Dyslexia and the Brain

Spoken language, recognizing faces, or identifying objects does not pose much of a problem for the average person, even those with dyslexia. Dyslexia does seem to impact reading, however. Researchers was once thought that dyslexia was primarily a problem of language processing. As you may know, plasticity is a term for the brain’s remarkable ability to rewire itself throughout a person's life—a valuable cognitive asset. A study reported in the journal Neurons, used MRI to study the brains of individuals with and without dyslexia. Their conclusion was that dyslexia may represent a problem with the brain rewiring itself. That is, those who exhibit struggles aligned with dyslexia appear to exhibit less brain plasticity as compared with individuals without dyslexia issues. It is estimated that dyslexia impacts one in ten persons worldwide, and up to seventeen percent of American schoolchildren. More tomorrow.