluate gene function studies conducted in rodent models and draw attention to the lack of robust evidence from histopathological and imaging studies in humans. Our review suggests that the neuronal migration hypothesis of dyslexia should be reconsidered, and the neurobiological basis of dyslexia should be approached with a fresh start.
Topics: Animals; Cell Movement; Disease Models, Animal; Dyslexia; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Humans; Neocortex; Neurons
PubMed: 30218584
DOI: 10.1111/ejn.14149 -
Acta Psychologica Jun 2024In recent decades, the connections between academic skills, such as reading, writing, and calculation, and motor skills/capacities have received increasing attention.... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
In recent decades, the connections between academic skills, such as reading, writing, and calculation, and motor skills/capacities have received increasing attention. Many studies provided evidence for motor difficulties in children and adolescents with dyslexia, prompting the need for a meta-analysis to combine these multiple findings. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis using PsycINFO, Pubmed, and SportDiscus as scientific databases. A total of 572 studies were analyzed following several stringent inclusion criteria, resulting in the inclusion of 23 peer-reviewed studies in the final analysis. Our results showed that children and adolescents with dyslexia displayed significant different performances in multiple motor tasks and these differences persisted also when the type of motor task was considered as moderator in the analysis. The present findings are in accordance with the literature that supports a close connection between reading disabilities and difficulties in motor skills/capacities.
Topics: Humans; Dyslexia; Motor Skills; Child; Adolescent; Reading
PubMed: 38642452
DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2024.104269 -
BMC Medical Genomics Sep 2023Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is commonly associated with developmental dyslexia (DD), which are both prevalent and complicated pediatric...
BACKGROUND
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is commonly associated with developmental dyslexia (DD), which are both prevalent and complicated pediatric neurodevelopmental disorders that have a significant influence on children's learning and development. Clinically, the comorbidity incidence of DD and ADHD is between 25 and 48%. Children with DD and ADHD may have more severe cognitive deficiencies, a poorer level of schooling, and a higher risk of social and emotional management disorders. Furthermore, patients with this comorbidity are frequently treated for a single condition in clinical settings, and the therapeutic outcome is poor. The development of effective treatment approaches against these diseases is complicated by their comorbidity features. This is often a major problem in diagnosis and treatment. In this study, we developed bioinformatical methodology for the analysis of the comorbidity of these two diseases. As such, the search for candidate genes related to the comorbid conditions of ADHD and DD can help in elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying the comorbid condition, and can also be useful for genotyping and identifying new drug targets.
RESULTS
Using the ANDSystem tool, the reconstruction and analysis of gene networks associated with ADHD and dyslexia was carried out. The gene network of ADHD included 599 genes/proteins and 148,978 interactions, while that of dyslexia included 167 genes/proteins and 27,083 interactions. When the ANDSystem and GeneCards data were combined, a total of 213 genes/proteins for ADHD and dyslexia were found. An approach for ranking genes implicated in the comorbid condition of the two diseases was proposed. The approach is based on ten criteria for ranking genes by their importance, including relevance scores of association between disease and genes, standard methods of gene prioritization, as well as original criteria that take into account the characteristics of an associative gene network and the presence of known polymorphisms in the analyzed genes. Among the top 20 genes with the highest priority DRD2, DRD4, CNTNAP2 and GRIN2B are mentioned in the literature as directly linked with the comorbidity of ADHD and dyslexia. According to the proposed approach, the genes OPRM1, CHRNA4 and SNCA had the highest priority in the development of comorbidity of these two diseases. Additionally, it was revealed that the most relevant genes are involved in biological processes related to signal transduction, positive regulation of transcription from RNA polymerase II promoters, chemical synaptic transmission, response to drugs, ion transmembrane transport, nervous system development, cell adhesion, and neuron migration.
CONCLUSIONS
The application of methods of reconstruction and analysis of gene networks is a powerful tool for studying the molecular mechanisms of comorbid conditions. The method put forth to rank genes by their importance for the comorbid condition of ADHD and dyslexia was employed to predict genes that play key roles in the development of the comorbid condition. The results can be utilized to plan experiments for the identification of novel candidate genes and search for novel pharmacological targets.
