Nora Maria Raschle|Jennifer Zuk|Nadine Gaab
Functional characteristics of developmental dyslexia in left-hemispheric posterior brain regions predate reading onset
Boston Children's Hospital|Harvard University|Boston Children's Hospital|Boston Children's Hospital|Harvard University
individuals developmental dyslexia dd show disruption posterior lefthemispheric neural networks phonological processing additionally compensatory mechanisms children adults dd located within frontal brain areas however remains unclear differences posterior lefthemispheric networks manifest whether compensatory mechanisms already started develop prereading brain investigate functional networks phonological processing 36 prereading children familial risk dd n 18 average age 6650 mo compared age iqmatched controls n 18 average age 6561 mo functional neuroimaging results reveal reduced activation prereading children familyhistory dd fhd compared without fhd bilateral occipitotemporal left temporoparietal brain regions finding corresponds previously identified hypoactivations left hemispheric posterior brain regions schoolaged children adults diagnosis dd furthermore left occipitotemporal temporoparietal brain activity correlates positively prereading skills groups results suggest differences neural correlates phonological processing individuals dd result reading failure present literacy acquisition starts additionally hyperactivation frontal brain regions observed suggesting compensatory mechanisms reading failure yet present future longitudinal studies needed determine whether identified differences may serve neural premarkers early identification children risk dd