How can Educational Neuroscience contribute to the identification and treatment of dyslexia? Three perspectives for the future
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The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Department of Psychology, Hong Kong, SAR China
In the last two decades, Cognitive Neuroscience research has contributed to addressing school-related topics, such as dyslexia. This approach of using neuroscience methods to investigate educational topics has also been called Educational Neuroscience. Dyslexia research has been cited as exemplary for this young discipline, because it has revealed neural correlates of dyslexia in a wide range of measures. These findings have contributed to our basic understanding of the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying dyslexia. However, it still remains to be shown how such knowledge can be applied in educational practice. There are at least three areas where Educational Neuroscience may be able to make a practical contribution in the future. These three areas shall be discussed here and illustrated with some of our own studies.
First, a series of studies have shown that reading and dyslexia can be predicted based on neural measures. The accuracy of the prediction may further increase in the future with more accurate measures and more sophisticated analysis methods. If applied early during development, neuroscience methods may allow early recognition of dyslexia before the start of literacy acquisition, which would allow a more timely start of reading intervention in affected children.
Second, dyslexia intervention programs may be evaluated not only at the behavioral but also at the neural level. Neural evaluation can possibly add to behavioral evaluation, as the same behavioral outcome can arise from different underlying neural processes. As such, two intervention programs may lead to similar improvements in reading, but one of them remediates underlying deficits, while the other one induces compensatory mechanisms. A program that remediates deficits would then be preferred.
Third, neural measures may facilitate personalized treatment. If children are dyslexic for different reasons, then they need different treatment. Research is still inconclusive about different types of dyslexia. In the future, different types of dyslexia deficits may be more securely identified using neural measures, which would help selecting appropriate treatment.
In addition to these three areas of practical application of Educational Neuroscience, basic research into the underlying neural mechanisms of dyslexia is critical. A better understanding of dyslexia and more accurate neural models will provide further progress in the above mentioned areas.
Acknowledgements
This research is supported by the Health and Medial Research Fund, Hong Kong (HMRF 04152496).
Keywords:
educational neuroscience,
dyslexia research.,
prediction,
intervention,
dyslexia subtypes
Conference:
3rd International Conference on Educational Neuroscience, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 11 Mar - 12 Mar, 2018.
Presentation Type:
Oral Presentation (invited speakers only)
Topic:
Educational Neuroscience
Citation:
Maurer
U
(2018). How can Educational Neuroscience contribute to the identification and treatment of dyslexia? Three perspectives for the future.
Conference Abstract:
3rd International Conference on Educational Neuroscience.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2018.225.00006
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Received:
11 Feb 2018;
Published Online:
14 Dec 2018.
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Correspondence:
Prof. Urs Maurer, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Department of Psychology, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR China, umaurer@psy.cuhk.edu.hk