----- Original Message ----- From: Ian Pitchford <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 1999 2:57 PM Subject: [evol-psych] Are the signs of dyslexia in a newborn baby? > FOR RELEASE: 18 AUGUST 1999 AT 14:00:00 ET US > New Scientist > http://www.newscientist.com/ > > Are the signs of dyslexia in a newborn baby? > > It may be possible to identify newborn babies who will grow up to be dyslexic. > Psychologists in Illinois have correctly predicted dyslexia in 8-year-olds on > the basis of their brain waves just hours after birth. Earlier detection may > make it possible to reduce or even eliminate reading problems in childhood. > > Dyslexia, a learning disability characterised by problems reading and writing, > is thought to afflict around 5 per cent of the world's population. Children are > often diagnosed with the condition only after they have experienced serious > difficulties in school. "By this time, children's minds are not so flexible and > they find it harder to master new skills," says Dennis Molfese, a psychologist > at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. > > Molfese and his colleagues attached electrodes to the scalps of 186 babies > around 36 hours old. While playing recorded speech and non-speech sounds, they > monitored the size and speed of the newborns' brainwave responses. Then they > gave the children IQ and comprehension tests every two years until the age of > 8, when normal, poor and dyslexic readers were identified. > > Comparing the newborn brain wave patterns of the three groups, the researchers > spotted several telltale differences between the dyslexics and the better > readers. Such differences may arise from selective damage to nerves in the > fetal brain, which is thought to cause dyslexia (New Scientist, 24 April 1999, > p 26). As Molfese will tell a symposium on dyslexia in October at the Max > Planck Institute in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, 22 out of the 24 dyslexics could > have been identified at birth on the basis of these differences, and could have > received early educational intervention. > > However, several babies who grew up to be normal readers would also have been > targeted for intervention. For comparison, Molfese chose 24 children from the > normal reading group who matched the dyslexics in IQ and other skills. At > birth, five of these had brain wave patterns similar to those of the dyslexic > children. > > Rod Nicolson, an expert on dyslexic children at the University of Sheffield, is > concerned that such mistakes would cause unnecessary worry for children and > parents. Nevertheless, he believes Molfese is on the right track. He says a > study in which the children are grouped at birth on the basis of their brain > waves, rather than later after reading problems develop, would be a better > measure of the technique's usefulness. "What is needed now is a prospective > study of the same brain patterns in other samples, to see if they are > reliable," he says. Such a study is already under way, says Molfese. > > Even if the brain wave technique proves reliable, the question of how potential > dyslexics should be treated remains controversial. Molfese says infants who > test positive could wear a special hearing aid that accentuates the differences > between speech sounds. Some research has suggested that dyslexia arises in part > from hearing problems early on. > > But Nicolson disagrees. He says interfering with normal hearing could slow down > the rate at which children acquire language. In his view, a less risky solution > would be to check for hearing difficulties and to increase infants' exposure to > speech. > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > ebates.com. Earn up to 25% cash back for shopping online at 75 stores > like Borders, CDNow and Beyond.com. Refer a friend and earn even more! > http://clickhere.egroups.com/click/690 > > To subscribe/unsubscribe/select DIGEST go to: > http://www.egroups.com/group/evolutionary-psychology/info.html > Human Nature > http://www.human-nature.com > > >
