Title of Study:  Neural Deficits in Children with Dyslexia Ameliorated by Behavioral Remediation: Evidence from Functional MRI

Author(s): Elise Temple, Gayle Deutsch, Russell Poldrack, Steven Miller, Paula Tallal, Michael Merzenicch, John Gabrieli

Summary:
This study demonstrated that it is possible to visualize changes in brain function after reading remediation in dyslexic children.  Some of the changes brought activity in specific areas of the brain to within the range of normal readers.  Other changes in brain activity seemed to be compensatory, because they involved areas of the brain not active in normal readers during reading activities.

Sponsoring entity(s): Stanford University, University of California, Los Angeles,  Scientific Learning Corporation, Rutgers University, University of California, San Francisco

Date conducted: 2003

Location of the study: This study can be accessed through the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences website.

Setting(s) addressed:

• The study was conducted in a medical laboratory.

Targeted population(s):

• Dyslexic students age 8-12

Primary sources of evidence used in the study or report:

• Functional MRI scans
• Standardized reading, word identification and attack, language fundamentals and comprehension tests

Primary Technology Application(s) Addressed:

• Reading intervention software (Fast ForWord Language)

Major education topic(s) addressed:

• Reading

Major findings/conclusions:

• Dyslexic students improved in real word reading, pseudo-word decoding and passage comprehension to within the normal range after using the Fast ForWord Language reading intervention software 100 minutes a day for 28 training days. 
  
  
• Some improvement was also seen in other reading, oral language and rapid naming tasks, but with individual variability.
  
  
• MRI showed post-remediation increases in activity in specific areas of the brain that are active in normal readers during reading activities.
  
  
• MRI also showed post-remediation increases in activity in areas of the brain not activated by reading in normal readers.

Practical implications of the findings:

• This study demonstrated that intervention software can improve reading performance in dyslexic students, and that these improvements are correlated with changes in brain function.

Reviewer Comments:
This is a rigorous, well designed experimental study.  Improvements in reading and language were measurable after an average of 28 days working with the software, but it is not known if the improvements are lasting after stopping the intervention or if further improvement would be seen with longer intervention.