Differences in Brain Language Circuits linked to Dyslexia

Children and adults diagnosed with dyslexia often struggle with writing, reading, and spelling despite the quality of their education. Researchers from Vanderbilt University Sheryl Rimrodt and Laurie Cutting have begun to understand some of the underlying reasons behind dyslexia. They discovered that people's difficulties with written language may be connected to structural differences in the brain that play a major role in oral language.

Using an emerging MRI technique called diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), these researchers searched for evidence linking structural differences in a crucial bundle of white matter in the left-hemisphere language network. White matter consists of fibers that allows brain cells to communicate between one another and the left-hemisphere language network is made up of bundles of white matter that extend from the back of the brain to frontal parts that are responsible for speech and articulation. Cutting makes the point that when someone reads written language, they are essentially saying the words out loud in their head and thus if the decreased integrity of white matter means that the front and back parts of the brain are not talking to one another. This communication is crucial because you need the visual (back part of brain) and oral (front) to act as a cohesive unit.

These researchers used DTI and found that white matter bundles in this network and less organized and oriented differently in the dyslexic brain. While this does not provide a full reason behind the basis of dyslexia, the discovery will prompt further research into the physical characteristics of the region and bring the field closer to finding out how dyslexia happens.

Article can be found here: http://news.oneindia.in/2010/05/11/differencesin-brains-language-circuits-linked-todyslexia.html