Topics: Humans; Child; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity; Gene Regulatory Networks; Dyslexia; Comorbidity; Cell Movement
PubMed: 37667328
DOI: 10.1186/s12920-023-01502-1 -
Dyslexia (Chichester, England) Feb 2023Children with dyslexia, compared with typically reading peers, are at increased risk of internalising (e.g., anxiety) and externalising (e.g., aggression) mental health...
Children with dyslexia, compared with typically reading peers, are at increased risk of internalising (e.g., anxiety) and externalising (e.g., aggression) mental health concerns; why this is the case is largely unknown. Our aim was to explore the socio-emotional experience of growing up with dyslexia from both child and parent perspectives. In so doing, we aimed to gain a better understanding of self-esteem and mental health in the context of dyslexia. One-to-one semi-structured interviews with 17 children with reading difficulties (aged 9-14 years; 16 with a diagnosis of dyslexia) and their mothers (interviewed separately) were analysed using Braun and Clarke's reflexive thematic analysis approach with a neurodiversity lens. We developed three themes to address the research aim: (1) Different in a good/bad way; (2) Exhausted and overwhelmed; and (3) It takes a community: Family school connections. Children discussed having "worries" and experiencing school-related stress and embarrassment. Mothers perceived children's internalising and externalising behaviour (meltdowns), school refusal, and homework resistance as emotional responses to children's school struggles due to poor "person-environment fit." Our analysis highlights the particular importance of parent support, friendship, and school-connectedness for the wellbeing of children with dyslexia.
Topics: Humans; Child; Mental Health; Dyslexia; Parents; Reading; Schools
PubMed: 36349866
DOI: 10.1002/dys.1729 -
Human Brain Mapping Apr 2022Poor phonological processing has typically been considered the main cause of dyslexia. However, visuo-attentional processing abnormalities have been described as well....
Poor phonological processing has typically been considered the main cause of dyslexia. However, visuo-attentional processing abnormalities have been described as well. The goal of the present study was to determine the involvement of visual attention during fluent reading in children with dyslexia and typical readers. Here, 75 children (8-12 years old; 36 typical readers, 39 children with dyslexia) completed cognitive and reading assessments. Neuroimaging data were acquired while children performed a fluent reading task with (a) a condition where the text remained on the screen (Still) versus (b) a condition in which the letters were being deleted (Deleted). Cognitive assessment data analysis revealed that visual attention, executive functions, and phonological awareness significantly contributed to reading comprehension in both groups. A seed-to-voxel functional connectivity analysis was performed on the fluency functional magnetic resonance imaging task. Typical readers showed greater functional connectivity between the dorsal attention network and the left angular gyrus while performing the Still and Deleted reading tasks versus children with dyslexia. Higher connectivity values were associated with higher reading comprehension. The control group showed increased functional connectivity between the ventral attention network and the fronto-parietal network during the Deleted text condition (compared with the Still condition). Children with dyslexia did not display this pattern. The results suggest that the synchronized activity of executive, visual attention, and reading-related networks is a pattern of functional integration which children with dyslexia fail to achieve. The present evidence points toward a critical role of visual attention in dyslexia.
Topics: Child; Dyslexia; Executive Function; Humans; Language; Parietal Lobe; Reading
PubMed: 34981603
DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25753 -
Language, Speech, and Hearing Services... Oct 2023The purpose of this exploratory study was to evaluate speech-language pathologists' (SLPs') conceptions and misconceptions about dyslexia.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this exploratory study was to evaluate speech-language pathologists' (SLPs') conceptions and misconceptions about dyslexia.
METHOD
Participants were 86 school-based SLPs. They completed an online survey on which they rated their agreement and disagreement with true and false statements related to the scientific evidence about the nature of dyslexia and interventions for dyslexia, as well as common misconceptions about dyslexia.
RESULTS
There was considerable variability among SLPs' agreement and disagreement with the statements. Critically, despite abundant contrary evidence in the literature, many SLPs believe that dyslexia involves a visual processing deficit.
CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that many school-based SLPs hold misconceptions about dyslexia, especially those related to dyslexia being a visual disorder. The identified misconceptions may contribute to some SLPs' reluctance to incorporate reading and prereading skills into speech-language assessment and intervention. SLPs need greater knowledge of dyslexia to provide more effective evaluations and intervention services.
