Word Reading and Spelling Processing and Acquired Dyslexia post Unilateral Stroke.

This study investigates the performance of adults with cerebrovascular lesion in the right hemisphere (RHL) or left hemisphere (LHL) in word reading (TLPP) and spelling (TEPP) tasks based on the dual-route models. A total of 85 adults were assessed, divided into three groups: 10 with RHL, 15 with LHL, and 60 neurologically healthy ones. The performance of the three groups was compared in terms of the characteristics of the words (regularity, frequency, and length) and pseudowords (length), error types, and psycholinguistic effects. A cluster analysis was performed to investigate the profiles of the reading. The LHL group showed lower scores in reading and spelling tasks of words and pseudowords, as well as a higher frequency of errors. Four LHL cases were found to have an acquired dyslexia profile. This study highlights that the tasks developed in Brazil are in accordance with theoretical models of written language, and the results point to the heterogeneous performance of the cases with acquired dyslexia.

Acquired dyslexias following temporal lesions.

The acquisition of reading by children is supported by deep changes in the brain systems devoted to vision and language. The left temporal lobe contributes critically to both systems, and lesions affecting it may therefore cause both peripheral vision-related and central language-related reading impairments. The diversity of peripheral dyslexias reflects the anatomical and functional division of the visual cortex into early visual regions, whose lesions have a limited impact on reading; ventral regions, whose lesions are mostly associated to Pure Alexia; and dorsal regions, whose lesions may yield spatial, neglect-related, and attentional dyslexias. Similarly, central alexias reflect the broad distinction, within language processes, between phonological and lexico-semantic components. Phonological and surface dyslexias roughly result from impairment of the former and the latter processes, respectively, while deep dyslexia may be seen as the association of both. In this chapter, we review such types of acquired dyslexias, their clinical features, pathophysiology, and anatomical correlates.

Compensatory role of verbal learning and consolidation in reading and spelling of children with dyslexia.

The present study investigated the compensatory role of verbal learning and consolidation in reading and spelling of children with (N = 54) and without dyslexia (N = 36) and the role of verbal learning (learning new verbal information) and consolidation (remember the learned information over time) on the response to a phonics through spelling intervention of children with dyslexia. We also took phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, verbal working memory, and semantics into account. Results showed that children with dyslexia performed better in verbal learning and equal in verbal consolidation compared to typically developing peers. Regression analyses revealed that verbal learning did not predict reading but did predict spelling ability, across both groups; verbal consolidation did not predict reading, nor spelling. Furthermore, neither verbal learning nor verbal consolidation was related to responsiveness to a phonics through spelling intervention in children with dyslexia. Verbal learning may thus be seen as a compensatory mechanism for spelling before the intervention for children with dyslexia but is beneficial for typically developing children as well.

A case of acquired phonological dyslexia with selective impairment of Kanji: analysis of reading impairment mechanism using cognitive neuropsychological models for reading.

We report a Japanese-speaking patient who showed acquired phonological dyslexia only in Kanji; difficulty in reading two-character Kanji nonwords despite her ability to read Kana nonwords, Kana words, and two-character Kanji inconsistent-atypical words; and inability to repeat reversal nonwords. We investigated the mechanism of nonword reading impairment using the dual-route cascaded model, it was likely that the reading deficit of Kanji nonwords with multiple pronunciations resulted from the dysfunction of the character-to-sound conversion rule system. The patient's reading performance on the dissociation of Kana and Kanji was considered to reflect the difference in the consistency of orthography-to-phonology mapping.

Types of acquired dyslexia in Spanish-speaking patients with aphasia.

The different types of acquired dyslexia described by cognitive neuropsychology have been observed in single-case and case series studies in different languages. However, no multipatient study of Spanish-speaking individuals has been reported that uses the same criteria and tasks to identify each participant's acquired dyslexia pattern. In this study, we analyzed participants' performance in three tasks (oral reading of words and nonwords, visual lexical decision with pseudohomophones, and written homophone comprehension) among 16 Spanish-speaking patients with aphasia. We identified 9 patients with acquired phonological dyslexia, 3 with acquired surface dyslexia, and 4 with acquired mixed dyslexia. The results of this research provide more information about the relative frequency of each type of acquired dyslexia in Spanish, which could be used to help design more appropriate treatments for rehabilitation. Identifying which processes have been impaired and which have been preserved will allow professionals to plan more specific interventions.

