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Neuroscience and education: current

state of research on dyslexia /
Neurociencias y educacin: estado
actual de la investigacin en dislexias
Luis Bravo
Pontificia Universidad Catlica de Chile

Published online: 30 Apr 2014.
To cite this article: Luis Bravo (2014) Neuroscience and education: current state of research on
dyslexia / Neurociencias y educacin: estado actual de la investigacin en dislexias, Estudios de
Psicologa: Studies in Psychology, 35:1, 1-28, DOI: 10.1080/02109395.2014.893648
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02109395.2014.893648
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Estudios de Psicologa / Studies in Psychology, 2014

Vol. 35, No. 1, 128, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02109395.2014.893648
Neuroscience and education: current state of research

on dyslexia / Neurociencias y educacin: estado actual de la
investigacin en dislexias
Downloaded by [Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile] at 13:23 30 April 2014
Luis Bravo
Pontificia Universidad Catlica de Chile
(Received 17 December 2012; accepted 28 June 2013)
Abstract: In recent years, the contribution of research in Neuroscience to
Cognitive Psychology has broken new ground in Education, for the study,
diagnosis and treatment of dyslexia, and has confirmed previous research
studies. This article exposes some of the principal research conducted into
the areas of the brain that is involved in learning the written language, and the
effects of the application of psychopedagogical interventions in brain activity
of children with dyslexia.
Keywords: neurosciences; psycho pedagogy; dyslexia; brain areas; written
language
Resumen: El aporte de las investigaciones en Neurociencias en los ltimos
aos a la Psicologa Cognitiva ha abierto nuevos caminos en la Educacin
para el estudio, diagnstico y tratamiento de las dislexias y ha confirmado sus
investigaciones. En este artculo se presentan algunas de las principales
investigaciones recientes efectuadas en las reas cerebrales involucradas en
el aprendizaje del lenguaje escrito y los efectos de la aplicacin de las
intervenciones psicopedaggicas en la actividad cerebral de nios dislxicos.
Palabras clave: neurociencias; psicopedagoga; dislexias; reas cerebrales;
lenguaje escrito
Since the time of Luria, studies in neuropsychology have shown that all learning
happens in the brain (Luria, 1966, 1973). Research into the brain shows that
cognitive experiences in infancy are determinants of brain development, especially those that occur through language (Castro-Caldas, Peterson, Reis, StoneElander, & Ingvar, 1998; Dehaene, 2007; Shaywitz et al., 2004).
At the turn of the twenty-first century and due to the progress of neuroscience and
cognitive psychology, there was a change in the psychopedagogical approach to
English version: pp. 112 / Versin en espaol: pp. 1325
References / Referencias: pp. 2528
Translation / Traduccin: Liza DArcy
Authors Address / Correspondencia con el autor: Escuela de Psicologa, Pontificia
Universidad Catlica de Chile, Av. Vicua Mackenna 4860, Santiago, Chile. E-mail:
abravov@uc.cl
2014 Fundacion Infancia y Aprendizaje
L. Bravo
learning written languages and of the explanations on the origins of dyslexia (Bravo,
1985, 2011). This change of perspective was associated with the development of
cognitive neuropsychology (Dehaene, 2007; Fletcher, 2009; Fletcher, Lyon, Fuchs,
& Barnes, 2007; Goswami, 2008; Rumsey, 1996; Shaywitz & Shaywitz, 2008; Simos
et al., 2002; Vellutino, Fletcher, Snowling, & Scanlon, 2004).
A key finding of this research has been the interaction between brain development, of biological and genetic origin, with verbal and social stimuli caused by
the school and family environments, an interaction that is most clearly seen when
children learn to read. In the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
editorial, Leckman and March (2011) state that Last decade it became very
clear that in addition to the cascade of genetic, molecule and cell events that
result in the formation of billions of neurons that lead to the formation of human
neocortex in the utero, the postnatal environment and the close relationships
between children and their caregivers in the early years of life can have direct
and permanent effects on the childs brain development and behaviour
(pp. 333338).
On the contribution of Neuroscience to Education, Fawcett and Nicolson
(2007) also stated that The explosion in neuroscientific knowledge has profound
implications for Education, and we propose to establish a new discipline of
pedagogical neuroscience to combine psychological, medical, and educational
perspectives (p. 306). They believe that this approach is especially valid for
dyslexia research.
Moreover, Szcs and Goswami (2007) describe Educational Neuroscience as
a new discipline of the mental representations regarding neural activity in the
brain (p. 114). Accordingly, they define provisionally, educational neuroscience
as the combination of cognitive neuroscience and psychological methods for
research into the development of mental representations (2007, p. 114). They
cite Bruer (1997), who believes that this new discipline involves the integration of
three sciences: education, neuroscience and cognitive psychology. Cognitive
Psychology would be an intermediary between neuroscience and education.
The aim of this article is to review current studies into Educational
Neuroscience research and its contributions to learning difficulties in the written
language and dyslexia.
The difficulties of learning the written language and dyslexia

Dyslexia has historically been defined as a disorder that specifically affects
learning the written language, of neurobiological origin, characterized by difficulties in the certain smooth recognition and fluency of words, which in turn affects
understanding of them. (Alegra, 2006; Bravo, 1985; Bravo, 2011; Carrillo &
Domnguez, 2010; Cuadro, 2010; Dehaene, 2007; Fletcher, 2009; Goswami,
2008; Habib, 2005; Jimnez, 2012; Shaywitz & Shaywitz, 2008; Vellutino,
1979; Vellutino et al., 2004). Research in neuroscience confirms that these learning difficulties are associated with differences in the brain development of dyslexic children. The differences between dyslexic children and those that learn
Neuroscience and education / Neurociencias y educacin
normally are anatomical and operational and in many cases their relationship with
genetic factors have been established (Dansilio, 2009; Galaburda, 1989;
Galaburda, Lo Turco, Ramus, Fitch, & Rosen, 2006; Grigorenko, 2001;
Shaywitz, 2003; Shaywitz & Shaywitz, 2008).
Consequently, dyslexia has become a key issue for research into the relationship between brain development and activity with learning how to read.
According to Fletcher (2009) the greatest contribution of this research has been
the discovery that the phonological structure of speaking establishes a causal
relationship between spoken and written language. It states that neuropsychology
has been at the forefront of the evolution of the concept of dyslexia from a
scientific point of view (p. 506).
Dyslexia from a neuropsychological standpoint

The article by Temple et al. (2003) states that latest technologies, such as Positron
Emission Tomography (PET) and Functional Magnetic Resonance Images
(fMRI), have allowed researchers to directly observe brain processes of learning
the written language: With these technologies, it has been determined that the
cognitive process of learning produces changes in the structure of the brain at the
level of the synapse. These changes show that learning organizes and reorganizes
the brain, according to the different areas that are activated.
Shaywitzs research (2003) into the brains pathways in reading, using this
method, shows that the initial stage of association between written words and their
respective phonemes, happens in the parietal-temporal area of the left hemisphere
of the brain. Subsequently, the parietal-occipital connection of the same left side is
used by normal readers to recognize words as a whole, facilitating fluency in
reading them (p. 79). Dehaene and Cohen (2007) also proposed that there is a
region of the visual form of words (p. 96) where the brain does the visual
analysis of letters and acknowledges written words. This is the left occipitotemporal region of the brain.
Meanwhile, Habib (2005) presented different functional brain imaging studies
that showed that dyslexic persons differ from the control group due to the
intensity of the activation of different areas (p. 35). According to him, the main
areas activated in normal subjects by reading are: Brocas area (left front) and the
left posterior inferior temporal area. Brocas area implies the intervention of the
articulation of oral language and the temporal area, updating specific visual
mechanisms that allow the recognition of words by associating them with their
phonology. He states that the duality of these mechanisms in brain activity is
consistent with the classical scheme of cognitive psychology that distinguishes
two ways of reading: A phonological and visual-orthographic way (p. 36).
Dyslexic persons, however, more strongly activate Brocas area, probably to
compensate for their difficulties in activating phonological areas. This aspect
overlaps with research done by Shaywitz (2003) and Shaywitz and Shaywitz
(2008) showing that the visual word processing area, temporal occipital, is subactivated in dyslexic persons. Habib (2005) concludes that in all cases, dyslexic
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persons have a sub-activation pattern of the visual areas in word recognition,

