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.

Researchers discover health similarities between humans and pigs

An international scientific collaboration that includes two Kansas State University researchers is bringing home the bacon when it comes to potential animal and human health advancements, thanks to successfully mapping the genome of the domestic pig.

17 Nov 2012

Music underlies the ability to acquire language

Contrary to the prevailing theories that music and language are cognitively separate or that music is a byproduct of language, theorists at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music and the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) advocate that music underlies the ability to acquire language.

19 Sep 2012

Tips for parents to help their kids get a smart start to the academic year

The first day of school always requires preparations -- notebooks, pens and a new set of clothes. But don't forget to prepare for your child's health, says Dr. Joan Bregstein, a physician in the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital.

30 Aug 2012

Strong neural communication between the hemispheres predicts math performance

A new study by researchers at UT Dallas' Center for Vital Longevity, Duke University, and the University of Michigan has found that the strength of communication between the left and right hemispheres of the brain predicts performance on basic arithmetic problems. The findings shed light on the neural basis of human math abilities and suggest a possible route to aiding those who suffer from dyscalculia-- an inability to understand and manipulate numbers.

30 Aug 2012

Scientists discover important neural mechanism underlying dyslexia

To participate successfully in life, it is important to be able to read and write. Nevertheless, many children and adults have difficulties in acquiring these skills and the reason is not always obvious. They suffer from dyslexia which can have a variety of symptoms. Thanks to research carried out by Bego-a D-az and her colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, a major step forward has been made in understanding the cause of dyslexia.

8 Aug 2012

Adult human brain remarkably malleable and capable of new feats

There is growing evidence that, beyond what was previously believed, the adult human brain is remarkably malleable and capable of new feats -- even in the last decades of life.

2 Aug 2012

Study demonstrates how nerve stimulation paired with specific experiences can reorganize the brain

UT Dallas researchers recently demonstrated how nerve stimulation paired with specific experiences, such as movements or sounds, can reorganize the brain. This technology could lead to new treatments for stroke, tinnitus, autism and other disorders.

20 Jul 2012

Pre-concussion baseline testing now available at three Vanderbilt clinics

The Vanderbilt Sports Concussion Center is now offering pre-concussion baseline testing to all community recreational athletes in advance of many high-impact seasonal sports resuming this fall.

17 Jul 2012

Study explores effects of letter spacing on the reading ability of dyslexic children

Increasing the spacing between characters and words in a text improves the speed and quality of dyslexic children's reading, without prior training. They read 20% faster on average and make half as many errors. This is the conclusion reached by a French-Italian research team, jointly headed by Johannes Ziegler of the Laboratoire de Psychologie Cognitive.

8 Jun 2012

Non-invasive brain stimulation cuts time to improve speech in stroke patients

One of the most frustrating challenges for some stroke patients can be the inability to find and speak words even if they know what they want to say. Speech therapy is laborious and can take months. New research is seeking to cut that time significantly, with the help of non-invasive brain stimulation.

2 Apr 2012

FSU receives NIH grant to better understand and diagnose dyslexia

If you can read this sentence with ease, consider yourself fortunate: Millions of Americans with dyslexia cannot. In the hope of improving the lives of those struggling readers, a team of experts at Florida State University is working to better understand and diagnose dyslexia and other learning disabilities with a new, $8.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.

23 Feb 2012

DOES makes children eye exams inexpensive, comprehensive and simple to administer

Eighty-five percent of children's learning is related to vision. Yet in the U.S., 80 percent of children have never had an eye exam or any vision screening before kindergarten, statistics say. When they do, the vision screenings they typically receive can detect only one or two conditions.

19 Jan 2012

Research reveals how bats parse duties at single neuron level

Imagine listening to music while carrying on a conversation with friends. This type of multi-tasking is fairly easy to do, right? That's because our brains efficiently and effectively separate the auditory signals - music to the right side; conversation to the left. But what researchers have not been able to do in humans or animals is to see a parsing of duties at the single neuron level - until now.

4 Jan 2012

Dyslexic individuals have difficulties in excluding external noise

Dyslexia affects up to 17.5% of the population, but its cause remains somewhat unknown. A report published in the Nov. 23 issue of the online journal PLoS ONE supports the hypothesis that the symptoms of dyslexia, including difficulties in reading, are at least partly due to difficulty excluding excess background information like noise.

24 Nov 2011

Gallaudet University, UC Davis to co-sponsor Visual Learning Summit

How deaf children learn to read will be one of the topics of a conference at UC Davis Nov. 18-19. The Visual Learning Summit is co-sponsored by the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain, Gallaudet University's Science of Learning Center on Visual Language and Visual Learning, and the departments of psychology and linguistics at UC Davis.

16 Nov 2011

Rapid sideline visual test effectively detects concussions in collegiate athletes

A sideline visual test effectively detected concussions in collegiate athletes, according to a team of researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

2 Sep 2011

Online brain training reduces depression, improves cognitive functions

CogniFit brain fitness program can improve cognitive functions of everyday living in individuals with depression.

18 Aug 2011

Individuals with dyslexia do not experience familiar language advantage

When people recognize voices, part of what helps make voice recognition accurate is noticing how people pronounce words differently. But individuals with dyslexia don't experience this familiar language advantage, say researchers.

30 Jul 2011

Conference to discuss new discoveries in cognitive neuroscience research

New discoveries in the field of cognitive neuroscience hold great promise for improving current teaching methods. Yet there is a significant gap between such scientific discoveries and the application of this knowledge in the classroom.

28 Jul 2011

Babies have far less ability to recognize rapidly changing images than adults

Babies have far less ability to recognize rapidly changing images than adults, according to research from the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain. The results show that while infants can perceive flicker or movement, they may not be able to identify the individual elements within a moving or changing scene as well as an adult.

15 Jul 2011