Neurobiological underpinnings of rapid white matter plasticity during intensive reading instruction.

Diffusion MRI is a powerful tool for imaging brain structure, but it is challenging to discern the biological underpinnings of plasticity inferred from these and other non-invasive MR measurements. Biophysical modeling of the diffusion signal aims to render a more biologically rich image of tissue microstructure, but the application of these models comes with important caveats. A separate approach for gaining biological specificity has been to seek converging evidence from multi-modal datasets. Here we use metrics derived from diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) and the white matter tract integrity (WMTI) model along with quantitative MRI measurements of T1 relaxation to characterize changes throughout the white matter during an 8-week, intensive reading intervention (160 total hours of instruction). Behavioral measures, multi-shell diffusion MRI data, and quantitative T1 data were collected at regular intervals during the intervention in a group of 33 children with reading difficulties (7-12 years old), and over the same period in an age-matched non-intervention control group. Throughout the white matter, mean 'extra-axonal' diffusivity was inversely related to intervention time. In contrast, model estimated axonal water fraction (AWF), overall diffusion kurtosis, and T1 relaxation time showed no significant change over the intervention period. Both diffusion and quantitative T1 based metrics were correlated with pre-intervention reading performance, albeit with distinct anatomical distributions. These results are consistent with the view that rapid changes in diffusion properties reflect phenomena other than widespread changes in myelin density. We discuss this result in light of recent work highlighting non-axonal factors in experience-dependent plasticity and learning.

Phonological and surface dyslexia in individuals with brain tumors: Performance pre-, intra-, immediately post-surgery and at follow-up.

We address existing controversies regarding neuroanatomical substrates of reading-aloud processes according to the dual-route processing models, in this particular instance in a series of 49 individuals with brain tumors who performed several reading tasks of real-time neuropsychological testing during surgery (low- to high-grade cerebral neoplasms involving the left hemisphere). We explored how reading abilities in individuals with brain tumors evolve during and after surgery for a brain tumor, and we studied the reading performance in a sample of 33 individuals in a 4-month follow-up after surgery. Impaired reading performance was seen pre-surgery in 7 individuals with brain tumors, intra-surgery in 18 individuals, at immediate post-surgery testing in 26 individuals, and at follow-up in 5 individuals. We classified their reading disorders according to operational criteria for either phonological or surface dyslexia. Neuroimaging results are discussed within the theoretical framework of the dual-route model of reading. Lesion-mask subtraction analyses revealed that areas selectively related with phonological dyslexia were located-along with the left hemisphere dorsal stream-in the Rolandic operculum, the inferior frontal gyrus, the precentral gyrus, the supramarginal gyrus, the insula (and/or the underlying external capsule), and parts of the superior longitudinal fasciculus, whereas lesions related to surface dyslexia involved the ventral stream, that is, the left middle and inferior temporal gyrus and parts of the left inferior longitudinal fasciculus.

Alexia and agraphia in Spanish.

