Children at risk of dyslexia have difficulty learning unconscious words

Researchers at Aalto University and the Niilo Mäki Institute have used neuroimaging to identify where the brain is active – or not functioning – among children identified as being at high risk for dyslexia. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) has rarely been used to study reading disorders in children.

The brain scan was performed at Aalto University by measuring brain activity with MEG, which measures the weak magnetic fields arising from electrical activity in the brain, over a period of two days. Earlier studies have shown that difficulties in processing sounds may be partly due to dyslexia, and that these challenges may be related to the left auditory cortex that processes language.

During the study, the children listened to unobtrusive four-syllable words from a senior speaker and were asked to repeat them. The researchers then asked the children if they had heard the word before.

‘The words were zero words that mean nothing. We wanted to see how the children learned memories of creating new words. We noticed that children at high risk of dyslexia have deficits in learning new words based on their hearing. Their recollections of new words were not very detailed, and they were unable to distinguish between the words made from each other. This is indicative of a wider problem of word processing in the brain, which also makes reading learning more difficult, ‘said Dr Anni Nora, a postgraduate researcher who developed the MEG measurement test with him. Professor Riitta Salmelin and Professor Hanna Renvall at Aalto University.

There was natural activity in the right cerebral hemisphere of the children at high risk of dyslexia compared with the activity of the children in the control group. Difficulties in processing the sound content of speech, and in learning new words were concentrated in the activity of the left hemisphere study cortex – the area of ​​the brain that specifically processes language and speech, and where word memory support is located.

Significantly less brain activity has been found in the left cerebral hemisphere among children at risk of dyslexia. Especially in children, language and speech processing can be seen in the right hemisphere, but over time the emphasis shifts to the left – each side focuses on more specific tasks as children get older. It would be interesting to know if reading and writing problems are caused by the specialization of the cerebral hemispheres. “

Dr Anni Nora, Postdoctoral Researcher, Aalto University

Study participants were in their first and second years of school and were identified, with the help of a teacher, as high risk. The research team performed neuropsychological tests, tested reading and writing skills and cognitive abilities, and measured brain functions. The children were also asked about their motivation, including their beliefs about their own reading skills.

Suggestions support and feedback

Irregular brain activity at age 7 or 8 did not fully predict later reading development; other features appear to be involved, including a child’s belief in their own ability to learn. The Niilo Mäki Institute further investigated this, using tools and experiments including a game called GraphoLearn (in Finnish Ekapeli), which is used to teach reading skills to children in Finland.

The children were asked to read both meaningless words and pseudo-words that they could not believe. The study also included a part that tested how GraphoLearn affected reading and writing difficulties. Overall, playing this learning game had little effect. However, children who were confident in their reading skills benefited more from playing the game, and made better progress in their reading skills than those in the control group. It may be useful to develop tools for special education teachers to help them support children’s self-efficacy, ‘says postdoctoral researcher Miia Ronimus of the Niilo Mäki Institute.

GraphoLearn is a mobile learning game developed at Jyväskylä University and Niilo Mäki Institute. Players associate letters with speech sounds and the game changes to the child’s skill level. Children with the weakest reading and writing skills were selected for the six weeks GraphoLearn. This exercise was monitored by teachers and parents. Based on the review, features such as suggestions and verbal feedback have been added to the game.

The learning game now offers suggestions on how you can improve performance. If a child reacts very quickly, for example, the game may instruct the child to take it easy and make it slower, ‘says Ronimus.