which is effectively the functional framework of dyslexia in general (p. 38). His
research indicates that dyslexic difficulties are not only limited to deficiencies in
the phonological area, but also to deficiencies in the connection with visual areas
of the written word. Deficiencies in the connection is also a hypothesis proposed
by Paulesu et al. (1996) who described dyslexia as a disconnection disorder,
where there is desynchronization between Brocas area and the parietal-occipital
region. Wimmer et al. (2010) have also confirmed deficiency in the orthographic
and phonological visual connection during a research study into dyslexic Germanspeakers, conducted with fMRI. Such research shows that dyslexic childrens
deficiencies in learning the written language could be partially explained by
alterations in the development of the underlying neurophysiological processes.
In order to correct them, more up-to-date psychopedagogical instructional strategies should be developed.
Consequently, recent advances in neuroimaging technology and the separation
of certain subcomponents in reading have shown that in dyslexia there is a
disruption in the posterior left hemisphere when the subject tries to read.
Moreover, there is evidence (Shaywitz, 2003) that shows that good readers
primarily activate the occipito-temporal area when processing orthographic stimuli. In this regard, Goswami (2008) stated that during the last two decades there
has been strong experimental evidence that the cognitive bases of dyslexia stem
from a disorder in the language system, especially in its phonological component.
McCrory, Mechelli, Frith, and Price (2005) studied language in dyslexic
subjects by scanner. They analysed the speed of naming words and compared
results with the control group. The comparison showed that dyslexic persons had
reduced activation in the left occipital-temporal areas both during reading and in
the naming of words speed. The authors believe that dyslexic persons could have
a common neuropsychological component that has a slower speed in naming
written words and more difficulty in decoding them, thereby disrupting the
phonological elicitation of orthographic stimulus. This research also supports
the point made by Wolf and Bowers (1999) who mentioned that there is a subtype of dyslexia characterized by slow reading. Hypoactivity in phonological
activities has also been observed in adults who are slow readers, confirming
that it reflects a stable characteristic in some dyslexic persons (Simos et al., 2005).
However, neuropsychological investigations show that slow reading is not the
only indicator of dyslexia. Demonet, Taylor, and Chaix (2004) propose three
deficit areas associated with dyslexia: the phonological deficiency, the magnocellular deficiency and the cerebellar deficiency. The first explains the initial deficiency in the recognition of letters and words. The magnocellular deficiency
explains the eventual deficiencies in the transmission pathways of vision and
hearing. The cerebellar deficiency would explain the difficulties of dyslexic
people in the automation of reading fluency. The first deficiency results in
phonological dyslexia, the second surface or visual-orthographic dyslexia and
the third, dyslexia of slowness and lack of fluidity. Consequently, dyslexia is
not a unitary disorder, but has different manifestations, depending on the area that
is affected. In turn, Rumsey (1996) also mentions the heterogeneity of deficiencies

associated with dyslexia, which complicates the possibility of finding its cause
and determining unique teaching strategies (p. 73).
Altered brain areas that process written language in dyslexic persons

One of the main issues of how written language learning takes place is the
integration between phonological awareness and visual-orthographic awareness
and its projection in semantic networks. In this regard, Vandermosten et al. (2012)
investigated structural abnormalities in brain regions of adults with dyslexia. Their
analysis confirmed that adult dyslexics showed alterations in the arcuate fasciculus region of the left hemisphere. (The arcuate fasciculus is an axonal pathway
connecting the posterior temporo-parietal junction with the frontal lobe). This
finding confirms the hypothesis that dyslexia stems from a disorder in brain
network connections. Dyslexic persons also have a double dissociation of reading routes: the left arcuate fasciculus sustains the decoding phonological route
underlying the grapheme-phoneme decoding. In contrast, the left fronto-occipital
fasciculus processes the direct access route to words. They concluded their
investigation by stating that dyslexic persons show dysfunction in cortical connectivity, thus confirming the hypothesis that dyslexia originates from a disconnection syndrome (Paulesu et al., 1996).
Regarding the brain areas involved in this disconnection, Hendersons (1986)
research concluded that the angular gyrus is possibly the place where visual
perception of graphic signs are transformed into auditory representations of the
written language (phonological) and Wernickes area is the mediator in meaning
(semantic processing). It also stated that the left inferior temporal cortex receives
signals from the visual association cortex and projects them to the superior
temporal lobe and inferior parietal. (p. 60). However, this processing may vary
depending on the orthographic characteristics of the language. For example, in
Spanish, a focus on accents is fundamental to the pronunciation and meaning of
words.
Dehaene (2007) has a somewhat different perception, for him the compatibility between letters and sounds would occur in the planum temporale region of
the left temporal lobe. A magnetoencephalography study showed that listening to
a sound consistent with a letter increased the activity of this region, however a
dissonance between letter and sound resulted in a reduction of that activity
(p. 151). He notes that neighbouring regions are also involved in this process.
He adds that if the process requires the conversion of more complex strings of
letters, it requires serial processing, letter by letter or syllable by syllable which
is what brings in the inferior parietal region that lies directly above the planum
temporale (p. 152). According to both researchers, both regions, the angular
gyrus and the temporal plane of the left hemisphere, are key to the conversion
of orthographic visual perception of letters into their respective phonemes.
Regarding the influence of phonological memory for retention and association
of phonemes with letters, a research study by Steinbrink and Klatte (2008)
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conducted into subjects with reading delay showed that their main difficulty was
using short term phonological memory inefficiently. Even when they could apply
and memorize phonological stimuli as well as normal readers, their problem
resided in the inefficient way they performed this process. According to this
research, the basis of the phonological memory problem of dyslexia does not
only concern connections, but also elicitation.
Van Atteveldt, Formisano, Goebel, and Blomert (2004) also researched into
the integration of perception of letters and the sound of language using functional
magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Their images showed that letters and phonemes are integrated in the superior temporal cortex. They found that responses to
phonemes in a specific region of the primary auditory cortex were modified when
letters were shown simultaneously. Both processes influenced each other.
Heim et al. (2010) used fMRI to research interaction between phonological
awareness and magnocellular processing in dyslexic and normal readers. They
state that some researchers attribute dyslexia to a low level of visual processing
due to deficiencies in the magnocellular system or direct communication in the
brain. The two studies showed that there really is an interaction between the
magnocellular processing and phonological awareness in reading. Phonological
awareness appears to be correlated with visual attention, but dyslexic persons
have reduced activity in the visual and auditory cortex as well as in all magnocellular tasks, whose function is the direct visual transmission of information.
This process affects the speed and quality of the visual perceptual transmission.
Kronschnabel, Schmid, Maurer, and Brandeis (2013) studied the rapid visual
recognition of letters, independent of their phonemes, in 13 dyslexic adolescents
and one control group, using magnetic resonance imaging in an experiment where
they showed true and false letters without exposure to phonemes. They found that
the dyslexic adolescents lacked sensitivity and were slower when shown the
printed stimuli, regardless of phonological processing. They concluded that dyslexic persons lacked the speed to recognize graphic representation when phonological or semantic stimuli were minimized. This research confirmed that dyslexic
persons also have shortcomings in speed when visually recognising graphic
representations, regardless of their phonological deficiencies.
Taken together these studies show that there is an interaction between phonological and visual orthographic awareness in the normal learning of written
language that allows children to quickly access the meaning of words, however,
dyslexic persons have shortcomings in both, especially in phonological
deficiencies.
Changes in brain activity and educational experience

Regarding the adaptation of the brain to assimilate the written language, Stern,
Grabner, Schumacher, Neuper, and Saalbach (2006) state that the long process of
human evolution was not intended for our brains to acquire academic knowledge.
They have been shaped over the past centuries through social needs and require
school teaching methodologies to be consistent with that genetic programming. In
the processes of learning, the brain selectively activates certain regions, which
determine the right connections in order to more efficiently assimilate the information required in the training of written language. Brain development is a
genetic programme, which promotes learning potential, but is flexible enough to
also be open to educational experiences. It follows that a dialogue between
neuroscience and educational research is essential (2006, p. 32).
Regarding the persistence of brain changes that occur because of learning,
Castro-Caldas et al. (1998) compared the reading of words and pseudo words in
60-year-old adult readers and recent ex-illiterate readers. They found that having
learnt written language in early years of development had produced stable changes
in brain structures. These differences were maintained until that age. The researchers mentioned concluded that learning to read and write during childhood
influences the functional organization of the adult brain, especially in the areas
underlying the processing of written language.
These research studies found that a fundamental element in the deficiency of
most dyslexic people is insufficient development of phonological awareness,
caused by reduced activity of the left parietal temporo-parietal junction, and
more delay when they have to associate the sound of letters with orthographic
visual stimuli (Simos et al., 2007; Shaywitz, 2003; Shaywitz & Shaywitz, 2008).
Consequently, the treatment of dyslexia involves intensive psychopedagogical
work on recognition, retention and association of the written words with their
meanings through their respective phonemes. Pronunciation of a new word is key
to understanding it.
Some differences in orthographic systems that influence dyslexia

