Abstract
The hereditary character of dyslexia suggests the presence of putative underlying neural anomalies already in preliterate age. Here, we investigated whether early neurophysiological correlates of future reading difficulties—a hallmark of dyslexia—could be identified in the resting-state EEG of preliterate children. The children in this study were recruited at birth and classified on the basis of parents' performance on reading tests to be at-risk of becoming poor readers (n = 48) or not (n = 14). Eyes-open rest EEG was measured at the age of 3 years, and the at-risk children were divided into fluent readers (n = 24) and non-fluent readers (n = 24) after reading assessment at their third grade of school. We found that fluent readers and non-fluent readers differed in normalized spectral amplitude. Non-fluent readers were characterized by lower amplitude in the delta-1 frequency band (0.5–2 Hz) and higher amplitude in the alpha-1 band (6–8 Hz) in multiple scalp regions compared to control and at-risk fluent readers. Interestingly, across groups these EEG biomarkers correlated with several behavioral test scores measured in the third grade. Specifically, the performance on reading fluency, phonological and orthographic tasks and rapid automatized naming task correlated positively with delta-1 and negatively with alpha-1. Together, our results suggest that combining family-risk status, neurophysiological testing and behavioral test scores in a longitudinal setting may help uncover physiological mechanisms implicated with neurodevelopmental disorders such as the predisposition to reading disabilities.
Highlights
Dyslexia is a learning disorder that impairs a child’s technical reading ability
Our results suggest that combining family-risk status, neurophysiological testing and behavioral test scores in a longitudinal setting may help uncover physiological mechanisms implicated with neurodevelopmental disorders such as the predisposition to reading disabilities
One should be cautious in inferring the origin of the sources www.frontiersin.org giving rise to the scalp topographies shown in Figure 3, they could correspond to brain reading circuits identified in several neuroimaging studies to include parieto-temporal, occipito-temporal and inferior frontal lobes (Eckert et al, 2005; Richlan et al, 2009; Raschle et al, 2011). These results indicate that children who became poor readers exhibited already at the age of three a peculiar resting-state EEG activity compared to both control and at-risk fluent groups
Summary
Dyslexia is a learning disorder that impairs a child’s technical reading ability. Dyslexia cannot be explained by low intelligence, low-level vision, hearing impairments, or poor education, but phonological deficits and problems with rapid automatized naming are commonly observed readingrelated deficits (Snowling et al, 2003; van Bergen et al, 2012). These reading impairments affect the ability to read fluently and are often a cause of frustration and distress for a child, producing severe social and psychological consequences in their lifespan (Vellutino and Scanlon, 1987; Humphrey and Mullins, 2004). This is supported by a number of longitudinal studies using auditory event-related potentials (Molfese, 2000; Guttorm et al, 2001; Maurer et al, 2003, 2009; Lyytinen et al, 2004; Van Zuijen et al, 2012, 2013) and visual event-related potentials (Regtvoort et al, 2006; Schulte-Korne and Bruder, 2010; Araujo et al, 2012) reporting differences in brain responses to reading-related stimuli (e.g., speech sounds or visual contrast) between familial risk and control groups, or between control children and children that later become poor readers
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
