READING AND THE BRAIN

This article, written by Windham County Reads director Ruth Allard, is largely based on a workshop given by reading expert Dr. Carol Tolman on March 6, 2006 in Bellows Falls, VT.

Did you know that only 10% of the oral languages in the world have reading and writing systems attached to them? Reading is an essential skill for learning and for our daily lives, but unlike walking and talking, it’s not a skill we learn naturally. The brain actually has to be taught to “wire” and use itself for reading.

During a child’s earliest years, the brain begins to organize itself for reading when we talk, sing and read to and with our baby, toddler and preschooler. This language-rich, personal contact with loving adults has long been recognized as the single most important factor influencing a child’s school and reading readiness and success. Why? Not only do these early literacy experiences elicit a child’s desire to become a reader, they actually stimulate the development of neural connections and pathways in the brain that are essential for the complex process we call learning to read.

We understand more about this process than ever before, thanks to pioneering brain and reading research carried out by several experts at universities across the country. Using medical technology to create magnetic resonance imaging of the brain during reading activities (functional MRIs), researchers have discovered that multiple places in the brain (or brain processors) are activated when we read. Virtually all brain activity in good readers takes place in the left hemisphere, with activation of Broca’s area (speech + sounds = phonemics), the Parieto-temporal area (sounds + letters = phonics) and the Occipito-temporal area (vision + letters = orthography.)

LEFT HEMISPHERE BRAIN ACTIVATION
IN FOUR TYPES OF READERS

Novice Good Reader
	Experienced Good Reader
Dyslexic Reader
	Other Struggling Reader

However, the brains of both kinds of struggling readers (those who missed out on early literacy experiences, and those with dyslexia, which is actually rare) are neurologically different from those of strong readers. Since essential neural connections and pathways weren’t developed, their brains try to compensate through increased, inefficient activity in a different mix of processors. In children with true dyslexia, only Broca’s area in the left hemisphere is activated, plus multiple areas in the right hemisphere. In children with disadvantaged language environments, the areas activated in the rear of the left hemisphere are those involved with general visual memory, rather than those specific to reading and language.

What are the implications for reading instruction and remediation? The fact that strong readers use three different areas in their brains to integrate the various aspects of the reading process once again points to the importance of utilizing a variety of teaching approaches, rather than favoring one or two. There’s no one-size-fits-all intervention for struggling readers, either. Systematic, explicit and intensified instruction in the skill areas that need strengthening (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, reading comprehension strategies), guided practice in meaningful contexts, cueing of appropriate strategies, and ongoing support and refreshers are all needed. In the research studies mentioned earlier, comparative fMRIs after this type of instruction show significant changes in brain activity, even after a fairly short time period.

And what about the implications for Windham County Reads and its work? While the many excellent teachers and reading specialists in area schools help children master the set of skills they need to become successful readers and learners, we’ll be bringing early literacy experiences to young children and supporting their caregivers, inspiring emerging and struggling readers to become fully invested in the reading process, providing a literacy safety net for school children during the summer months, and informing parents about the importance and the joys of family reading. Our children’s futures depend on it.