BACKGROUND: Every language has certain specific idiosyncrasies in its writing system. Cross-linguistic analyses of alexias and agraphias are fundamental to understand commonalities and differences in the brain organization of written language. Few reports of alexias and agraphias in the Spanish language are currently available. AIMS: To analyse the clinical manifestations of alexias and agraphias in Spanish, and the effect of demographic variables. METHODS & PROCEDURES: Spanish versions of the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) and Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination (BDAE) were used for language assessment. Lesion localization was obtained by using computed axial tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. The final sample included 200 patients: 195 (97.5%) right-handed and five (2.5%) left-handed; 119 men and 81 women with a mean age of 57.37 years (SD = 15.56), education of 13.52 years (SD = 4.08), and mean time post-onset of 6.58 months (SD = 12.94). Using the WAB, four quotients were calculated: aphasia quotient (AQ), reading-writing quotient (RWQ), language quotient (LQ) and cortical quotient (CQ). OUTCOMES & RESULTS: The types of aphasia were: global = 11 patients (5.5%), Broca = 31 (15.5%), Wernicke = 30 (15.0%), conduction = 22 (11.0%), transcortical sensory = 17 (8.5%), transcortical motor = 3 (1.5%), amnesic or anomic = 54 (27.0%) and mixed non-fluent = 32 (16.0%). The degree of oral and written language impairment differed across the various aphasia types. Most severe reading and writing difficulties were found in global, mixed non-fluent and transcortical motor aphasia; fewer difficulties were observed in amnesic, Broca and conduction aphasia. The severity of the written language impairments paralleled the severity of the oral language disturbances. Age negatively, while schooling positively, correlated with the scores in reading and writing tests. No effect of sex and time since onset was found. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: In Spanish-speaking aphasia patients, difficulties in reading and writing are similar to oral language difficulties. This similarity of performance is mostly based on severity rather than the participants' patterns of errors. What this paper adds What is already known on the subject There is limited information about alexia and agraphia in Spanish. What this paper adds to existing knowledge An extensive study with a large sample of patients. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? The study contributes to the clinical management of patients with reading and writing disturbances.

Dorsal type letter-by-letter reading accompanying alexia with agraphia due to a lesion of the lateral occipital gyri.

We report a patient with alexia with agraphia accompanied by letter-by-letter reading after hemorrhage in the left middle and inferior occipital gyri that spared the angular gyrus and the fusiform gyrus. Kanji (Japanese morphograms) and kana (Japanese phonetic writing) reading and writing tests revealed that alexia with agraphia was characterized by kana-predominant alexia and kanji-predominant agraphia. This type of "dorsal" letter-by-letter reading is discernable from conventional ventral type letter-by-letter reading that is observed in pure alexia in that (1) kinesthetic reading is less effective, (2) kana or literal agraphia coexists, and (3) fundamental visual discrimination is nearly normal.

Selective impairment of On-reading (Chinese-style pronunciation) in alexia with agraphia for kanji due to subcortical hemorrhage in the left posterior middle temporal gyrus.

We report a patient with alexia with agraphia for kanji after hemorrhage in the left posterior middle temporal gyrus. The results of single-character kanji reading and two-character on- (Chinese-style pronunciation), kun- (native Japanese pronunciation), and Jukujikun (irregular kun-) reading word tests revealed that the patient could not read kanji characters with on-reading but read the characters with kun-reading. We consider that this on-reading alexia was caused by disconnection between the posterior inferior temporal cortex (orthographic lexicon) and the posterior superior temporal gyrus (phonological lexicon), and preserved kun- and Jukujikun-reading was realized by bypassing the orthography-to-phonology route by the semantic route.

Developmental trends and precursors of English spelling in Chinese children who learn English-as-a-second language: Comparisons between average and at-risk spellers.

BACKGROUND: Invented spelling has been viewed as a window to young children's spelling development. AIMS: This longitudinal study investigated the developmental trends in invented spelling as a function of phoneme position in very young ESL children. It also investigated cognitive-linguistic precursors of L2 spelling difficulties. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: We identified 2 groups of spellers in kindergarten based on their invented spelling performances at the end of kindergarten: average spellers and at-risk spellers. The two groups were compared on invented spelling performance at varied phoneme positions of a word. They were also administered a battery of cognitive-linguistic tasks, including letter knowledge, phonemic awareness, vocabulary and rapid automatized naming at an earlier timepoint. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Both groups performed better in invented spelling on initial consonants than on medial vowels, which in turn were better than final consonants at two time points. In addition, the average spellers improved significantly more than the at-risk spellers at all phoneme positions. Vocabulary was a significant predictor of spelling difficulties when other crucial cognitive-linguistic variables were taken into consideration simultaneously. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The current findings suggest the unique features of invented spelling development in L2 learners and identified precursors to L2 spelling difficulties. Very young average and at-risk L2 spellers showed differential gains in L2 invented spelling. Implications of the present study are (1) invented spelling at kindergarten is able to differentiate average and at-risk spellers and (2) invented spelling training and vocabulary intervention could be useful in the remediation of spelling difficulties.

