Dyslexia News and Research

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Dyslexia is a learning disability that makes itself manifest primarily as a difficulty with the visual notation of speech or written language, particularly with reading the various man-made writing systems. It is separate and distinct from reading difficulties resulting from other causes, such as a non-neurological deficiency with vision or hearing, or from poor or inadequate reading instruction. This suggests that dyslexia results from differences in how the brain processes written and spoken language.

Novel brain-scanning technique maps flow of visual information in brain with unique accuracy

Every time you open your eyes, visual information flows into your brain, which interprets what you're seeing. Now, for the first time, MIT neuroscientists have noninvasively mapped this flow of information in the human brain with unique accuracy, using a novel brain-scanning technique.

28 Jan 2014

Less gray matter in brain not linked to reading disabilities in people with dyslexia

In people with dyslexia, less gray matter in the brain has been linked to reading disabilities, but now new evidence suggests this is a consequence of poorer reading experiences and not the root cause of the disorder.

15 Jan 2014

Neurocognitive abnormalities ‘fundamental’ to schizophrenia

Rare copy-number variants that confer a high risk for schizophrenia or autism are associated with impaired cognition in carriers without psychiatric disorders, researchers report in Nature.

19 Dec 2013

PPDC receives $1.5 million grant to advance pediatric medical devices

For medical devices, as with many medicines, the market for children is a small fraction of the adult market, and there are far fewer child-sized devices. But, of course, the need exists, even if proper devices may not.

12 Dec 2013

Lord Walton of Detchant receives honorary degree from Northumbria University

Northumbria University, Newcastle has today awarded Lord Walton of Detchant with an honorary degree in recognition of his long career as a world-leading neurologist.

4 Dec 2013

3T MRI scanner allows Polish scientists to perform structural and functional imaging of human brain

The Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology in Warsaw launches research programs, which require state-of-the-art magnetic resonance scanner.

3 Dec 2013

Auditory processing disorder diagnosis: an interview with Dr Doris-Eva Bamiou, UCL Ear Institute

It is a listening or hearing disorder, which is due to the brain’s defective analysis of sounds, so that individuals who are affected with this disorder cannot make sense of what they hear.

26 Nov 2013

Study identifies new genes involved in autism

A scientific study published on the journal Molecular Psychiatry identifies new genes involved in autism, a polygenic disorder that is difficult to diagnose and treat. Autism spectrum disorders represent a group of neurodevelopmental disorders which affect one out of 80-100 children.

23 Oct 2013

E-Readers may help people with dyslexia read more easily

As e-readers grow in popularity as convenient alternatives to traditional books, researchers at the Smithsonian have found that convenience may not be their only benefit. The team discovered that when e-readers are set up to display only a few words per line, some people with dyslexia can read more easily, quickly and with greater comprehension. Their findings are published in the Sept. 18 issue of the journal PLOS ONE.

19 Sep 2013

Study looks at correlation between reading ability and brain structure

A combination of brain scans and reading tests has revealed that several regions in the brain are responsible for allowing humans to read.

6 Aug 2013

Researchers identify neural pathways involved in word learning among humans

For the first time scientists have identified how a pathway in the brain which is unique to humans allows us to learn new words. The average adult's vocabulary consists of about 30,000 words. This ability seems unique to humans as even the species closest to us -- chimps -- manage to learn no more than 100.

23 Jul 2013

Researchers identify genetic variants that can predispose children to dyslexia, language impairment

A new study of the genetic origins of dyslexia and other learning disabilities could allow for earlier diagnoses and more successful interventions, according to researchers at Yale School of Medicine. Many students now are not diagnosed until high school, at which point treatments are less effective.

14 Jun 2013

Weekend reading: Mental illness stigma, health insurance mazes and female libido

Linneah sat at a desk at the Center for Sexual Medicine at Sheppard Pratt in the suburbs of Baltimore and filled out a questionnaire. She read briskly, making swift checks beside her selected answers, and when she was finished, she handed the pages across the desk to Martina Miller, who gave her a round of pills.

24 May 2013

HoD assistance agent: New app to help older people solve everyday tasks and problems

A new smartphone application, developed by scientists at the University of Ulster, which could help older people engage fully in an increasingly self-serve society, may be ready for use by the end of the year.

23 May 2013

Neuroscientists find significant differences in brain anatomy of dyslexic people

Using MRI, neuroscientists at Georgetown University Medical Center found significant differences in brain anatomy when comparing men and women with dyslexia to their non-dyslexic control groups, suggesting that the disorder may have a different brain-based manifestation based on sex.

9 May 2013

Study gives insight into underlying causes of specific learning disabilities

Up to 10 per cent of the population is affected by specific learning disabilities (SLDs), such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and autism, translating to two or three pupils in every classroom, a new study has found.

29 Apr 2013

Study challenges correlation between bad behaviors in children with hearing implants, language delay

A new study presented today at the 48th Annual American Neurotology Society spring meeting is challenging a long held belief among speech therapists and audiologists that bad behavior in young children with hearing implants is an indicator of device failure and a predictor of poor language development.

15 Apr 2013

Life-changing ChromaGen lenses for people with dyslexia, other reading disorders

Words that move from left to right or up and down, words that are blurry or come in and out of focus or words that appear to float on the page, seeing double words or double sentences, re-reading the same lines - these are some of the reading difficulties that students everywhere are struggling with.

3 Apr 2013

'Better Vision' app can support visually impaired and dyslectic people

To support visually impaired and dyslectic people in their efforts to read, the 'Better Vision' app has been developed: a functional and handy all-in-one app that magnifies text and reads English, German, Spanish or Dutch text out loud on iPhones, iPads (mini) and Android devices.

6 Feb 2013

New combination of neural imaging methods discovers brain's ability to adapt to injury

For the first time, scientists at Carnegie Mellon University's Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging (CCBI) have used a new combination of neural imaging methods to discover exactly how the human brain adapts to injury.

17 Jan 2013