An important discovery made in learning the written language processes and its
effect on dyslexia has been the variability between transparent and opaque
orthographies. Transparent orthographies have consistency and regularity, examples includes Spanish, Italian and German, however opaque orthographies have
serious differences between spelling and pronunciation, as in English (Carrillo &
Alegra, 2009). Hasko, Bruder, Bartling, and Schulte-Krne (2012) consider it
possible that the deficiency in reading fluency in dyslexic persons to decode
common words is influenced by the transparency of language. These differences
also appear in neuroimaging.
Wimmer and Schurz (2010) researched into the possible causes of dyslexia
in German-speaking children and proposed a model which, according to them,
should be applied in all languages, whether they have transparent or opaque
orthography. Their conclusion was the hypothesis that a deficiency in phonologicalorthographic integration is due to an abnormal connection in the brain between areas
that process orthographic visual recognition and phonological auditory processing.
They say that the more recent contributions of neuroimaging (diffusion tensor
imaging) allow the study of brain connectivity and the entire white matter tract. The
first results obtained show abnormalities in the left hemisphere tract that connects the
occipito-temporal regions, which process orthographic visual images, with the
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temporo-parietal areas and the inferior frontal areas, which perform phonological
processes (p. 283). They consider that this hypothesis is applicable to dyslexia in
languages that have either transparent or opaque orthography.
Bolger, Minas, Burman, and Booth (2008) investigated differences in brain
activity with fMRI in two groups of 15-year-old children one group that read
consistent and inconsistent words in English slowly and one that read at a normal
pace in orthographic and phonological recognition. The comparison between
the two groups showed that the orthographic consistency of words have greater
effect in normal readers in certain areas in the brain. The group of children who
read slower showed more difficulty in efficiently integrating orthographic and
phonological features of words. They stated that normal readers committed the left
frontal area more effectively to the activity of phonological decoding and the left
temporal occipital cortex for words that were orthographically consistent. The
research was original in that it studied the effect of the degree of consistency of
the written word, in the context of a language that is particularly inconsistent, such
as English. This result does not contradict that stated by Wimmer and Schurz
(2010) in their German language research study, which concluded that the core of
dyslexia is the deficiency in orthographic-phonological connection, which can be
manifested in transparent and opaque orthographies. The main difference
observed between them would manifest in the rate children learn, recognize and
pronounce the words.
Another comparative research was conducted in the United Sates between
Spanish speaking children aged 36 years with English-speaking children, on the
development and intervention of Phonological Awareness (Anthony et al., 2011).
Their results show that in both languages phonological awareness precedes
learning how to read. However, this learning process occurs differently in both
languages. The difference is that learning to read in English begins with the
process of onset-rime of words, whereas in Spanish with pronunciation and
memorization of syllables. In both languages the initial recognition process of
the written word requires connecting orthographic visual stimuli with recognition
and phonological memory, which coincides with the conclusions put forward by
Wimmer and Schurz (2010) for German. The main difference in learning how to
read between orthographic systems is reading fluency, German children recognized words faster than English-speaking children.
Jimnez, Rodrguez, and Ramrez (2009) researched 35 Spanish (transparent)
speaking, eight-year-old, dyslexic children and compared them with a control
group, in high-frequency words and pseudo words. They found 12 phonological
dyslexic children and five surface dyslexic children. Both groups showed deficits
in phonological awareness, but the group who had surface dyslexia also showed
deficiencies in orthographic visual processing. However, this latter deficiency has
been associated with poor literacy experiences at home. This information confirms
that some learning difficulties in reading among children from lower sociocultural levels are influenced by previous educational and cultural gaps, especially
in language. The phonological deficiencies in these children induced them to
focus their efforts on the recognition and visual memory of words.
A consequence of the differences between orthographic systems is that learning in transparent languages starts with using the phonological route to recognize
words, whereas learning in opaque language requires greater involvement of the
orthographic visual pathway, due to the disparity between graphemes and their
pronunciation.
After an extensive review of dyslexia in Spanish, Gonzlez and Jimnez
(2012) stated that the results of the different research studies seem to suggest
that there would be differences in neurofunctional anomalies according to the
orthographic system, but that in order to make this claim a larger number of
studies need to be conducted into both transparent and opaque languages, that
have the same criteria and methodologies (p. 94).
Effects of psychopedagogical interventions

For some years it was thought that little could be done to overcome dyslexic
disorders. However, research studies in neuroscience have yielded more optimistic
results. Hoeft et al. (2011) stated in the Proceeding National Academic Sciences
journal that Studies in neuroimaging of dyslexia have focused primarily on
identifying the neural correlates of dyslexia but have also identified the neural
systems that can successfully mediate its remediation.
Studies by Simos et al. (2002), supported by neuroimaging, showed significant
changes may occur in certain cortical regions. They suggest that psychopedagogical interventions can counteract the effect of a dominant psychobiological
phenotype of dyslexia, such as the underactivity of the left perisylvian region
during phonological processing.
They conducted an intervention that consisted of an intensive, eighty-hour
phonological training, based on the reading of pseudo words, with eight dyslexic
seven-to 17-year-old children and adolescents who had phonological and word
recognition difficulties. They were observed by magnetic resonance before and
after the intervention, which lasted two months. Before the phonological intervention, the images showed low or no activity in the left superior temporal area,
which normally processes phonological information, and an increased activity in
the corresponding right side. Subsequent to the intervention there was an improvement in the reading process and an increase of activity in the corresponding left
areas. From this research it was concluded that the deficiencies dyslexic persons
show in the functioning of certain areas in the brain can be reversed by interventions in phonological and decoding process, which is accompanied by an
improvement in their learning to read.
Shaywitz et al. (2004) also made a phonological intervention with 37 eightyear-old dyslexic children and compared them with a control group. Their results
showed that with this procedure the dyslexic children were able to progress in
reading fluency and there was an increase in the activation of the left hemisphere.
This higher level of brain activation was maintained one year later, confirming
that phonological intervention produces stable changes in certain areas in the
brain.
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In addition, neuroimaging studies conducted by Temple et al. (2003) confirmed that there is a deficiency in the neural mechanisms of phonological
processing in children and adults with dyslexia. They conducted an fMRI study
with 20 children with dyslexia, who were eight to 12 years old during a phonological task, the images were taken before and after an auditory processing and
oral language training intervention programme. Subsequent to this intervention,
the children with dyslexia showed an increase in neural activity in the left
temporo-parietal region and in the left inferior frontal gyrus, similar to that
observed in children who read normally. This increased brain activity was also
observed in the frontal and temporal right regions. In addition, children with
dyslexia showed a correlation between activation in the left temporo-parietal
cortex and their oral language. These results showed that they had a repercussion
on the deficiency of oral and written language in brain regions associated with
phonological processing, confirming the favourable effect of psychopedagogical
intervention and confirming that neuronal recycling (Dehaene, 2007, p. 200)
would occur in those areas.
The effect of phonological intervention in reading on brain organization and
reading fluency in 77 dyslexic children and children from control groups, aged six
to nine years was also confirmed in a study by Shaywitz et al. (2004). They used
magnetic resonance imaging to examine the types of brain activation during letter
identification tasks. After one year of intervention, children who had experimental
stimulation showed significant improvement in left hemisphere regions. A year
later, those children were still activating the bilateral frontal region and the upper
left, temporal and occipital-temporal regions to read and had improved reading
fluency.
Eden et al. (2004) also studied the differences that occur in the brain in
dyslexic adults after treatment with phonological strategies. The evaluation was
conducted by comparing brain activity before and after the intervention, and
showed an increase in the activity in certain regions of the left hemisphere. The
result of their intervention confirmed what Simos et al. (2002) stated, that progress
in learning the written language and overcoming dyslexia is associated with a
regularization of activation in the left hemisphere.
In summary, all the above evidence shows that intensive interventions in
phonological processes and recognition of words that encourage learning how to
read also modify brain connections. They could identify a psychopedagogical
model of action to work with children who have severe reading difficulties.
Dyslexia in the early years of life

McCandliss (2010) noted that changes in brain imaging (fMRI) in children at
kindergarten occur simultaneous to cognitive development while they address
different educational activities with written language. In this regard, McCandliss
and Wolmetz (2004) describe an fMRI study with children at kindergarten that
showed that after eight weeks of doing an activity with a computer program,
changes in the brain areas of the visual system associated with the recognition of
11
letters were produced. They also showed that without mastering pronunciation,
learning and incorporating new words in semantic networks does not occur. These
changes result in increased oxygenation of the blood (increased blood oxygenation level dependent, BOLD) in the left temporal occipital cortex and in evoked
potentials, in the lower left posterior area, after perceiving graphic stimuli. They
also note that educational experiences induce changes in brain processes during
perception of letters in young children. These research studies conducted through
fMRI and Evoked Potentials concord with Brem et al. (2010) who showed that
changes in brain activity are produced in children at kindergarten while they
address different educational activities. Learning to read has proven to be a key
topic for these interdisciplinary studies between neuroscience and education.
Moreover, research shows that there might be a genetic component to the early
origins of dyslexia. (Dansilio, 2009; Galaburda et al., 2006; Grigorenko, 2001).
Lyytinen et al. (2001) did a comparative longitudinal study on 200 children from
birth to age five. Half of them had a parent diagnosed with dyslexia, an IQ over 80
and at least 10 years of schooling (they were considered children at risk). The
images, from birth to the age of five years showed differences with the control
group who did not have a family history of dyslexia. In evoked potentials (ERP)
the children at risk showed slower responses in the left hemisphere. The major
differences between them appeared after 3.5 years, in auditory discrimination, in
naming speed and verbal memory. This research shows an early association
between phonological development, verbal memory and processing speed, with
a family history of dyslexia.
Raschle, Zuk, and Gaab (2012) showed that children at risk of dyslexia show
differences in brain activity early, captured by magnetic resonance, before starting
to learn how to read. Researchers assessed 36 pre-schoolers while they performed
tasks where they had to decide whether two words started with the same sound.
During the phonological tasks, children with a family history of dyslexia showed
less metabolic activity in the junctions between the occipital and temporal lobes
and in the temporal and parietal lobes, in the posterior part of the brain, in
comparison with the control subjects. They also investigated the performance of
neural networks in pre-readers with a risk of dyslexia because of family history
compared with a control group. The functional neuroimaging showed reduced
activation in preschool readers who had a family history of dyslexia, compared
with those who had no history of dyslexia in the family, in the bilateral occipital
temporal and the left temporo-parietal brain regions. They coincided with research
by Leppanen et al. (2010) in new-borns from families at risk of dyslexia who had
an atypical auditory processing in the pre-reading stage, which may subsequently
alter phonological recognition in learning to read.
Together, this evidence suggests that some children with a family history of
dyslexia show an impaired phonological processing from an early age. These
deficiencies would be present before formal learning of the written language
begins and confirm that there could be a genetic component to the early origins
of dyslexia.
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Analysis and conclusions

