MIT/Dyslexia/New Research: Reading Challenges are More Pervasive than Previously Thought

David A. Perna, PhD
​Licensed Psychologist
Lecturer in Psychiatry
Harvard Medical School

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"Dyslexia affects many brain regions, not just those involved with language."

 Gabrieli-2016

MIT Researcher John Gabrieli published fascinating findings in the journal Neuron as part of his research and the research of his team (See Reference below) into the roots of dyslexia. His research revealed that dyslexia impacts many different systems within the brain which in turn impact the ability of the dyslexic child to adapt to his/her environment. 

Gabrieli also noted:

• That there were other systems impacted in the dyslexic brain that had nothing to do with language development and aquisition.
• He specifically noted a decrease in "Neural Adaptation." He defined this as the brain's ability to adapt to repeated information.
• He also posited that the brain has many neural systems to work-around challenges in areas of brain funtion that are evolutionarily older. He indicated that the brain had not developed these compensatory systems in reading to date since reading is a much newer brain function. 

I found this article fits my clinical impressions of the complex nature of many child and adolescent patients who struggle with dyslexia. It also highlights the numerous systems that we need to address in our treatment in an applied clinical setting with this population. In our work, we commonly address the degree to which these patients struggle with anger outbursts, poor frustration tolerance, and impulsivity, all of which bring them to our door for treatment. In treating such a complex population, our treatment interventions are equally complex, including familial support, school support, self-esteem support, referral for specialized testing (Such as Central Auditory Processing Evaluations), and individual/family therapy that are all intertwined to address each patients specific learning/mental health concerns. 
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It is beyond the scope of this review to reveal the complexity of this MIT team's work in this area. A thorough reading of the article that is listed below is recommended. 

Perrachione et al., 2016, Neuron 92, 1383–1397 December 21, 2016

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