Direction-discrimination training improves reading fluency in dyslexics 1 Direction-Discrimination Training Improves Reading Fluency in Dyslexics and Provides Evidence that Dyslexia Results from Magnocellular Timing Deficits

This study examined the effects of direction-discrimination training on reading performance in normal and dyslexic second graders. Participants were divided into two groups: Dyslexic and normal readers. Each of these groups was randomly split into three subgroups, each of which used a different training regimen (direction-discrimination, word, and no training). This study found that not only can dyslexic readers be differentiated from normal readers by their significantly lower sensitivity to the direction of movement, but that their motion sensitivity and reading proficiency improved significantly and permanently following a short course (biweekly 10-minute sessions for 15 weeks) of directiondiscrimination training. These improvements in reading fluency, comprehension, spelling, and word identification were found only for dyslexics in the subgroup using the direction-discrimination training regimen. Finally, these results provide evidence that timing deficits in the magnocellular pathways underlie dyslexics' poor reading skills. _____________________________________________________________________________________ A child’s visual system is maturing rapidly up until the age of 8 (Thatcher et al. 1987; Van Sluyters et al. 1990), the period when a child is learning to read. There is much cortical plasticity during this period, and age seven is the middle of the developmental period for learning direction discrimination (Lawton, 2000; Lawton, 2008), so the current study focused on second graders, who average seven years of age. Many children have difficulty with reading. In fact, sixty-seven percent of fourth grade students across the nation do not read proficiently (National Assessment of Educational Progress (2007)). Recent research (Vidyasagar, 1999; Lawton, 2000, 2004, 2007) suggests that children who are inefficient readers have timing deficits between their magnocellular (dorsal stream) and linked parvocellular (ventral stream) pathways that prevents efficient reading. While not all inefficient readers are dyslexic, this timing deficit is particularly pronounced