As a result of these investigations it can be concluded that cognitive deficiencies
in learning the written language at school can have neural causes that are
identifiable by neuroscience studies (Goswami, 2004). Most of the research
described here refers to their most common flaw: dyslexia.
A cognitive psychological, a pedagogic and a neurological component have
been found in dyslexia. Recent research in neuroscience tends to confirm the
psychological hypothesis and the experimental investigations carried out in the
past decades regarding the role that deficiencies in phonological awareness and
visual-orthographic perceptual processing play in the learning of the written
language and for the acquisition of reading fluency.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) show that the connections
between certain brain areas are fundamental to learning the written language;
differential studies between dyslexic and normal reading subjects show deficiencies of the former in certain areas of the left hemisphere, especially associated
with language processing and the phonological orthographic visual association.
In some cases dyslexic subjects show a compensatory over-activity in areas of the
right hemisphere, which probably comes from a heavy exercising in the recognition and visual memory of words.
These deficiencies appear in some children from early childhood, and especially in those with a family history in dyslexia. From the cognitive point of view,
it is manifest in phonological awareness, vocabulary, naming speed and shortrange verbal memory tests. Recognition of these differences implies that there are
areas where early psychopedagogical intervention is needed to reduce their impact
on learning or to help them overcome their difficulties. Consequently, some
researchers comment that they might have a disengagement deficiency
(Paulesu et al., 1996). Others emphasize the slowness in this process (Wolf &
Bowers, 1999). The metaphor of a broken bridge between visual-orthographic
and phonological information, preventing adequate semantic recognition of words
has also been used (Bravo, 2011; Bruer, 1997). At the same time, James (2010)
showed that variation in teaching how to write methodologies produces significant
changes in brain activity after a month.
As a result, neuroscience is expected to propose updated psychopedagogical
strategies (Orellana, 2010). Fawcett and Nicolson (2007) also state that the
relationship between brain and cognitive processes of the written language
requires the application of new techniques in developmental cognitive neuroscience . Education cannot ignore the contributions of neuroscience and
should renew their methodological strategies to address learning difficulties in
the written language. This situation makes it imperative that teachers and educational psychologists have an up-to-date knowledge of research in
neuropsychology.
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Neurociencias y educacin: estado actual de la investigacin

en dislexias
Los estudios de la neuropsicologa desde la poca de Luria nos muestran que no
hay aprendizaje que no suceda en el cerebro (Luria, 1966, 1973). Tambin las
investigaciones sobre el cerebro muestran que las experiencias cognitivas en la
infancia son determinantes del desarrollo cerebral, especialmente las que se
producen a travs del lenguaje (Castro-Caldas, Peterson, Reis, Stone-Elander, y
Ingvar, 1998; Dehaene, 2007; Shaywitz et al., 2004).
Al iniciar el siglo XXI, debido al progreso de las neurociencias y de la
psicologa cognitiva, se produjo una variacin del enfoque psicopedaggico del
aprendizaje del lenguaje escrito y tambin de las explicaciones sobre el origen de
las dislexias (Bravo, 1985, 2011) Este cambio de perspectiva estuvo asociado con
el desarrollo de la neuropsicologa cognitiva (Dehaene, 2007; Fletcher, 2009;
Fletcher, Lyon, Fuchs, y Barnes, 2007; Goswami, 2008; Rumsey, 1996; Shaywitz
y Shaywitz, 2008; Simos et al., 2002; Vellutino, Fletcher, Snowling, y Scanlon,
2004).
Un descubrimiento clave de esas investigaciones ha sido la interaccin entre el
desarrollo cerebral, de origen biolgico y gentico, con los estmulos verbales y
sociales originados por el ambiente escolar y familiar, interaccin que se observa
ms claramente cuando los nios aprenden a leer. En el editorial del Journal of
Child Psychology and Psychiatry Leckman y March (2011) expresan que En la
dcada pasada qued muy claro que adems de la cascada de eventos genticos,
moleculares y celulares que conducen a la formacin de billones de neuronas que
llevan a la formacin de la neocorteza humana en el tero, el ambiente post natal
y las estrechas relaciones entre los nios y sus cuidadores en los primeros aos de
vida pueden tener efectos directos y permanentes en el desarrollo del cerebro del
nio y en su conducta (pp. 333338).
Sobre el aporte de las Neurociencias a la Educacin, tambin Fawcett y
Nicolson (2007) expresaron que La explosin en el conocimiento
neurocientfico tiene profundas implicaciones para la Educacin, y nosotros
proponemos establecer una nueva disciplina de neurociencias pedaggicas,
para combinar las perspectivas psicolgicas, mdicas, y educacionales (p. 306).
Consideran que esta perspectiva es especialmente vlida para investigar las
dislexias.
Por otra parte, Szcs y Goswami (2007) describen la Neurociencia
Educacional como una nueva disciplina de las representaciones mentales en
trminos de la actividad neural del cerebro (p. 114). En consecuencia, definen
provisionalmente la neurociencia educacional como la combinacin de la
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neurociencia cognitiva y los mtodos psicolgicos para investigar el desarrollo de

las representaciones mentales. (p. 114). Citan a Bruer (1997), quien considera
que esta nueva disciplina implica la integracin de tres ciencias: la educacin, la
neurociencia y la psicologa cognitiva. La Psicologa Cognitiva sera intermediaria
entre la neurociencia y la educacin.
El objetivo del presente artculo es tratar de hacer una actualizacin de las
investigaciones de las Neurociencias de la Educacin y sus aportes a las dificultades del aprendizaje del lenguaje escrito y las dislexias.
Las dificultades del aprendizaje del lenguaje escrito y las dislexias

Las dislexias han sido definidas histricamente como un trastorno especfico del
aprendizaje del lenguaje escrito, de origen neurobiolgico que se caracterizan por
dificultades en el reconocimiento seguro y fluido de las palabras, lo que afecta su
comprensin. (Alegra, 2006; Bravo, 1985; Bravo, 2011; Carrillo y Domnguez,
2010; Cuadro, 2010; Dehaene, 2007; Fletcher, 2009; Goswami, 2008; Habib,
2005; Jimnez, 2012; Shaywitz y Shaywitz, 2008; Vellutino, 1979; Vellutino
et al., 2004). Las investigaciones en neurociencias confirman que estas dificultades de aprendizaje estn asociadas con diferencias en el desarrollo cerebral de
los nios dislxicos. Estas diferencias entre dislxicos y nios de aprendizaje
normal son anatmicas y funcionales y en muchos casos se ha determinado su
relacin con factores genticos (Dansilio, 2009; Galaburda, 1989; Galaburda, Lo
Turco, Ramus, Fitch, y Rosen, 2006; Grigorenko, 2001; Shaywitz, 2003;
Shaywitz y Shaywitz, 2008).
En consecuencia, las dislexias han pasado a ser un tema clave para la
investigacin de la relacin, entre el desarrollo y la actividad cerebral con el
aprendizaje educacional. Segn Fletcher (2009) el mayor aporte de estas investigaciones ha sido el descubrimiento que la estructura fonolgica del habla establece una relacin causal entre el lenguaje oral y el lenguaje escrito. Expresa que
la neuropsicologa ha sido la punta de lanza (forefront) de la evolucin del
concepto de dislexia desde el punto de vista cientfico (p. 506).
La dislexia desde el punto de vista neuropsicolgico

