Using brain functional connectivity pattern to examine the effectiveness of a reading intervention for children with dyslexia.

Abstract

Dyslexia is known to be neurological by nature and causes difficulty in acquiring the reading ability due to disruption in the visual and auditory circuit of the brain. However, this can be ameliorated through effective reading intervention. Therefore, this study investigates the effectiveness of a developed reading intervention by examining the brain functional connectivity pattern of children with dyslexia before and after the intervention. We also investigate the differences in the connectivity pattern between age-matched normal readers and subjects with dyslexia. Partial Directed Coherence (PDC) technique was utilized and 2D EEG topography images were produced when the subjects were involved in live different rapid automatized naming (RAN) tasks. Results from the RAN tasks showed the brain connectivity pattern of children with dyslexia normalized after the reading intervention apart from improving their reading fluency. Our results highlight the need for teachers to be informed on the capacity of the brain to make new connections if provided with effective and evidence-based intervention.