Cited by 1,173Reading and Literacy DevelopmentDevelopmental and Educational NeuropsychologyNeurobiology of Language and Bilingualism

Dyslexia: Cultural Diversity and Biological Unity

Paulesu, E., Démonet, J.-F., Fazio, F., McCrory, E., Chanoine, V., Brunswick, N., Cappa, S. F., Cossu, G. +3 more·2001·Science

Abstract

The recognition of dyslexia as a neurodevelopmental disorder has been hampered by the belief that it is not a specific diagnostic entity because it has variable and culture-specific manifestations. In line with this belief, we found that Italian dyslexics, using a shallow orthography which facilitates reading, performed better on reading tasks than did English and French dyslexics. However, all dyslexics were equally impaired relative to their controls on reading and phonological tasks. Positron emission tomography scans during explicit and implicit reading showed the same reduced activity in a region of the left hemisphere in dyslexics from all three countries, with the maximum peak in the middle temporal gyrus and additional peaks in the inferior and superior temporal gyri and middle occipital gyrus. We conclude that there is a universal neurocognitive basis for dyslexia and that differences in reading performance among dyslexics of different countries are due to different orthographies.

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Crossref · 10.1126/science.1057179

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  • Research with dyslexic adults indicates that, among other areas, the VWFA fails to increase its activity in response to word forms.

    “Research with dyslexic adults indicates that, among other areas, the VWFA fails to increase its activity in response to word forms [44,45] (Box 3).”

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Authors
Paulesu, E., Démonet, J.-F., Fazio, F., McCrory, E., Chanoine, V., Brunswick, N., Cappa, S. F., Cossu, G., Habib, M., Frith, C. D., & Frith, U.
Affiliations
  • IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele (IT)
  • INSERM U455, Hôpital Purpan, Toulouse, France.
  • University College London (GB)
  • Inserm (FR)
  • UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology (GB)
  • Vita-Salute San Raffaele University (IT)
  • University of Parma (IT)
  • Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal (CA)
  • Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK.
Corresponding author
Paulesu, E.
Venue
Science
Published
2001-03-16
Volume
291
Issue
5511
Pages
2165-2167
ISSN
  • 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
  • 1095-9203
OpenAlex
W2139610547
Cited by
1,173
References
21
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 40 · 2022: 50 · 2021: 38 · 2020: 32 · 2019: 40 · 2018: 28 · 2017: 35 · 2016: 36 · 2015: 49 · 2014: 86 · 2013: 55 · 2012: 74
FWCI
92.38
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Science (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • HAL AMU (submittedVersion)
  • BOA (University of Milano-Bicocca) (submittedVersion)
  • Middlesex University Research Repository (Middlesex University Of London) (submittedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • Oskar-Bordeaux (Universite de Bordeaux) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Reading and Literacy Development
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Developmental and Educational Neuropsychology
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
Keywords
dyslexia, neurodevelopmental disorders, orthography, reading achievement, phonological processing, cross-cultural comparison, middle temporal gyrus, left hemisphere activation
MeSH terms
Adult, Brain, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Culture, Dyslexia, France, United Kingdom, Humans, Italy, Language, Male, Occipital Lobe, Reading, Regional Blood Flow, Temporal Lobe, Tomography, Emission-Computed, Matched-Pair Analysis

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