Reading & Literacy Neuroscience
Research, products, and tools referenced in this module.20 resources available.
3 printable PDFs
Track the foundational skills children need before formal reading instruction begins
Track daily reading, log books, and apply evidence-based read-aloud techniques
Age-grouped warning signs, key facts, and next steps if you're concerned
Landmark review demonstrating dyslexia as a phonological deficit with distinct neural signature, showing brain systems for reading are malleable through intervention.
Shaywitz et al. review showing neurobiological signature for dyslexia involving disruption of left hemisphere posterior brain systems.
Seminal 1998 PNAS study identifying underactivation of posterior regions and overactivation of anterior regions in dyslexic readers.
Shaywitz et al. fMRI study of 144 children providing neurobiological evidence of early disruption in reading systems.
Longitudinal study showing divergent neural patterns between compensated and persistently poor dyslexic readers into young adulthood.
Sprugevica & Hoien follow-up study demonstrating phonemic awareness accounts for ~27% of variance in word reading.
Research supporting the phonological deficit hypothesis and showing reading variation reflects severity of phonological deficits.
Odegard et al. study showing left inferior parietal lobe activation differentiates intervention responders from non-responders.
Papanicolaou et al. review showing aberrant activation profiles may return to normative patterns with successful intervention.
Pugh et al. research identifying dorsal and ventral reading pathways and compensatory mechanisms in dyslexia.
Systematic review and meta-analysis estimating worldwide dyslexia prevalence at approximately 7.1% in primary school children, with higher rates in boys than girls.
Review of dyslexia genetics showing high heritability and identifying candidate susceptibility genes involved in neuronal migration.
Duff, Tomblin & Catts study confirming that 4th-grade word reading predicts vocabulary growth rate, supporting the Matthew Effect in reading development.
Accessible book explaining the science of the reading brain and how humans developed the ability to read.
Wolf's exploration of deep reading in the digital age and strategies for developing bi-literate brains.
Evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading instruction, establishing the importance of phonemic awareness and phonics.
Comprehensive overview of the neuroscience of reading, including the concept of neuronal recycling.
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