Alexia and Agraphia Intervention Following Traumatic Brain Injury: A Single Case Study.

Purpose This case study documents the effectiveness of a multicomponent intervention for an adolescent with acquired alexia and agraphia following severe traumatic brain injury. Method Initial testing revealed severe central alexia and surface agraphia with concomitant anomic aphasia. Intervention components included sight word drills, modified Multiple Oral Reading (MOR) procedures, functional reading tasks, and modified Copy and Recall Treatment. Intervention spanned 2 months with sessions 5 days per week. Data collection and analysis involved monitoring sight word decoding, reading speed and decoding errors during MOR, and spelling accuracy of Copy and Recall Treatment words. Follow-up testing occurred at intervention conclusion. Results Sight word mastery for 315 words progressed from 66.35% to 100% over 5 weeks and was maintained thereafter. MOR materials progressed from Grade 1 to Grade 5. Initial reading speed was 31 words per minute with errors on 15% of words. At program completion, reading speed was 47 words per minute with 7% decoding errors despite increased difficulty of reading material. The participant demonstrated initial mastery of 15 spelling lists containing 15 words each and sustained mastery (2 additional consecutive weeks of 100% accuracy) of 8 lists. Follow-up assessment revealed improvements consistent with 3-4 grade levels but persistent impairment relative to premorbid functioning. Conclusion The multicomponent program was effective in promoting substantial improvement, although surface alexia and agraphia persisted after 2 months of treatment. The case provides an example of the type and extent of progress possible given minimal initial recovery but systematic intervention within the context of intensive postacute rehabilitation.

Características neuroanatômicas e linguísticas na dislexia adquirida / Neuroanatomical and linguistic characteristics of acquired dyslexia / Características neuroatómicas y linguísticas en la dyslexia adquirida

Introdução: a dislexia adquirida caracteriza-se pela perda da capacidade de compreender o significado de palavras escritas desenvolvida previamente. Esta afecção pode ter origem em acidentes vasculares, traumatismos e outras doenças cerebrais. Objetivo: investigar as características da dislexia adquirida, explorando as correlações neuroanatômicas nas encefalopatias que as produzem, por meio de uma revisão de literatura. Método: Para a realização do estudo, os autores seguiram os critérios sugeridos pela Cochrane Handbook. Primeiramente, formulou-se uma pergunta, seguida da localização e seleção criteriosa dos artigos. Em seguida, ocorreu a avaliação crítica de cada estudo, finalizando com a análise, interpretação e apresentação dos resultados encontrados. Foram consultadas as bases de dados Science Direct, Pubmed/Medline e Scopus, com a utilização dos descritores "brain diseases", "brain injuries", "traumatic brain injuries" e "stroke" com o operador booleano OR, associado aos descritores "alexia" e "acquired dyslexia" por meio do operador booleano AND. Revisão de Literatura: A primeira busca eletrônica contabilizou 137 artigos científicos, dos quais 11 foram eleitos por se tratar de estudos contendo a relação anatômica das lesões e/ou sinais clínicos e linguísticos da dislexia adquirida. Conclusão: A principal causa da dislexia adquirida foi o acidente vascular cerebral, sobretudo no lobo occipital, em ambos os hemisférios, repercutindo na percepção e, posteriormente, no reconhecimento visual da palavra. Faz-se necessário ampliar as pesquisas sobre a dislexia adquirida, a fim de aprofundar o conhecimento sobre a mesma, instrumentalizando os clínicos para o processo de reabilitação.

