Brain Stimulation Helps Reduce Dyslexia, a Reading Disability

The role of low-gamma oscillatory activity in phonemic processing in adults with dyslexia, a reading disability, was studied.

In adults with dyslexia, restoring normal rhythmic neural activity patterns through non-invasive electrical stimulation of the brain was found to alleviate sound-processing deficits and improve reading accuracy, revealed study. The study was //published in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Silvia Marchesotti and Anne-Lise Giraud of the University of Geneva, and colleagues.

What causes Dyslexia?

Dyslexia - Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment
Dyslexia is a reading disability that occurs when the brain does not properly recognize and process certain symbols.

TOP INSIGHT

The new study paves the way to non-invasive therapeutic interventions aimed at normalizing oscillatory function in the auditory cortex and improving phonological processing in individuals with dyslexia.

Dyslexia is a reading disability that occurs when the brain does not properly recognize and process certain symbols. This common learning disability affects 1 in 10 children worldwide. Various factors cause dyslexia, but a phonological deficit (difficulty in processing language sounds) is found to be the primary cause of the condition.

In dyslexia, the phonological deficit is linked to changes in rhythmic or repetitive patterns of neural activity, namely the "low-gamma" (30-Hz) oscillations, in a sound-processing region of the brain called the left auditory cortex.

Study Details

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Researchers conducted a study on 15 adults with dyslexia and 15 fluent readers for 20 minutes to determine the link between the low gamma oscillations and the ability to process phonemes. Researchers applied transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) over the left auditory cortex in the study participants.

Study Results

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The gamma oscillations intervention was found to have a positive effect on the dyslexia participants. The phonological processing and reading accuracy improved in the dyslexia group, specifically when 30 Hz (but not 60 Hz) stimulation was used. The results were well pronounced in people who had poor reading skills.

Dr. Marchesotti adds "The next steps for us are to investigate whether normalizing oscillatory function in very young children could have a long-lasting effect on the organization of the reading system, but also to explore even less invasive means of correcting oscillatory activity for instance using neurofeedback training".

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Source-Medindia