San Luis Obispo, CA July 27, 2011 – A new article released by the journal NeuroImage features the results of a study that examined changes in gray matter volume (GMV) in children with dyslexia who received intensive reading instruction using Lindamood-Bell’s Seeing Stars® program for reading and spelling.  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 “training-induced changes” in GMV can be seen in a pediatric sample, and that the changes are accompanied by improvements in reading.  Furthermore, changes in both reading skills and GMV were maintained after the training ended.

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.  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 along with improvements in reading as measured by behavioral tests.  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,” says Nanci Bell, Director of Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes.  “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 GMV changes in the brain.  This is a very important finding in the field of reading research, especially as related to changing the profiles of children who have decoding difficulties.”