Functional MRI studies of Remediation in Developmental Dyslexia

This study includes a series of experiments designed to investigate the behavioral and physiological changes, measured with functional magnetic imaging (fMRI), resulting from formal intervention programs in children (ages 8-11) utilizing phonological awareness training and visual perceptual training (ie: the Lindamood-Bell intervention program). Both types of intervention have been shown to bring about improvement in reading. The results of these experiments will: (1) provide new information concerning how the neural systems responsible for the visual and phonological processing abnormalities in dyslexia are altered with different therapies, (2) contribute important new information about the neural changes that bring about reading improvement in children with developmental dyslexia, and (3) further the understanding of the mechanisms affected by remediation techniques that cannot be attained through behavioral data alone.

(Funding Source: NICHD)