El artculo de Temple et al. (2003), plantea que las tecnologas ms actuales,
como la Tomografa de Emisin de Positrones (PET), y las imgenes de
Resonancia Magntica Funcional (fMRI), han permitido a los investigadores
observar directamente los procesos cerebrales del aprendizaje del lenguaje escrito:
Con ellos se ha determinado que el proceso cognitivo de aprender produce
modificaciones en la estructura del cerebro a nivel de las sinapsis. Esos cambios
muestran que el aprendizaje organiza y reorganiza el cerebro, segn las diferentes
reas activadas.
Las investigaciones de Shaywitz (2003), respecto a las vas cerebrales para
leer, mediante este mtodo, muestran que la etapa inicial del proceso de
asociacin entre las palabras escritas con sus respectivos fonemas, sucede en el
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rea parieto-temporal del hemisferio izquierdo del cerebro. Luego, la conexin

parieto-occipital del mismo lado izquierdo es utilizada por los lectores normales
para reconocer las palabras como una totalidad, lo que facilita la fluidez para
leerlas (p. 79). Dehaene y Cohen (2007), propusieron que hay una regin de la
forma visual de las palabras (p. 96) donde se produce la conexin visual
ortogrfica y fonolgica.
Por su parte, Habib (2005) mostr distintos estudios en imaginera funcional
del cerebro que sealan que los dislxicos difieren del grupo control por la
intensidad de la activacin de zonas diferentes (p. 35). Segn l, las zonas
principalmente activadas por la lectura en sujetos normales son: el rea de
Broca (frontal izquierdo) y el rea temporal izquierda inferior posterior. El rea
de Broca implica la intervencin de la articulacin del lenguaje oral y la zona
temporal, la actualizacin de mecanismos visuales especficos que permiten el
reconocimiento de las palabras al asociarlas con su fonologa. Expresa que la
dualidad de esos mecanismos en la actividad cerebral concuerda con los esquema
clsicos de la psicologa cognitiva que distingue dos vas de lectura: una
fonolgica y otra visual-ortogrfica (p. 36). Los dislxicos, en cambio, activan
con mayor intensidad el rea de Broca, probablemente para compensar su dificultad para activar las reas fonolgicas. En este aspecto coincide parcialmente
con las investigaciones de Shaywitz (2003) y Shaywitz y Shaywitz (2008) que
muestran que la zona tmporo occipital del procesamiento visual de las palabras
est sub activada en los dislxicos. Habib (2005) concluye que en todos los
casos, los dislxico tienen un patrn de sub activacin de las reas visuales de
reconocimiento de las palabras, lo que constituye efectivamente la marca funcional de la dislexia en general (p. 38). Su investigacin seala que las dificultades
dislxicas no se limitan a insuficiencias en el rea fonolgica, sino tambin a
deficiencias en su conexin con las reas visuales de las palabras escritas. Las
deficiencias en la conexin es tambin una hiptesis planteada por Paulesu et al.,
(1996) que describen las dislexias como un trastorno de desconexin, con
desincronizacin entre las reas de Broca y las parieto-occipitales. Wimmer
et al. (2010), tambin han confirmado la deficiencia en la conexin visual
ortogrfica y fonolgica en una investigacin en dislxicos de habla alemana,
efectuada mediante la tcnica de fMRI .Estas investigaciones muestran que los
dficit en el aprendizaje del lenguaje escrito de los nios dislxicos podra
explicarse, parcialmente, por alteraciones en el desarrollo de los procesos
neuropsicolgicos subyacentes. Para corregirlos se deberan elaborar estrategias
educacionales psicopedaggicas ms actualizadas.
En consecuencia, los avances ms recientes en la tecnologa de imgenes
neurales y la separacin de algunos subcomponentes de la lectura, muestran que
en la dislexia hay una disrupcin en el hemisferio izquierdo posterior cuando el
sujeto intenta leer. Por otra parte, hay diversas evidencias (Shaywitz, 2003)
que muestran que los buenos lectores activan prioritariamente el rea occipitotemporal cuando procesan los estmulos ortogrficos. Al respecto, Goswami
(2008) expres que en las dos ltimas dcadas ha habido fuerte evidencia
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L. Bravo
experimental que las bases cognitivas de las dislexias derivan de un desorden en

el sistema del lenguaje, especialmente en su componente fonolgico.
McCrory, Mechelli, Frith, y Price (2005) estudiaron el lenguaje en sujetos
dislxicos, mediante scanner. Analizaron la velocidad para nombrar palabras y los
compararon con controles. La comparacin mostr que los dislxicos tenan una
activacin reducida en las reas izquierda occipito-temporal, tanto durante la
lectura como en la velocidad para nominacin de palabras. Los autores consideran que los dislxicos tendran un componente neuropsicolgico comn, con
menor velocidad para nombrar las palabras escritas y mayor dificultad para
decodificarlas, lo que perturbara la evocacin fonolgica de los estmulos
ortogrficos. Esta investigacin tambin apoya lo planteado por Wolf y Bowers
(1999), que mencionan que habra un sub tipo de dislexias que se caracteriza por
la lentitud para leer. La hipo actividad en las actividades fonolgicas tambin se
ha observado en adultos con retardo lector, lo cual confirma que reflejara una
caracterstica estable de algunos dislxicos (Simos et al., 2005).
Sin embargo, las investigaciones neuropsicolgicas sealan que el retardo
lector no sera el nico indicador de la dislexia. Demonet, Taylor, y Chaix
(2004) proponen tres reas deficitarias implicadas en las dislexias: el dficit
fonolgico, el dficit magno celular y el dficit cerebeloso. El primero explica
los dficit iniciales en el reconocimiento de las letras y palabras. El dficit magno
celular explicara las eventuales deficiencias en las va de trasmisin de la visin y
tambin de la audicin. El dficit cerebeloso explicara las dificultades de los
dislxicos en la automatizacin del aprendizaje. El primer dficit originara las
dislexias fonolgicas, el segundo las dislexias de superficie o visuales-ortogrficas
y el tercero las dislexias de lentitud y carencia de fluidez. En consecuencia, las
dislexias no seran un trastorno unitario, sino que presentara diferentes manifestaciones, segn sea el rea alterada. Por su parte, Rumsey (1996) tambin
menciona la heterogeneidad de los dficits asociados con las dislexias, lo cual
complica la posibilidad de encontrar su causa y determinar estrategias nicas de
enseanza (p. 73).
Algunas reas cerebrales que procesan el lenguaje escrito alteradas en los

dislxicos
Uno de las principales interrogantes de cmo se efecta en el aprendizaje del
lenguaje escrito es la integracin entre la conciencia fonolgica y la conciencia
visual-ortogrfica, y su proyeccin a las redes semnticas. Al respecto,
Vandermosten et al. (2012), investigaron las anomalas estructurales en algunas
regiones cerebrales de adultos con dislexia. Sus anlisis confirmaron que los
adultos dislxicos presentan alteraciones en la regin del fascculo arqueado del
hemisferio izquierdo. (El fascculo arqueado es una va axonal que conecta el
rea de asociacin temporo-parietal posterior con el lbulo frontal). Este descubrimiento confirmara la hiptesis que la dislexia se origina en un desorden en la
red cerebral de conexiones. Adems los dislxicos tendran una doble
disociacin de las rutas de la lectura: el lado izquierdo del fascculo arqueado
17
sostiene la ruta de la decodificacin fonolgica subyacente a la decodificacin

grafema-fonema. En cambio el fascculo frontal-occipital izquierdo procesara la
ruta del acceso directo a las palabras. Ellos concluyeron su investigacin expresando que los dislxicos muestran una disfuncin en la conectividad cortical,
confirmando de esta manera la hiptesis que se origina en un sndrome de
desconexin (Paulesu et al., 1996).
Respecto a las reas cerebrales comprometidas en esta desconexin las investigaciones de Henderson (1986) concluyeron que el giro angular sera el sitio
donde la percepcin visual de los signos grficos es transformada en representaciones auditivas del lenguaje escrito (fonolgicas) y el rea de Wernicke sera la
mediadora en significado (procesamiento semntico). Adems, expresa que la
corteza temporal inferior izquierda recibe las seales de la corteza visual de
asociacin, las proyecta al lbulo temporal superior y parietal inferior (p. 60).
Sin embargo, este procesamiento puede variar segn sean las caractersticas
ortogrficas del idioma. Por ejemplo, en castellano la atencin a los acentos
ortogrficos es clave para la pronunciacin y significado de algunas palabras.
Una percepcin algo diferente tiene Dehaene (2007), para quien la compatibilidad entre letras y sonidos se producira en la regin del planum temporale del
lbulo temporal izquierdo. En un estudio con magneto encefalografa mostr que
la escucha de un sonido compatible con una letra aumenta la actividad de esta
regin, en cambio una disonancia entre la letra y el sonido se traduce en una
reduccin de la actividad (p. 151). Seala que otras regiones vecinas tambin
intervienen en este proceso. Agrega que si el proceso exige la conversin de
cadenas de letras ms complejas, requiere un tratamiento serial, letra tras letra o
slaba tras slaba lo que hace intervenir a la regin parietal inferior que se
encuentra justo sobre el planum temporale (p. 152). De acuerdo con ambos
investigadores, ambas regiones, el giro angular y el plano temporal, del
hemisferio izquierdo, seran clave para la conversin de la percepcin visual
ortogrfica de las letras en sus respectivos fonemas.
Respecto a la incidencia de la memoria fonolgica para la retencin y
asociacin de los fonemas con las letras, una investigacin de Steinbrink y
Klatte (2008) efectuada en sujetos con retraso lector mostr que su principal
dificultad era que efectuaban un empleo ineficiente de la memoria fonolgica de
corto trmino. Aun cuando podan aplicar y memorizar los estmulos fonolgicos
tan bien como los lectores normales, su problema resida en la baja eficacia con
que efectuaban este proceso. De acuerdo con esta investigacin la base del
problema de memoria fonolgica de los dislxicos no sera solamente de
conexin, sino tambin de evocacin.
Van Atteveldt, Formisano, Goebel, y Blomert (2004) tambin investigaron la
integracin de la percepcin de las letras y del sonido del lenguaje mediante la
resonancia magntica funcional (fMRI). Sus imgenes mostraron que las letras y
los fonemas se integran en la corteza temporal superior. Encontraron que las
respuestas a los fonemas en una regin especfica de la corteza auditiva primaria
eran modificadas cuando simultneamente se presentaban las letras. Ambos
procesos se influyen mutuamente.
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Por su parte, Heim et al. (2010) investigaron mediante fMRI la interaccin

