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Berman ^a, S., Cicchino, N., Hajinazarian^a, A., Mescher^a, M., Holland, S. K., & Horowitz-Kraus^f, T. (2014). Journal of Young Investigators, 26, 1-4. http://www.jyi.org/issue/an-fmri-study-of-a-dyslexia-biomarker/

Dyslexia is a reading disorder that is characterized by slow and inaccurate reading. It affects a significant portion of school age children, who have a higher likelihood for poorer academic performance and lowered self-esteem when suffering from dyslexia. Currently, the diagnosis of dyslexia lacks objective criteria, which can decrease treatment efficacy. Diagnosis relies on a discrepancy between reading ability and intelligence, a measure which can be unreliable. The purpose of this proposed pilot study was to find neural biomarkers for dyslexia using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which then can be used in the diagnosis and treatment of the disorder. Two children with dyslexia and two typical readers were given a lexical decision task while being scanned under an fMRI machine. Their scans were then analyzed and compared to typical readers’ brain activation using CCHIPS MRI analysis software. The resulting data showed that children with dyslexia had a greater spread of activation during reading tasks and more frontal and occipital activation than typical readers. These data suggest that we can differentiate individuals with dyslexia from typical readers based on their brain activation while reading. These brain differences could be the basis for possible biomarkers of dyslexia.

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Berman ^a, S., Cicchino, N., Hajinazarian^a, A., Mescher^a, M., Holland, S. K., & Horowitz-Kraus^f, T. (2014). Journal of Young Investigators, 26, 1-4. http://www.jyi.org/issue/an-fmri-study-of-a-dyslexia-biomarker/

Dyslexia is a reading disorder that is characterized by slow and inaccurate reading. It affects a significant portion of school age children, who have a higher likelihood for poorer academic performance and lowered self-esteem when suffering from dyslexia. Currently, the diagnosis of dyslexia lacks objective criteria, which can decrease treatment efficacy. Diagnosis relies on a discrepancy between reading ability and intelligence, a measure which can be unreliable. The purpose of this proposed pilot study was to find neural biomarkers for dyslexia using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which then can be used in the diagnosis and treatment of the disorder. Two children with dyslexia and two typical readers were given a lexical decision task while being scanned under an fMRI machine. Their scans were then analyzed and compared to typical readers’ brain activation using CCHIPS MRI analysis software. The resulting data showed that children with dyslexia had a greater spread of activation during reading tasks and more frontal and occipital activation than typical readers. These data suggest that we can differentiate individuals with dyslexia from typical readers based on their brain activation while reading. These brain differences could be the basis for possible biomarkers of dyslexia.

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