Research Topic: Infant Brain Development and Dyslexia

Studies of infants with a family history of dyslexia have shown that differences in brain function can be detected as early as two months. These include differences in the way the brain responds to speech sounds as well as differences in growth patterns of the brain wiring for language. These differences have also been shown to correlate to later development of reading skills when the children reach school age.

Research Articles:

Ao Chen. Later but Not Weaker: Neural Categorization of Native Vowels of Children at Familial Risk of Dyslexia. Brain Sciences. 12(3), 412;, (2022).

Maria Mittag, Eric Larson, Samu Taulu, Maggie Clarke, and Patricia K. Kuhl. Reduced Theta Sampling in Infants at Risk for Dyslexia across the Sensitive Period of Native Phoneme Learning. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 19, no. 3: 1180, (2022).

Xi Yu, Silvina Ferradal, Jade Dunstan, Clarisa Carruthers, Joseph Sanfilippo, Jennifer Zuk, Lilla Zöllei, Borjan Gagoski, Yangming Ou, P. Ellen Grant, Nadine Gaab. Patterns of Neural Functional Connectivity in Infants at Familial Risk of Developmental Dyslexia. JAMA Network Open. 5(10):e2236102, (2022).

Xi Yu, Silvina Ferradal, Jade Dunstan, Clarisa Carruthers, Joseph Sanfilippo, Jennifer Zuk, Lilla Zöllei, Borjan Gagoski, Yangming Ou, P. Ellen Grant, Nadine Gaab. Atypical functional connectivity of the left fusiform gyrus in infants at familial risk for developmental dyslexia. MedRxiv Preprints. , (2022).

Jin Li, David E. Osher, Heather A. Hansen & Zeynep M. Saygin. Innate connectivity patterns drive the development of the visual word form area.. Scientific Reports. 10, Article number: 18039, (2020).

Nicolas Langer, Barbara Peysakhovich, Jennifer Zuk, Marie Drottar, Danielle D Sliva, Sara Smith, Bryce L C Becker, P Ellen Grant, Nadine Gaab. White Matter Alterations in Infants at Risk for Developmental Dyslexia. Cerebral Cortex. Volume 27, Issue 2, Pages 1027–1036,, (2017).

van Zuijen, T. L., Plakas, A., Maassen, B. A., Maurits, N. M., & van der Leij, A.. Infant ERPs Separate Children at Risk of Dyslexia Who Become Good Readers From Those Who Become Poor Readers. Developmental Science. 16(4), 554–563, (2013).

van Zuijen, T. L., Plakas, A., Maassen, B. A., Been, P., Maurits, N. M., Krikhaar, E., van Driel, J., & van der Leij, A.. Temporal auditory processing at 17 months of age is associated with preliterate language comprehension and later word reading fluency: an ERP study. Neuroscience Letters. 528(1), 31–35, (2012).


When Dyslexics Become Good Readers

When Dyslexics Become Good Readers

What Brain Science Tells us About Dyslexia and the Reading Brain. Reading well requires reliance on different mental strengths.
When Phonics Doesn't Work

When Phonics Doesn't Work

Traditional tutoring for dyslexia relies on intensive instruction in phonemic awareness and the phonetic code. But such teaching is an arduous process for many students. Often progress is slow, relying heavily on repetition and "overlearning."...