“Dyslexia as a Cross-Cutting Research Area”

In her lecture, “Dyslexia as a Cross-Cutting Research Area,” Peggy McCardle, Ph.D., M.P.H., discussed learning disabilities as an important, cross-cutting area of research. According to McCardle, emerging evidence in the field of neurobiology suggests that the brain regions activated by developing readers with reading disabilities differ significantly from those activated by normally developing readers. This difference in neural activation patterns, as displayed on fMRI imaging, has potential to revolutionize the way we identify and treat dyslexia. In particular, it has led to ongoing research linking neural patterning differences to genetic findings; behavioral results of treatment interventions; foundational language skills, including core phonological processing skills; and early indicators useful in identifying at-risk children.

Download McCardle’s lecture as a PDF.