How Do Adults with Dyslexia Recognize Spoken Words? Evidence from Behavioral and EEG Data

Purpose In adults with dyslexia (DYS), the persistent influence of phonological deficits on spoken language processing has mainly been examined in either perceptual tasks or those tapping complex cognitive operations. Much less attention is devoted to word recognition per se. Our study aimed fill this gap.Method Adults and without (for both groups: N = 30, mean age 21 years, 50% female, 100% white European) performed an auditory lexical decision task. Performance ERP were recorded.Results Reaction times showed a lexicality effect groups although they differed responses stimulus lexicality. Skilled readers typical amplitude enhancement for pseudowords compared words late phase N400 (414-581msec) whereas DYS opposite pattern earlier (246-413msec). Both stronger negativity during post-lexical stage (582-800msec).Conclusions data subtle differences between two populations despite their comparable behavioral outcomes. We hypothesized that reliance intact semantic knowledge might contribute general enhanced sustained across different phases processing, confirmation needed.