Learning a New Script: an MEG Study in Dyslexics and Normal Readers

Impaired phonological encoding has been assumed to be one reason for reading problems in dyslexics. While normal readers are supposed to use a fast and efficient way of grapheme to phoneme conversion, dyslexics seem to be unable to access this pathway. The present study infers whether normal readers reading words written in a new script can utilise the efficient grapheme to phoneme conversion even if the new script had been acquired only recently. Furthermore, it was sudied whether normal readers reveal similar pattern of brain activation like dyslexics when reading the new script. To this aim magnetic brain activity was studied in a group of normal readers and dyslexics while reading words either written in Latin or the new script. Differences in activation where found at a latency of 250 ms conferming previous findings of a delayed processing in dyslexics. In addition brain activation at a latency of 350 to 500 ms showed close similarities between dyslexics and normal readers. Results indicate that there is a general difference between dyslexics and controls that is even evident while reading a new script. Difficulties in reading an unfamiliar script appeared to be related to later steps of the word reading process.