Introduction: acquired dyslexia is characterized by the loss of the capacity to understand the meaning of written words previously developed. This condition can be caused by strokes, trauma and other brain diseases. Objective: to investigate the characteristics of acquired dyslexia, exploring the neuroanatomical correlations in the encephalopathies that produce them, through a literature review. Method: For the study, the authors followed the criteria suggested by the Cochrane Handbook. Firstly, a question was asked, followed by the location and careful selection of the articles. Then, the critical evaluation of each study occurred, ending with the analysis, interpretation and presentation of the results found. The databases Science Direct, Pubmed / Medline and Scopus, using the descriptors "brain diseases", "brain injuries", "traumatic brain injuries" and "stroke" with the Boolean operator OR, associated with the descriptors "alexia" and "acquired dyslexia" through the Boolean operator AND. Literature Review: The first electronic search counted 137 scientific articles, of which 11 were chosen because they were studies containing the anatomical relationship of lesions and/or clinical and linguistic signs of acquired dyslexia. Conclusion: The main cause of acquired dyslexia was stroke, especially in the occipital lobe, in both hemispheres, affecting the perception and subsequent visual recognition of the word. It is necessary to broaden the research on acquired dyslexia in order to deepen the knowledge about it, instrumentalizing the clinicians for the rehabilitation process.

Introducción: la dislexia adquirida se caracteriza por la pérdida de la capacidad en comprender el significado de palabras escritas desarrollada previamente. Esta afección puede originarse en accidentes vasculares, traumatismos y otras enfermedades cerebrales. Objetivo: investigar las características de la dislexia adquirida, explorando las correlaciones neuroanatómicas en las encefalopatías que las producen, por medio de una revisión de literatura. Metodos: Para la realización del estudio, los autores siguieron los criterios sugeridos por la Cochrane Handbook. Primero, se formuló una pregunta, seguida de la localización y selección criteriosa de los artículos. A continuación, ocurrió la evaluación crítica de cada estudio, finalizando con el análisis, interpretación y presentación de los resultados encontrados. Se han consultado las bases de datos Science Direct, Pubmed / Medline y Scopus, con la utilización de los descriptores "brain diseases", "brain cura", "traumatismo cerebrovascular" y "stroke" con el operador booleano OR, asociado a los descriptores "alexia" y "adquirido dyslexia" a través del operador booleano AND. Revisión de Literatura: La primera búsqueda electrónica contabilizó 137 artículos científicos, de los cuales 11 fueron elegidos por tratarse de estudios que contenían la relación anatómica de las lesiones y/o signos clínicos y lingüísticos de la dislexia adquirida. Conclusión: La principal causa de la dislexia adquirida fue el accidente cerebrovascular, sobre todo en el lobo occipital, en ambos hemisferios, repercutiendo en la percepción y posterior reconocimiento visual de la palabra. Se hace necesario ampliar las investigaciones sobre la dislexia adquirida, a fin de profundizar el conocimiento sobre la misma, instrumentalizando a los clínicos para el proceso de rehabilitación.

Multi-step treatment for acquired alexia and agraphia (Part I): efficacy, generalisation, and identification of beneficial treatment steps.

Reading and writing impairments are common in individuals with post-stroke aphasia. Treatment typically aims to improve the function of one of these modalities by strengthening aspects of either lexical or sublexical processing. In the present study, eight adults with acquired alexia and agraphia were administered a comprehensive treatment targeting specific lexical and sublexical processes underlying reading and/or writing. Two participants were trained in reading and six were trained in writing. Throughout treatment, reading and writing accuracy were monitored for trained items, as well as untrained but orthographically and semantically related items. Linear mixed effects models indicated that the most substantial gains were made on trained items in the trained modality; generalisation to trained items in the untrained modality and untrained but related items in both modalities was also observed. Participants improved significantly on a subset of treatment steps intended to address lexical access and representations, sublexical conversion mechanisms, and the graphemic and/or phonological buffer processes in both modalities. These results demonstrate the efficacy of a novel, comprehensive treatment protocol and suggest that targeting multiple reading and writing processes in conjunction may facilitate widespread generalisation.

Multi-step treatment for acquired alexia and agraphia (part II): a dual-route error scoring system.

