dyslexia

Posted on ADHD, Autism

Dyslexia and ADHD share genetic links, DNA study shows

Scientists have shed new light on the genetic basis of dyslexia, showing how it overlaps with that of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Scientists have shed new light on the genetic basis of dyslexia, demonstrating its overlap with that of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

A study led by the University of Edinburgh shows that dyslexia and ADHD often occur together and share many common genes. This sets them apart from other developmental and mental health diagnoses such as autism, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. The study is the first to explore the genetic links to dyslexia, which is believed to affect 10% of the population, in the context of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric traits.

The findings from the University of Edinburgh could help in customizing targeted educational, employment, and wellbeing support systems for people with dyslexia or ADHD, experts say. These findings contribute to our understanding of the biological factors underlying dyslexia, a condition that affects reading and spelling, and ADHD, a condition associated with difficulty concentrating hyperactivity, and impulsivity. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh analyzed large public anonymized datasets of genetic data on 10 neurodevelopmental and psychiatric conditions from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. Additionally, they used dyslexia genetic statistics from an analysis of around 1 million people in collaboration with 23andMe, a genomics and biotechnology company.

They used a statistical tool to find clusters of genetically similar traits for dyslexia and 10 neurodevelopmental and psychiatric traits including ADHD, anorexia nervosa and Tourette syndrome. They conducted more detailed analyses to identify specific genetic regions that overlap between dyslexia and ADHD.

In the study, researchers identified five genetic clusters, called latent genomic factors, among the 10 psychiatric traits. They found that ADHD was more closely linked to a factor related to attention and learning difficulties rather than factors associated with neurodevelopmental traits such as autism and Tourette syndrome.

Posted on A to Z of Medical Conditions

Evidence dyslexia affects children’s visual processing beyond just reading

Dyslexia study


A participant in the dyslexia study CREDIT University of Reading

Children with dyslexia are slower to process visual information, according to new research that sheds new light on which brain processes are affected by dyslexia beyond just reading ability.

The study, published in JNeurosci and the first to combine new methods to understand visual processing and brain activity in dyslexia, challenged a group of children aged six to 14 to identify the average direction of motion of a mass of moving dots, while their brain activity was measured.

It found children with dyslexia took longer to gather the visual evidence, and were less accurate, than their typically developing peers, and that the behavioural differences were reflected in differences in brain activity.

Although reading ability is known to be affected by dyslexia, researchers are still unclear on which brain processes are affected by the condition. Increasing understanding of this could potentially lead to more effective support for those affected.

Dr Cathy Manning, lead researcher in the Centre for Autism at the University of Reading, said: “These findings show that the difficulties faced by children with dyslexia are not restricted to reading and writing. Instead, as a group, children with dyslexia also show differences in how they process visual information and make decisions about it.

“Future research will be needed to see if these differences in visual processing and decision-making can be trained in order to improve reading ability in affected children, or provide clues as to the causes of dyslexia.”

Brain activity monitoring using EEG in the study showed synchronized activity over the centro-parietal regions of the brain involved in decision-making steadily increased in all of the children during the task until they made a decision. However, this happened more gradually in the children with dyslexia.

The study supports a link between motion processing and dyslexia, although the causes are not yet known.

Whether dyslexia is, at its core, a visual processing disorder is hotly debated among researchers. With reading and writing a key challenge among children with dyslexia, increasing understanding of its effects on the brain might aid how we improve existing interventions.

Posted on Autism

Autism- What medical condition frequent occur with autism and how do we deal with them?

Autism Comorbities - YouTube


There are many conditions which are comorbid (frequently co-occurring) with autism: ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, OCD, anxiety, depression, the list goes on. For this live stream we’ll be discussing these from a non-medical, experiential standpoint. What is it like to have more than one condition? Does it make it harder to explain to people, or find understanding professionals?

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Some facts about dyslexia




People with dyslexia tend to use the right side of their brain to process language while non-dyslexic people use three areas on the left side of the brain to process language. The “b-d” letter reversal is common in dyslexics due to difficulty in interpreting left and right.




Some facts about Dyslexia

From Visually.