Independent Study Published in NeuroImage:
Gray Matter Volume Changes
Following Reading Intervention in Dyslexic Children
A new article released by the journal NeuroImage features the results of a study that examined changes in reading behavior and gray matter volume (GMV) in children with dyslexia. These children received intensive reading instruction using Lindamood-Bell’s Seeing Stars® Symbol Imagery program to develop literacy skills. The study, conducted by researchers from the Center for the Study of Learning,Georgetown University Medical Center, and Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, found that “(1) training-induced changes in GMV can be observed in a pediatric sample, and (2) reading improvements induced by intervention are accompanied by GMV changes.”
Behavioral tests and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were performed before the Seeing Stars® instruction, after the Seeing Stars® instruction, and after a period of time where no instruction was administered. Reading behaviors significantly improved, and for the first time, the results of the study indicate that GMV increases in the left anterior fusiform gyrus/hippocampus, left precuneus, right hippocampus, and right anterior cerebellum occur as well. These are areas of the brain that have been shown previously to play a part in learning and visual imagery.
For many years we have noted significant improvement in decoding and reading comprehension when we focus instruction on mental imagery as applied to language and literacy skills. The results of this MRI study not only validate that our instruction in imagery results in improved reading behaviors, but also results in important and lasting changes in the brain. This is a very important step forward in the field of reading.
Click here for the press release of this article.
Click here to read the article in its entirety.
Watch a short video about the study below:
Click here to watch the full video on YouTube. (49 minutes) |