Dual-route neuropsychological models posit two distinct but interrelated pathways for reading and writing: the lexical and the sublexical. Individuals with reading/writing deficits often rely on the combined power of the integrated system to perform print-processing tasks. The resultant errors reflect varying degrees of lexical and sublexical accuracy in a single production; however, no system presently exists to analyze errors robustly in both routes. The goal of this project was to develop a system that simultaneously, quantitatively, and qualitatively captures changes in lexical and sublexical errors following treatment. Errors are evaluated hierarchically in both routes according to proximity to a target. This dual-route error scoring (DRES) system was developed using data from a novel treatment study for eight patients with acquired alexia/agraphia; a computerised version of the system was also developed (ADRES). Repeated-measures multivariate analyses of variance and post hoc analyses revealed significant dual-route treatment effects. Qualitative analyses revealed unique patterns of change across participants, reflecting the benefits of error evaluation beyond a binary correct/incorrect judgment. Finally, categorical error shifts were observed via group-level analysis. The results of this study indicate that treatment-induced evolution of reading/writing can be meaningfully and comprehensively represented by this novel scoring system.

Visual and binocular status in elementary school children with a reading problem / Estado visual y binocular en niños de primaria con dificultades lectoras

Purpose: This descriptive study provides a summary of the binocular anomalies seen in elementary school children identified with reading problems. Methods: A retrospective chart review of all children identified with reading problems and seen by the University of Waterloo, Optometry Clinic, from September 2012 to June 2013. Results: Files of 121 children (mean age 8.6 years, range 6-14 years) were reviewed. No significant refractive error was found in 81% of children. Five and 8 children were identified as strabismic at distance and near respectively. Phoria test revealed 90% and 65% of patients had normal distance and near phoria. Near point of convergencia (NPC) was < 5cm in 68% of children, and 77% had stereoacuity of ≤40seconds of arc. More than 50% of the children had normal fusional vergence ranges except for near positive fusional vergencce (base out) break (46%). Tests for accommodation showed 91% of children were normal for binocular facility, and approximately 70% of children had an expected accuracy of accommodation. Conclusion: Findings indicate that some children with an identified reading problem also present with abnormal binocular test results compared to published normal values. Further investigation should be performed to investigate the relationship between binocular vision function and reading performance

Objetivo: Este estudio descriptivo aporta un resumen de las anomalías binoculares observadas en niños de primaria en los que se identificaron problemas de lectura. Métodos: Revisión retrospectiva de las historias clínicas de todos los niños en los que se identificaron problemas de lectura, examinados en la Universidad de Waterloo, Clínica de Optometría, desde Septiembre de 2012 a Junio de 2013. Resultados: Se revisaron las historias de 121 niños (edad media 8,6 años, rango 6-14 años). No se encontró ningún error refractivo significativo en el 81% de los niños. Se identificaron cinco y ocho niños con estrabismo de visión lejana y cercana, respectivamente. La prueba de foria reveló que el 90% y 65% de los pacientes padecían foria en rango de normalidad para lejos y cerca. El punto próximo de convergencia (PPC) fue < 5cm en el 68% de los niños, y el 77% reflejó estereoagudeza ≤ 40 segundos de arco. Más del 50% de los niños tenía rangos de vergencia fusional normal, excepto para el punto de rotura de vergencia fusional positiva de cerca (46%). Las pruebas de acomodación reflejaron que el 91% de los niños tenía una flexibilidad binocular normal, y aproximadamente el 70% de los niños tenía una precisión de acomodación con arreglo a lo previsto. Conclusión: Los hallazgos indican que algunos niños con dificultades lectoras identificadas presentan también alteraciones en los resultados de las pruebas binoculares, en comparación a los valores normales publicados. Deberá investigarse más con respecto a la relación entre la función de la visión binocular y el rendimiento lector

Randomized trial of iReadMore word reading training and brain stimulation in central alexia.

