Imaging Brain Structure in Children: Differentiating Language Disability and Reading Disability

Abstract

Children's approach to print differs. Some plunge in, others read slowly and without pleasure. After a century of study we still do not know why these differences occur. Is reading disability (RD) a neurological disorder? How do the brains of children with RD differ? How does early linguistic experience change the brain? Evidence is presented here showing that consistent threads are beginning to emerge from reading and imaging research that treats RD as a heterogeneous condition. When disabled readers with oral language deficits are separated from those with no oral language deficits, modern imaging studies reveal differences in brain structures that have implications for diagnosis and educational practice.