entre la conciencia fonolgica y el procesamiento magnocelular, en dislxicos y
lectores normales. Expresan que algunos investigadores atribuyen las dislexias a
un bajo nivel de procesamiento visual debido a deficiencias en el sistema magno
celular o de comunicacin directa en el cerebro. Los dos estudios efectuados
mostraron que verdaderamente hay una interaccin del procesamiento magno
celular con la conciencia fonolgica durante la lectura. La conciencia fonolgica
aparece correlacionada con la atencin visual, pero los dislxicos tienen una
actividad ms reducida en la corteza visual y auditiva y en todas las tareas
magno celulares, que tienen como objetivo la transmisin visual directa de la
informacin. Este proceso afecta la velocidad y calidad de la transmisin perceptiva visual.
Kronschnabel, Schmid, Maurer, y Brandeis (2013) estudiaron el reconocimiento rpido visual de letras, independientemente de sus fonemas, en 13 adolescentes dislxicos y grupo control, mediante imgenes de resonancia magntica
en un experimento donde presentaban letras verdaderas y falsas sin sus fonemas.
Encontraron deficiencias de los dislxicos en la sensibilidad y en la velocidad para
los estmulos impresos, independientemente de su procesamiento fonolgico.
Concluyeron que los dislxicos carecan de velocidad para reconocer los
estmulos grficos cuando se minimizaron los estmulos fonolgicos o
semnticos. Esta investigacin confirmara que los dislxicos tambin presentan
insuficiencias en la velocidad para reconocer visualmente los estmulos grficos,
independientemente de sus deficiencias fonolgicas.
Tomada en conjunto estas investigaciones muestran que en el aprendizaje
normal del lenguaje escrito hay una interaccin entre la conciencia fonolgica y
la visual ortogrfica que permite a los nios acceder con rapidez al significado de
las palabras, en cambio los dislxicos presentaran insuficiencias en ambas, siendo
primario el dficit fonolgico.
Los cambios en la actividad cerebral y la experiencia educacional

Sobre la adaptacin del cerebro para asimilar el lenguaje escrito, Stern, Grabner,
Schumacher, Neuper, y Saalbach (2006) expresan que el largo proceso de la
evolucin humana no est destinado para que nuestros cerebros adquieran conocimientos escolares. Estos se han ido configurando durante los ltimos siglos a
travs de las necesidades sociales y requiere que las metodologas de enseanza
escolar sean concordantes con su programacin gentica. En los procesos del
aprendizaje, el cerebro activa selectivamente algunas regiones, que determinan las
conexiones adecuadas para asimilar con mayor eficiencia la informacin requerida
en la enseanza del lenguaje escrito. El desarrollo cerebral sigue un programa
gentico, el cual favorece el potencial de aprendizaje, pero al mismo tiempo, tiene
versatilidad para recibir las experiencias escolares. De esto se desprende que es
indispensable un dilogo entre las neurociencias y la investigacin educacional
(2006, p. 32).
19
Respecto a la persistencia de las modificaciones cerebrales que se producen

por el aprendizaje, Castro-Caldas et al. (1998) compararon la lectura de palabras y
de pseudo palabras en adultos lectores y ex-analfabetos, de 60 aos de edad.
Encontraron que la enseanza temprana del lenguaje escrito, en los primeros aos
haba producido modificaciones estables en las estructuras del cerebro. Estas
diferencias se mantuvieron hasta esa edad. Los investigadores mencionados concluyeron que aprender a leer y escribir durante la infancia influye en la
organizacin funcional del cerebro adulto, especialmente en las reas subyacentes
al procesamiento del lenguaje escrito.
Una conclusin de estas investigaciones es que coinciden en que un elemento
clave en el dficit de la mayora los dislxicos es un desarrollo insuficiente de la
conciencia fonolgica, producida por menor actividad de las reas tmporo
parietales izquierdas, y mayor lentitud cuando tienen que asociar el sonido de
las letras con los estmulos visuales ortogrficos (Simos et al., 2007; Shaywitz,
2003; Shaywitz y Shaywitz, 2008). En consecuencia, el tratamiento de las dislexias implica efectuar un trabajo psicopedaggico intensivo en el reconocimiento, retencin y asociacin de las palabras escritas con su significado a
travs de sus respectivos fonemas. Su pronunciacin es clave para la
comprensin.
Algunas diferencias en los sistemas ortogrficos que inciden en las dislexias

Un descubrimiento importante sobre los procesos del aprendizaje del lenguaje
escrito y su efecto en las dislexias ha sido la variabilidad entre las denominadas
ortografas transparentes y ortografas opacos. Las ortografas trasparentes
tienen consistencia y regularidad, como sucede en castellano, italiano o alemn,
en cambio las ortografas opacas presentan serias diferencias entre su ortografa y
su pronunciacin, como sucede en ingls (Carrillo y Alegra 2009). Hasko,
Bruder, Bartling, y Schulte-Krne (2012) consideran que es posible que el
dficit en la fluidez lectora de algunos dislxicos para decodificar las palabras
corrientes est influido por la transparencia del idioma. Estas diferencias tambin
aparecen en las neuroimgenes.
Wimmer y Schurz (2010) hicieron una investigacin acerca de las eventuales
causas de las dislexias en nios de ortografa alemana y propusieron un modelo
que, segn ellos, debera aplicarse tanto en idiomas de ortografa transparente
como opaca. Presentaron la hiptesis que un dficit en la integracin fonolgicaortogrfica, se debera a un defecto en la conexin cerebral entre las reas que
procesan el reconocimiento visual ortogrfico y el procesamiento auditivo
fonolgico. Expresan que los aportes ms recientes de las neuroimgenes (diffusion tensor imaging) permiten estudiar la conectividad cerebral e integridad del
tracto en la sustancia blanca. Los primeros resultados que obtuvieron muestran
anormalidades del tracto del hemisferio izquierdo que conecta las regiones
occipito-temporales que procesan las imgenes visuales ortogrficas con las
reas tmporo-parietales y las reas frontales inferiores que realizan los procesos
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L. Bravo
fonolgicos (p. 283). Ellos consideran que esta hiptesis es aplicable a las
dislexias, tanto en idiomas de ortografa transparente como de ortografa opaca.
Por su parte, Bolger, Minas, Burman, y Booth (2008) investigaron mediante
fMRI las diferencias en la actividad cerebral en dos grupos de nios, con y sin
retardo lector, de 15 aos, cuando deban leer en idioma ingls palabras consistentes e inconsistentes, en el reconocimiento ortogrfico y fonolgico.
La comparacin entre ambos grupos mostr que la consistencia ortogrfica de
las palabras tiene mayor efecto en los lectores normales en algunas reas cerebrales. El grupo de los nios con retardo lector mostraron dificultad para integrar
eficientemente las caractersticas ortogrficas y fonolgicas de las palabras.
Expresan que los lectores normales comprometen ms efectivamente la actividad
del rea frontal izquierda para la decodificacin fonolgica y de la corteza
occipital temporal izquierda para las palabras ortogrficamente consistentes.
Esta investigacin tiene la originalidad de estudiar el efecto de la mayor o
menor consistencia de las palabras escritas, en el contexto de un idioma que es
especialmente inconsistente, como el ingls. Este resultado no es contradictorio
con lo expresado por Wimmer y Schurz (2010) en su investigacin en idioma
alemn, que concluyeron que el ncleo de las dislexias es la deficiencia en la
conexin ortogrfico-fonolgico, que puede manifestarse tanto en ortografas
transparentes como opacas. La principal diferencia observada entre ellas estara
en la velocidad de los nios para aprender, reconocer y pronunciar las palabras.
Otra investigacin comparativa fue efectuada en Estados Unidos entre nios
de habla castellana de tres a seis aos con otros de habla inglesa, sobre el
desarrollo e intervencin de la Conciencia Fonolgica (Anthony et al., 2011).
Sus resultados muestran que en ambos idiomas la conciencia fonolgica predice el
aprendizaje lector. Sin embargo este proceso de aprendizaje se da de diferentes
maneras en ambos idiomas. La diferencia pedaggica reside en que el aprendizaje
lector en ingls se inicia con el proceso de onset-rime de las palabras, en cambio
en castellano con la pronunciacin y memoria de las slabas. En ambos idiomas
este proceso de reconocimiento inicial de las palabras escritas requiere la conexin
de los estmulos visuales ortogrficos con el reconocimiento y memoria
fonolgica, lo cual coincide con el planteamiento de Wimmer y Schurz (2010)
para el idioma alemn. La principal diferencia en el aprendizaje lector entre ambos
sistemas ortogrficos sera la fluidez de la lectura, los nios alemanes reconocieron las palabras con ms velocidad que los de habla inglesa.
Por otra parte, Jimnez, Rodrguez, y Ramrez (2009) investigaron a 35 nios
dislxicos de habla hispana (transparente) de cuarto grado y los compararon con
un grupo control, en palabras de alta frecuencia y pseudo palabras. Encontraron
12 dislxicos fonolgicos y cinco dislxicos de superficie. Ambos grupos mostraron dficit en la conciencia fonolgica, pero el grupo con dislexia de superficie
adems, mostr deficiencias en el procesamiento visual ortogrfico. Sin embargo,
esta ltima deficiencia estuvo asociada con las experiencias alfabticas en el
hogar. Esta informacin confirma que algunas dificultades en el aprendizaje de
la lectura entre los nios de niveles socioculturales deficientes dependeran de
carencias culturales y educacionales previas, especialmente del lenguaje. En estos
21
nios, sus deficiencias fonolgicas los inducen a centrar sus esfuerzos en el

