The Brain and Dyslexia

Research on how the brain works has been enormously productive over the decades, so that we know quite a lot about which areas of the brain govern different aspects of movement, sensation, and mental activity. A study was released this month which had focused on dyslexia in English-speaking children compared with Chinese-speaking children.

What is Dyslexia?
It is a disorder affecting reading skills. There are many theories as to what causes it and it can be hereditary or acquired, meaning caused by a brain injury.
• Most English-speaking dyslexics have a problem with processing the series of sounds within words
• A minority of dyslexics have a visual problem, with trouble recognizing the appearance of words or their correct sequence

As languages, English and Chinese are very different. English is based on an alphabet of letters with sounds. Chinese is based on pictographs (also called pictograms). This means that different parts of the brain are used to read the two methods of writing.

What is a pictograph?
It’s both a symbol and a drawing. It represents a concept, an object, a location, event, or activity by means of a sketch or drawing. Western countries use them as public signs. A common example is the circle with a diagonal slash and a drawing in the center. If the drawing is of flames, it means that fire is forbidden where the sign is posted. Another common example is the triangular signs with silhouettes inside them that are posted along highways. A silhouette of a deer or kangaroo tells you to watch out for them on the road.

The Chinese have used pictographs, known as characters, as long ago as 1500 BC and probably earlier. The have evolved into modern Chinese styles of calligraphy. Their pronunciation has also evolved, much as English pronunciation has, with time and over geographical areas. But as with English, residents of far flung Chinese geographical areas can still communicate clearly in writing.

An educated Chinese person knows about 4,000 characters. In contrast, an educated American knows 26 letters and unquantified numbers of words made from them – unquantified because anyone who speaks English can make up a new word and be generally understood. Americans are particularly fond of doing that, e.g., doable, google and photoshop used as verbs, remoteing in meaning working from home on your work computer, laser (which was originally an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation), and thousands of others.

Different neurological deficits
The study just released was done by researchers at the University of Hong Kong, the University of Pittsburgh, and the Beijing Institute of Technology. It found that Chinese- and English-speaking dyslexics appear to have two different brain disorders. If you are dyslexic and speak English, you typically have an abnormality in the back part of the brain which is associated with reading, and less gray matter there. If you speak Chinese and are dyslexic, the abnormality is in the left side of the middle frontal brain area.

Brain scans were done on 32 children in Beijing, 16 of whom were dyslexic.
• Researchers first established which part of the brain was used for reading by having the children identify differences in font size of Chinese characters.
• They then showed the children pairs of characters and asked whether they rhymed. That was a test of the child’s sound awareness, regarded as a reliable predictor of reading ability.

With this second question, the 16 dyslexic children had less brain activity in the left-middle frontal brain area, and less gray matter also. They had no abnormalities in the back part of the brain where an English-speaking dyslexic has them.

Most dyslexics have a hereditary condition which is detected at school. But a brain injury can also cause dyslexia, and in a person of any age. Much re-learning is then necessary to restore reading ability. If you have sustained a brain injury and are having dyslexic problems, or if you have a loved one in that situation, there is no doubt a lot of time and money being spent on retraining and support. You might do well to consult with a brain injury attorney if you would like to learn more about your legal options and whether you might have a valid legal claim.