Developmental Dyslexia: Evidence from Brain Research

Abstract

According to Beaumont (1982), “a psychology without any reference to physiology can hardly be complete. The operation of the brain is relevant to human conduct, and the understanding of how the brain relates to behaviour may make a significant contribution to understanding how... psychological factors operate in directing behaviour” (p. 4). This view of the importance of brain research to our understanding of cognitive and behavioural processes has gained ground in the past 20 years with the development of neuroimaging techniques (such as Positron Emission Tomography, Magnetoencephalography and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and improvement in sophistication of other methods (such as Electroencephalography and Event-Related Potentials). These methods have been used extensively by cognitive neuroscientists to study the relationship between the brain’s activity and processing of language in developmental dyslexics and control readers. This chapter reviews the major developments in cellular analysis, electrophysiology and neuroimaging as applied to developmental dyslexia and evaluates explanations for the neurophysiological and neuroanatomical differences between developmental dyslexics and unimpaired readers.