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Brain scans show improved reading skills equals neurological fortification
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Brain images of 8- to 10-year-old children who received tutoring to improve their reading skills revealed that the brain physically rewires itself to improve function.
Timothy Keller PhD, and Marcel Just, PhD, of the Center for Brain Imaging and the Department of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, conducted the study that was published in the journal Neuron.
Using diffusion tensor imaging, Keller and Just scanned 72 children’s brains to find physical changes associated with improved reading ability. The children were split into two groups, 47 children were reading poorly and 25 were reading at normal levels. The children who read poorly received six months of remedial training.
The brain scan images showed that the white matter fortified itself over time in the children who received tutoring; the children who did need training did not show any improvement in white matter function. Tests concluded the group that received tutoring did read better, which supports the idea that behavioral treatment does improve cognitive function.
“Showing that it’s possible to rewire a brain’s white matter has important implications for treating reading disabilities and other developmental disorders, including autism,” Just commented in a press release issued by Carnegie Mellon University. Just and Keller are still researching to find the exact mechanism of what causes these changes in the brain tissue.
Keller T, Just M. Neuron. 2009; 624-631.