reconocimiento y en la memoria visual de las palabras.
Una consecuencia de las diferencias entre ambos sistemas ortogrficos es que
en los idiomas transparentes el aprendizaje se iniciara directamente utilizando la
va fonolgica para reconocer las palabras, en cambio en los idiomas opacos
requiere una mayor intervencin de la va visual ortogrfica, debido a la disparidad entre los grafemas y su pronunciacin .
Luego de una amplia revisin de las dislexias en idioma espaol, Gonzlez y
Jimnez (2012) expresan que los resultados de las diferentes investigaciones
parecen sugerir que habra diferencias en las anomalas neurofuncionales, segn
sea el sistema ortogrfico, pero que para poder hacer esta afirmacin hara falta
un mayor nmero de estudios, tanto en lenguas transparentes como opacas, que
tengan los mismos criterios y metodologas (p. 94).
Efectos de las intervenciones psicopedaggicas

Durante algunos aos se consider que se poda hacer poco para superar los
trastornos dislxicos. Sin embargo, las investigaciones en neurociencias han dado
resultados ms optimistas. Hoeft et al. (2011) expresan en el Proceeding National
Academic Sciences que Los estudios en neuro imagen de las dislexias se han
centrado principalmente en identificar los correlatos neurales de la dislexia pero
han identificado tambin los sistemas neurales que pueden mediar con xito su
remediacin.
Las experiencias de Simos et al. (2002), avaladas con neuroimgenes, mostraron que pueden producirse cambios significativos en las algunas regiones
corticales. Ellos sugieren que las intervenciones psicopedaggicas pueden contrarrestar el efecto de un fenotipo psicobiolgico dominante de dislexia, como es la
hipoactividad de la regin perisilviana izquierda, durante el procesamiento
fonolgico.
Efectuaron una intervencin mediante una instruccin intensiva fonolgica, de
ochenta horas de duracin, en base a la lectura de pseudo palabras, a ocho
dislxicos de siete a 17 aos que tenan dificultades fonolgicas y para reconocer
palabras. Fueron observados mediante resonancia magntica antes y despus de
esta intervencin, que dur dos meses. Antes de la intervencin fonolgica las
imgenes mostraron baja o ninguna actividad en el rea temporal superior
izquierda, que normalmente procesa la informacin fonolgica y un aumento de
la actividad en el lado derecho correspondiente. Luego de la intervencin se
produjo una mejora del proceso lector y un aumento de la actividad en las
reas izquierdas correspondientes. De esta investigacin se pudo concluir que
las deficiencias en el funcionamiento de algunas reas cerebrales que presentan
los dislxicos pueden ser revertidas mediante intervenciones en los procesos
fonolgicos y de decodificacin, lo cual va acompaada de una mejora en su
aprendizaje lector.
Shaywitz et al. (2004), tambin efectuaron una intervencin fonolgica en 37
nios dislxicos de ocho aos comparndolos con un grupo control. Sus
22
L. Bravo
resultados mostraron que con esta intervencin los dislxicos progresaron en

fluidez lectora y un aumento en la activacin del hemisferio izquierdo. Un ao
despus se mantena este mayor nivel de activacin cerebral, lo cual confirma que
la intervencin fonolgica produce modificaciones estables en algunas reas
cerebrales.
Tambin los estudios de neuroimgenes efectuado por Temple et al. (2003)
confirmaron que hay un dficit en los mecanismos neurales del procesamiento
fonolgico en nios y adultos con dislexia. Ellos efectuaron un estudio de fRMI
en 20 nios con dislexia, de ocho a 12 aos, durante una tarea fonolgica, antes y
despus de efectuar un programa de intervencin en el procesamiento auditivo y
en la formacin del lenguaje oral. Luego de esta intervencin los nios con
dislexia mostraron un aumento de la actividad neuronal en la regin temporoparietal izquierda y en la circunvolucin frontal inferior izquierda, semejante a la
observada en los nios de lectura normal. Este aumento de la actividad cerebral
tambin se observ en las regiones frontal y temporal derechos. Adems los nios
con dislexia mostraron correlacin entre la activacin en la corteza temporoparietal izquierda y su lenguaje oral. Estos resultados muestran que tuvieron una
recuperacin del dficit del lenguaje oral y escrito, en las regiones cerebrales
asociadas con el procesamiento fonolgico, lo cual confirma el efecto favorable de
la intervencin psicopedaggica y confirmara que en esas zonas se producira un
reciclaje neuronal como lo denomina (Dehaene, 2007, p. 200).
El efecto de la intervencin fonolgica en lectura sobre la organizacin del
cerebro y la fluidez lectora, en 77 nios de seis a nueve aos, dislxicos y
controles fue confirmado en una investigacin de Shaywitz et al. (2004).
Utilizaron las imgenes de resonancia magntica para examinar los tipos de
activacin del cerebro durante tareas de identificacin de letras. Luego de un
ao de intervencin, los nios que tuvieron una estimulacin experimental mostraron progresos significativos en las regiones del hemisferio izquierdo. Un ao
ms tarde, los nios seguan activando para leer la regin frontal bilateral y las
regiones izquierdas superiores, temporal y occipital-temporal, y haban mejorado
la fluidez lectora. Su resultado es consistente con la investigacin mencionada de
Shaywitz et al., (2004).
Por su parte, Eden et al. (2004) estudiaron las diferencias que se producen en
el cerebro en adultos dislxicos luego de un tratamiento con estrategias
fonolgicas. La evaluacin se efectu comparando la actividad cerebral, antes y
despus de la intervencin, la que mostr un aumento en la actividad en algunas
regiones del hemisferio izquierdo. El resultado de su intervencin confirm a
Simos et al. (2002), que el progreso en el aprendizaje del lenguaje escrito y la
superacin de la dislexia va asociada con una regularizacin de la activacin del
hemisferio izquierdo.
En resumen, el conjunto de evidencia anterior muestra que las intervenciones
intensivas en los procesos fonolgicos y de reconocimiento de las palabras que
favorecen el aprendizaje lector tambin modifican las conexiones cerebrales. Ellas
pueden determinar un modelo de accin psicopedaggica para trabajar con los
nios con dificultades lectoras severas.
23
Las dislexias en los primeros aos de vida

