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PMID: 9371851 Published · ppublish English Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

Brain activity in visual cortex predicts individual differences in reading performance.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America ·Vol. 94 ·No. 24 ·1997-11-25 ·Pages 13363-6

Demb JB, Boynton GM, Heeger DJ

Abstract

The relationship between brain activity and reading performance was examined to test the hypothesis that dyslexia involves a deficit in a specific visual pathway known as the magnocellular (M) pathway. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure brain activity in dyslexic and control subjects in conditions designed to preferentially stimulate the M pathway. Dyslexics showed reduced activity compared with controls both in the primary visual cortex and in a secondary cortical visual area (MT+) that is believed to receive a strong M pathway input. Most importantly, significant correlations were found between individual differences in reading rate and brain activity. These results support the hypothesis for an M pathway abnormality in dyslexia and imply a strong relationship between the integrity of the M pathway and reading ability.

MeSH Terms
Dyslexia/diagnostic imaging,physiopathology Humans Magnetic Resonance Imaging Radiography Reading Visual Cortex/diagnostic imaging,physiology
Authors & Affiliations
3 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Demb J B
Department of Psychology, Stanford University, CA 94305-2130, USA. heeger@white.stanford.edu
Boynton G M
Heeger D J
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Article Info
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Abbr.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
ISSN
0027-8424
DOI
10.1073/pnas.94.24.13363
Email
heeger@white.stanford.edu
Published
1997-11-25
Pages
13363-6
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
7505876
PMCID
PMC24314
Subset
IM
Grants
NIMH NIH HHS · F32-MH10897 · United States
NIMH NIH HHS · F32 MH010897 · United States
NCRR NIH HHS · P41-RR09784 · United States
NCRR NIH HHS · P41 RR009784 · United States
NIMH NIH HHS · R29-MH50228 · United States
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1073/pnas.94.24.13363 PMC Full Text View journal details
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