Central alexia is an acquired reading disorder co-occurring with a generalized language deficit (aphasia). We tested the impact of a novel training app, 'iReadMore', and anodal transcranial direct current stimulation of the left inferior frontal gyrus, on word reading ability in central alexia. The trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02062619). Twenty-one chronic stroke patients with central alexia participated. A baseline-controlled, repeated-measures, crossover design was used. Participants completed two 4-week blocks of iReadMore training, one with anodal stimulation and one with sham stimulation (order counterbalanced between participants). Each block comprised 34 h of iReadMore training and 11 stimulation sessions. Outcome measures were assessed before, between and after the two blocks. The primary outcome measures were reading ability for trained and untrained words. Secondary outcome measures included semantic word matching, sentence reading, text reading and a self-report measure. iReadMore training resulted in an 8.7% improvement in reading accuracy for trained words (95% confidence interval 6.0 to 11.4; Cohen's d = 1.38) but did not generalize to untrained words. Reaction times also improved. Reading accuracy gains were still significant (but reduced) 3 months after training cessation. Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (compared to sham), delivered concurrently with iReadMore, resulted in a 2.6% (95% confidence interval -0.1 to 5.3; d = 0.41) facilitation for reading accuracy, both for trained and untrained words. iReadMore also improved performance on the semantic word-matching test. There was a non-significant trend towards improved self-reported reading ability. However, no significant changes were seen at the sentence or text reading level. In summary, iReadMore training in post-stroke central alexia improved reading ability for trained words, with good maintenance of the therapy effect. Anodal stimulation resulted in a small facilitation (d = 0.41) of learning and also generalized to untrained items.10.1093/brain/awy138_video1awy138media15796149281001.

Print-, sublexical and lexical processing in children with reading and/or spelling deficits: An ERP study.

Findings on the neurophysiological correlates of developmental dyslexia are mixed, due to the differential conceptualization of the impairment. Studies differ on whether participants with developmental dyslexia are recruited based on reading skills only or reading as well as spelling skills. The current study contrasts the contribution of impaired reading and spelling to ERP correlates of print sensitivity, lexico-semantic access and sensitivity to orthographic regularities. Four groups of children were recruited: isolated reading deficit, isolated spelling deficit, combined reading and spelling deficit, and typically developing. Their neural correlates (EEG) of word, pseudohomophone, and pseudoword reading, as well as false font processing were compared. 1) All groups showed higher N1 amplitudes to letters than to false fonts. 2) Good spellers exhibited more negative N400 amplitudes for meaningless (pseudowords) than for meaningful stimuli (words and pseudohomophones). This effect was not observed in poor spellers. 3) Good readers showed sensitivity to orthographic regularities in a later time window (700-900 ms), whereas this was not the case for poor readers. 1) Print sensitivity is not affected by reading and/or spelling deficit in German-speaking 3rd graders. 2) Spelling deficits are associated with a reduced orthographic lexicon, 3) Reading deficits are associated with atypical use of sublexical information. As this effect was observed after lexico-semantic access, the results are discussed in terms of a possible orthographic reanalysis hypothesis.

Neurophysiological correlates of word processing deficits in isolated reading and isolated spelling disorders.

OBJECTIVE: In consistent orthographies, isolated reading disorders (iRD) and isolated spelling disorders (iSD) are nearly as common as combined reading-spelling disorders (cRSD). However, the exact nature of the underlying word processing deficits in isolated versus combined literacy deficits are not well understood yet. METHODS: We applied a phonological lexical decision task (including words, pseudohomophones, legal and illegal pseudowords) during ERP recording to investigate the neurophysiological correlates of lexical and sublexical word-processing in children with iRD, iSD and cRSD compared to typically developing (TD) 9-year-olds. RESULTS: TD children showed enhanced early sensitivity (N170) for word material and for the violation of orthographic rules compared to the other groups. Lexical orthographic effects (higher LPC amplitude for words than for pseudohomophones) were the same in the TD and iRD groups, although processing took longer in children with iRD. In the iSD and cRSD groups, lexical orthographic effects were evident and stable over time only for correctly spelled words. CONCLUSIONS: Orthographic representations were intact in iRD children, but word processing took longer compared to TD. Children with spelling disorders had partly missing orthographic representations. SIGNIFICANCE: Our study is the first to specify the underlying neurophysiology of word processing deficits associated with isolated literacy deficits.