McCandliss (2010) seal que en los nios de kindergarten, paralelamente con su
desarrollo cognitivo, se producen cambios en las imgenes cerebrales (fMRI), en
la medida en que abordan diferentes actividades educacionales con el lenguaje
escrito. Al respecto, McCandliss y Wolmetz (2004) describen un estudio de fMRI
en nios de kindergarten, que muestra que luego de una actividad de ocho
semanas con un programa computacional, se producen modificaciones en las
zonas cerebrales del sistema visual asociado con el reconocimiento de las letras.
Tambin mostraron que sin dominar su pronunciacin no se produce aprendizaje e
incorporacin de nuevas palabras en las redes semnticas. Esos cambios producen
un aumento de la oxigenacin de la sangre (increased blood oxygenation level
dependent, BOLD), en la corteza occipito temporal izquierda y en los potenciales
evocados, en el rea posterior inferior izquierda, luego de percibir estmulos
grficos. Tambin sealan que las experiencias educacionales inducen modificaciones en los procesos cerebrales durante la percepcin de las letras, en los nios
pequeos. Estas investigaciones mediante la tcnica del fMRI y de Potenciales
Evocados concuerdan con Brem et al. (2010) que mostraron que se producen
modificaciones en la actividad cerebral en los nios de kindergarten en la medida
en que abordan diferentes actividades educacionales. El aprendizaje de la lectura
ha probado ser un tpico clave para estos estudios interdisciplinarios entre las
neurociencias y la educacin.
Por otra parte, diversas investigaciones muestran que habra un componente
gentico en el origen temprano de las dislexias. (Dansilio, 2009; Galaburda et al.,
2006; Grigorenko, 2001). Lyytinen et al. (2001) publican un estudio longitudinal
comparativo sobre 200 nios desde su nacimiento hasta los cinco aos. La mitad
de ellos tena un progenitor con diagnstico de dislexia, un CI sobre 80 y al
menos 10 aos de escolaridad (se consideraron nios con riesgo). Las imgenes,
desde el nacimiento hasta la edad de cinco aos, mostraron diferencias con el
grupo control sin antecedentes familiares de dislexias. En los potenciales evocados (ERP). Los nios con riesgo mostraron respuestas ms lentas en el hemisferio
izquierdo. Las mayores diferencias entre ellos aparecieron despus de los 3,5
aos, en la discriminacin auditiva, en la velocidad de nominar y en la memoria
verbal. Esta investigacin muestra una temprana asociacin entre el desarrollo
fonolgico, la memoria verbal y la velocidad para efectuar este proceso con los
antecedentes familiares de dislexias.
Raschle, Zuk, y Gaab (2012), mostraron que los nios en riesgo de dislexia
muestran diferencias tempranas en la actividad cerebral, captadas mediante resonancia magntica, antes de comenzar a aprender a leer. Los investigadores
evaluaron a 36 nios en edad preescolar mientras realizaban tareas en las que
tenan que decidir si dos palabras comenzaban con el mismo sonido. Durante las
tareas fonolgicas, los nios con historial familiar de dislexia mostraron una
reduccin de la actividad metablica en las uniones entre los lbulos occipital y
temporal y en los lbulos temporal y parietal, en la parte posterior del cerebro, en
comparacin con los controles. Tambin investigaron el funcionamiento de las
redes neuronales en nios pre lectores con riesgos familiares de dislexias en
24
L. Bravo
comparacin con un grupo control. Las neuro imgenes funcionales mostraron

una activacin reducida en los nios pre lectores que tenan una historia familiar
de dislexias, comparndolos con los que no tenan antecedentes dislxicos, en las
regiones cerebrales occipito temporales bilaterales y tmporo parietal izquierda.
Ellas coinciden con la investigacin de Leppanen et al. (2010) en recin nacidos
de familias con riesgo de dislexias que presentaron un procesamiento auditivo
atpico en la etapa pre-lectora, el que podra alterar posteriormente el reconocimiento fonolgico en el aprendizaje de la lectura.
En conjunto esta evidencia sugiere que algunos nios con antecedentes familiares de dislexia muestran desde temprano una alteracin en el procesamiento
fonolgico. Estas deficiencias estaran presentes antes que comience el aprendizaje formal de la lectura y confirman que habra un componente gentico en el
origen temprano de las dislexias.
Anlisis y conclusiones
Como consecuencia de estas investigaciones es posible concluir que un dficit
cognitivo en el aprendizaje escolar del lenguaje escrito puede tener causas neuronales que son identificables mediante los estudios de neurociencias (Goswami,
2004). La mayor parte de las investigaciones aqu descritas se refieren a su falla
ms comn: las dislexias.
En las dislexias se ha encontrado un componente psicolgico cognitivo, uno
pedaggico y uno neurolgico. Las investigaciones ms recientes en neurociencias tienden a confirmar las hiptesis psicolgicas e investigaciones experimentales efectuadas en dcadas anteriores respecto al papel que tienen los dficits de
la conciencia fonolgica y del procesamiento perceptivo visual-ortogrfico para el
reconocimiento de las palabras escritas y para adquirir la fluidez lectora.
Las imgenes de resonancia magntica funcional (fRMI) muestran que las
conexiones entre algunas reas cerebrales son claves para el aprendizaje del
lenguaje escrito, donde los estudios diferenciales entre dislxicos y sujetos de
lectura normal sealan deficiencias de los primeros en alguna zonas del hemisferio izquierdo, especialmente relacionadas con el procesamiento del lenguaje y
con la asociacin fonolgica-visual ortogrfica. En algunos casos los sujetos
dislxicos manifiestan una sobreactividad compensatoria en reas del hemisferio
derecho, que proviene, probablemente de una fuerte ejercitacin en el reconocimiento y memoria visual de las palabras.
Estas deficiencias aparecen en algunos nios desde la primera infancia, y en
especial en los que tienen antecedentes familiares dislxicos. Desde el punto de
vista cognitivo se manifiestan en las pruebas de conciencia fonolgica, de vocabulario, velocidad para nominar, y memoria verbal de corto alcance. El reconocimiento de estas diferencias implica que hay reas donde es necesaria la
intervencin psicopedaggica temprana para disminuir su impacto en el aprendizaje o para ayudarlos a superar sus dificultades. En consecuencia, algunos investigadores hablan que tendran un dficit de desconexin (Paulesu et al., 1996)
Otros hacen hincapi en la mayor lentitud en este proceso (Wolf y Bowers, 1999).
25
Tambin se ha empleado la metfora de un puente cortado entre la informacin

visual-ortogrfica y la fonolgica, que impide establecer un adecuado reconocimiento semntico de las palabras (Bravo, 2011; Bruer, 1997). Por otra parte,
James (2010) mostr que la variacin en las metodologas de enseanza del
lenguaje escrito, luego de una experiencia de un mes, produce cambios significativos en la actividad cerebral.
Como consecuencia es esperable que las neurociencias ayuden a proponer
estrategias psicopedaggicas actualizadas (Orellana, 2010). Fawcett y Nicolson
(2007), tambin expresan que la relacin entre los procesos cerebrales y los
cognitivos del lenguaje escrito requiere la aplicacin de nuevas tcnicas en las
neurociencias del desarrollo cognitivo . La Educacin no puede ignorar los
aportes de las neurociencias y debera renovar sus estrategias metodolgicas para
abordar las dificultades en el aprendizaje del lenguaje escrito. Esta situacin hace
indispensable que los profesores, psiclogos educacionales y psicopedagogos
tengan un conocimiento actualizado de las investigaciones en neuropsicologa.
Acknowledgements / Agradecimientos
I express my thanks to Professor Jess Alegra from lUniversit libre de Bruxelles for his
thoughtful suggestions and Professor Eugenia Orellana from the Pontificia Universidad
Catlica de Chile. / Expreso mis agradecimientos por sus atinadas sugerencias al
Profesor Jess Alegra de la Universidad Libre de Bruselas y a la Profesora Eugenia
Orellana de la Pontificia Universidad Catlica de Chile.
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This article was downloaded by: [Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile]

On: 30 April 2014, At: 13:23

Estudios de Psicologa: Studies in

Neuroscience and education: current

Pontificia Universidad Catlica de Chile

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Estudios de Psicologa / Studies in Psychology, 2014

Neuroscience and education: current state of research

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The difficulties of learning the written language and dyslexia

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Neuroscience and education / Neurociencias y educacin

Dyslexia from a neuropsychological standpoint

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persons have a sub-activation pattern of the visual areas in word recognition,

Neuroscience and education / Neurociencias y educacin

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is affected. In turn, Rumsey (1996) also mentions the heterogeneity of deficiencies

Altered brain areas that process written language in dyslexic persons

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Changes in brain activity and educational experience

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Neuroscience and education / Neurociencias y educacin

Some differences in orthographic systems that influence dyslexia

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Neuroscience and education / Neurociencias y educacin

Effects of psychopedagogical interventions

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Dyslexia in the early years of life

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Neuroscience and education / Neurociencias y educacin

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Analysis and conclusions

Neuroscience and education / Neurociencias y educacin

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Neurociencias y educacin: estado actual de la investigacin

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neurociencia cognitiva y los mtodos psicolgicos para investigar el desarrollo de

Las dificultades del aprendizaje del lenguaje escrito y las dislexias

La dislexia desde el punto de vista neuropsicolgico

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Neuroscience and education / Neurociencias y educacin

rea parieto-temporal del hemisferio izquierdo del cerebro. Luego, la conexin

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experimental que las bases cognitivas de las dislexias derivan de un desorden en

Algunas reas cerebrales que procesan el lenguaje escrito alteradas en los

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Neuroscience and education / Neurociencias y educacin

sostiene la ruta de la decodificacin fonolgica subyacente a la decodificacin

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Por su parte, Heim et al. (2010) investigaron mediante fMRI la interaccin

Los cambios en la actividad cerebral y la experiencia educacional

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Neuroscience and education / Neurociencias y educacin

Respecto a la persistencia de las modificaciones cerebrales que se producen

Algunas diferencias en los sistemas ortogrficos que inciden en las dislexias

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Neuroscience and education / Neurociencias y educacin

nios, sus deficiencias fonolgicas los inducen a centrar sus esfuerzos en el

Efectos de las intervenciones psicopedaggicas

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resultados mostraron que con esta intervencin los dislxicos progresaron en