The Center for the Study of Learning at Georgetown University has unearthed new evidence that brain differences may be a result of dyslexia, rather than the cause.
In other words, anatomical differences of the brain that were previously thought to be a root cause of dyslexia might actually be the result of dyslexia.
These findings were published in the Journal of Neuroscience. The study examined 15 children with dyslexia and 30 children with typical reading skills.
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Half of the children with typical reading skills were the same age as the dyslexic group, while the other half had the same reading levels as the dyslexic group but were younger. This allowed researchers to compare both age and reading experience between the children with dyslexia and those without.
The researchers found that when comparing the children with dyslexia with their same-age counterparts, the children with dyslexia had less gray matter.
There was no less gray matter in children with dyslexia than their younger peers with similar reading experiences, though. This suggests that reduced gray matter may not reflect an underlying cause of dyslexia, but rather a result.
To read more about this study, visit the Huffington Post.