Dyslexia May Represent Multiple Disorders

A new study suggests that Dyslexia stems from different brain abnormalities in English speakers than it does in Chinese speakers.

Researchers from the University of Hong Kong, Beijing Institute of Technology, and the University of Pittsburgh have recently published a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that provides evidence that the structural abnormalities of the brain in Americans and Chinese people with Dyslexia are different.

While people with Dyslexia in both the U.S. and China have trouble reading and understanding written documents, the parts of the brain that impair this process may be different. Using MRI scans, the researchers found abnormalities in the temporoparietal and occipitotemporal regions of the brains in English-speaking subjects. In Chinese-speaking subjects, on the other hand, they found deficits in the left middle frontal gyrus region.

This finding may indicate that Dyslexia encompasses multiple brain disorders, and that the type of disorder depends on one's culture and the alphabetic system that culture uses.