Dyslexia is a condition that affects an individual's ability to recognize words and spell accurately. It is a neurological condition that presents learning challenges for those who are born with it, however, it affects different individuals in different ways. Dyslexia is the United States' most commonly diagnosed learning disability.
Researchers recently discovered something about the brains of dyslexic individuals that may shine light on the condition. According to an article from HealthDay News, the brains of people affected by dyslexia experience disrupted connections.
What does this mean? The researchers found that there was less connectivity between neurons in areas of the brain that are specifically involved in reading.
As the article details, the findings were derived through the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging to view connectivity across many brain regions in adults and children. The results of each were compared against groups that did not have dyslexia.
The researchers discovered many differences in brain region connectivity, particularly when associated with reading.
"As far as we know, this is one of the first studies of dyslexia to examine differences in functional connectivity across the whole brain, shedding light on the brain networks that crucially support the complex task of reading," said Emily Finn, a Yale University PhD student and the author of the study, which was published in Biological Psychiatry, in a news release.
According to the press release, the researchers also found that connectivity in young-adult dyslexic brains was high in regions associated with having to sound out words, which is used as a strategy to understand them.
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