Dyslexia and the Brain

Dr. Guinevere Eden, in her presentation Dyslexia and the Brain (2016), outlines different parts of the brain that are involved in reading.  When accessing representations of sound from one part of the brain and integrating those with the visual part in back of brain so that we begin to put sound with sight and begin to recognize words.  The more that we see and hear these words, the more we recognize.  There is a separate part of the brain that we use for pronunciation.  Dr. Eden describes how the visual part of the brain, which recognized images becomes "hijacked by reading".  She explained that explicit instruction and rules about how words are constructed help those with dyslexia. “When you understand relationship between sounds and letters and have an opportunity to practice then you can go on to derive meaning. Not effective instruction are interventions that focus on eye movement control or balance.”  Avoid, ineffective interventions that focus on balance and eye movement.  

   Hudson et al in their presentation on Dyslexia and the Brain (2007) also describe dyslexia as a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. “These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. (Lyon, Shaywitz, & Shaywitz, 2003, p. 2)” They then go on to explain the five different parts of the brain that are involved in reading as well as the gray and white matter and neural pathways that connect each of these areas. With so many parts of the brain involved, I am not surprised that there are a variety of difficulties faced by those with dyslexia.

      Last spring I attended a presentation with Craig Buscher in 2017 at Park Academy in Lake Oswego as part of an IDA conference.  Dr. Buscher explained dyslexia in the following manner. The phonological processor in the front of the brain takes in the sounds. This is the speech sound system part of the brain. The meaning process translates those sounds to make connections. The orthographic processor in the back of the brain is responsible for letters, symbols and writing output. The data from this is also going to the meaning processor part of the brain. Only when the brain is able to make connections between these to areas can there be a phonemic connection that is reading (sounds and letters).  The  data is then stored in the memory part of the brain. Once the connections are made between sound and visuals, the meaning part of the brain can then transfer data to the context processor which is where you can access background information, sentence context, etc. Having a student who struggled remembering words from day to day I asked Dr. Buscher what we know about how the data is stored in short term or long term memory (two additional areas of the brain). He did not know about current research regarding this but the entire presentation made me aware of how many variances there must be with people with dyslexia. There are numerous pathways that can be obstructed and blocked that involve no less than 5 parts of the brain. I think we are in the very early stages of understanding what goes on in the brain with people with dyslexia.

Buscher, Craig.  Dyslexia. Park Academy, Lake Oswego.  March 10, 2017

Eden, Dr. Guinevere. “Dyslexia and the Brain.” YouTube, YouTube, 14 Oct. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrF6m1mRsCQ.

Hudson, Roxanne F., et al. “Dyslexia and the Brain: What Does Current Research Tell Us?” The Reading Teacher, vol. 60, no. 6, 2007, pp. 506–515., doi:10.1598/rt.60.6.1.