Dyslexia Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Dyslexia, including details on learning, reading, education, teaching, treatment.

Tachistoscopic treatment of dyslexia changes the distribution of visual-spatial attention.

Lorusso ML, Facoetti A, Toraldo A, Molteni M

Unità di Psicologia e Neuropsicologia Cognitiva, IRCCS E. Medea, Bosisio Parini, Lecco, Italy. mluisa@bp.lnf.it

Twelve children with developmental dyslexia underwent a four-month treatment with tachistoscopic presentation of words, according to Bakker's methodology. One group received standard lateral presentation of words on a PC screen, while the other group received the same stimuli in random lateral position. The spatial distribution of visual attention was measured by means of the Form-Resolving Field (FRF; ), which was administered along with reading tests, before and after treatment. The FRF of children who received random presentation widened at -12.5 degrees on the left side, while the FRF in the group that received standard lateral presentation narrowed at that position. Both groups significantly improved in reading accuracy for both words and nonwords. Some hypotheses are proposed concerning the mechanisms responsible for the changes in the FRF and their correlation with improvements in word and nonword reading. The results of the present study are also compared with data suggesting a left "minineglect" in dyslexia.

Published 14 February 2005 in Brain Cogn, 57(2): 135-42.
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