Topics: Humans; Speech; Pathologists; Dyslexia; Communication Disorders; Speech Therapy; Surveys and Questionnaires; Speech-Language Pathology
PubMed: 37672782
DOI: 10.1044/2023_LSHSS-22-00199 -
The Journal of Neuroscience : the... Jan 2022Children with and without dyslexia differ in their behavioral responses to visual information, particularly when required to pool dynamic signals over space and time....
Children with and without dyslexia differ in their behavioral responses to visual information, particularly when required to pool dynamic signals over space and time. Importantly, multiple processes contribute to behavioral responses. Here we investigated which processing stages are affected in children with dyslexia when performing visual motion processing tasks, by combining two methods that are sensitive to the dynamic processes leading to responses. We used a diffusion model which decomposes response time and accuracy into distinct cognitive constructs, and high-density EEG. Fifty children with dyslexia (24 male) and 50 typically developing children (28 male) 6-14 years of age judged the direction of motion as quickly and accurately as possible in two global motion tasks (motion coherence and direction integration), which varied in their requirements for noise exclusion. Following our preregistered analyses, we fitted hierarchical Bayesian diffusion models to the data, blinded to group membership. Unblinding revealed reduced evidence accumulation in children with dyslexia compared with typical children for both tasks. Additionally, we identified a response-locked EEG component which was maximal over centro-parietal electrodes which indicated a neural correlate of reduced drift rate in dyslexia in the motion coherence task, thereby linking brain and behavior. We suggest that children with dyslexia tend to be slower to extract sensory evidence from global motion displays, regardless of whether noise exclusion is required, thus furthering our understanding of atypical perceptual decision-making processes in dyslexia. Reduced sensitivity to visual information has been reported in dyslexia, with a lively debate about whether these differences causally contribute to reading difficulties. In this large preregistered study with a blind modeling approach, we combine state-of-the art methods in both computational modeling and EEG analysis to pinpoint the stages of processing that are atypical in children with dyslexia in two visual motion tasks that vary in their requirement for noise exclusion. We find reduced evidence accumulation in children with dyslexia across both tasks, and identify a neural marker, allowing us to link brain and behavior. We show that children with dyslexia exhibit general difficulties with extracting sensory evidence from global motion displays, not just in tasks that require noise exclusion.
Topics: Adolescent; Brain; Child; Decision Making; Dyslexia; Electroencephalography; Female; Humans; Male; Motion Perception
PubMed: 34782439
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1232-21.2021 -
NeuroImage Nov 2021Current views on the neural network subserving reading and its deficits in dyslexia rely largely on evidence derived from functional neuroimaging studies. However,... (Observational Study)
Observational Study
Current views on the neural network subserving reading and its deficits in dyslexia rely largely on evidence derived from functional neuroimaging studies. However, understanding the structural organization of reading and its aberrations in dyslexia requires a hodological approach, studies of which have not provided consistent findings. Here, we adopted a whole brain hodological approach and investigated relationships between structural white matter connectivity and reading skills and phonological processing in a cross-sectional study of 44 adults using individual local connectome matrix from diffusion MRI data. Moreover, we performed quantitative anisotropy aided differential tractography to uncover structural white matter anomalies in dyslexia (23 dyslexics and 21 matched controls) and their correlation to reading-related skills. The connectometry analyses indicated that reading skills and phonological processing were both associated with corpus callosum (tapetum), forceps major and minor, as well as cerebellum bilaterally. Furthermore, the left dorsal and right thalamic pathways were associated with phonological processing. Differential tractography analyses revealed structural white matter anomalies in dyslexics in the left ventral route and bilaterally in the dorsal route compared to the controls. Connectivity deficits were also observed in the corpus callosum, forceps major, vertical occipital fasciculus and corticostriatal and thalamic pathways. Altered structural connectivity in the observed differential tractography results correlated with poor reading skills and phonological processing. Using a hodological approach, the current study provides novel evidence for the extent of the reading-related connectome and its aberrations in dyslexia. The results conform current functional neuroanatomical models of reading and developmental dyslexia but provide novel network-level and tract-level evidence on structural connectivity anomalies in dyslexia, including the vertical occipital fasciculus.
Topics: Adult; Brain; Connectome; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dyslexia; Female; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Nerve Net; Reading; White Matter; Young Adult
PubMed: 34293464
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118411