Reduced neural integration of letters and speech sounds links phonological and reading deficits in adult dyslexia.
Open accessAbstract
Developmental dyslexia is a specific reading and spelling deficit affecting 4% to 10% of the population. Advances in understanding its origin support a core deficit in phonological processing characterized by difficulties in segmenting spoken words into their minimally discernable speech segments (speech sounds, or phonemes) and underactivation of left superior temporal cortex. A suggested but unproven hypothesis is that this phonological deficit impairs the ability to map speech sounds onto their homologous visual letters, which in turn prevents the attainment of fluent reading levels. The present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study investigated the neural processing of letters and speech sounds in unisensory (visual, auditory) and multisensory (audiovisual congruent, audiovisual incongruent) conditions as a function of reading ability. Our data reveal that adult dyslexic readers underactivate superior temporal cortex for the integration of letters and speech sounds. This reduced audiovisual integration is directly associated with a more fundamental deficit in auditory processing of speech sounds, which in turn predicts performance on phonological tasks. The data provide a neurofunctional account of developmental dyslexia, in which phonological processing deficits are linked to reading failure through a deficit in neural integration of letters and speech sounds.
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LOTS response shaping is probably initially guided by phonological and multisensory regions in posterior STS and inferior parietal cortex.
“The process of shaping the responses in LOTS is likely to be guided, initially, by phonological and multisensory integration regions in posterior STS and inferior parietal cortex (Blau et al., 2010; Blau, van Atteveldt, Ekkebus, Goebel, & Blomert, 2009).”
From The Development of Cortical Sensitivity to Visual Word Forms (2011) · cites this paper as Blau et al., 2009
Compared with fluent readers, dyslexic adults underactivate the superior temporal gyrus when integrating passively presented letter-speech sound stimuli.
“The results showed that, relative to fluent readers, dyslexic readers underactivate the superior temporal gyrus for the integration of passively presented letter-speech sound stimuli.”
From Deviant processing of letters and speech sounds as proximate cause of reading failure: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study of dyslexic children. (2010) · cites this paper as Blau et al., 2009
In dyslexic adults, weaker letter-speech sound integration was directly linked to reduced auditory processing of speech sounds, which predicted phonological task performance.
“This reduced integration was directly associated with reduced auditory processing of speech sounds, which in turn predicted performance on phonological tasks.”
From Deviant processing of letters and speech sounds as proximate cause of reading failure: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study of dyslexic children. (2010) · cites this paper as Blau et al., 2009
These neurofunctional effects closely resemble those seen in adult dyslexia.
“These neurofunctional effects closely resemble those seen in adult dyslexia.”
From Deviant processing of letters and speech sounds as proximate cause of reading failure: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study of dyslexic children. (2010) · cites this paper as Blau et al., 2009
Problems integrating letters with speech sounds arise during reading acquisition rather than from many years of reading difficulty.
“showing that a deficit in letter-speech sound integration is an emergent property of learning to read and not the result of a lifetime of reading difficulties”
From Deviant processing of letters and speech sounds as proximate cause of reading failure: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study of dyslexic children. (2010) · cites this paper as Blau et al., 2009
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- Authors
- Blau, V., van Atteveldt, N., Ekkebus, M., Goebel, R., & Blomert, L.
- Affiliations
- Maastricht University (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Blau, Vera
- ORCID
- Goebel, Rainer
- Venue
- Current Biology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2009-03
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 503-508
- ISSN
- 0960-9822 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1993812365
- Cited by
- 289
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 31 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 21 · 2014: 23 · 2013: 20 · 2012: 18
- FWCI
- 33.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
- www.elsevier.com/legal/tdmrep-license (tdm)
- www.elsevier.com/open-access/userlicense/1.0/ (vor, 1599 d)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-017 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-037 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-012 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-029 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-004 (stm-asf)
- Locations
- Current Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Publications (Maastricht University) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- VU Research Portal (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Research Publications (Maastricht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Reading and Literacy Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Multisensory perception and integration
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
- Keywords
- developmental dyslexia, phonological processing, audiovisual integration, superior temporal cortex, multisensory integration, auditory speech processing, reading failure, phonological deficit, adults with dyslexia
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Auditory Cortex, Auditory Perception, Auditory Perceptual Disorders, Brain, Brain Mapping, Dyslexia, Hearing, Humans, Language Disorders, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Models, Neurological, Incidence, Comprehension
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