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Is a cerebellar deficit the underlying cause of reading disabilities?

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Abstract

This study investigated whether children with dyslexia differed in their performance on reading, phonological, rapid naming, motor, and cerebellar-related tasks and automaticity measures compared to reading age (RA)-matched and chronological age (CA)-matched control groups. Participants were 51 children attending mainstream English elementary schools in Quebec. All participants completed measures of IQ, word and nonword reading fluency, elision, nonword decoding, rapid naming, bead threading, peg moving, toe tapping, postural stability, and muscle tone. Results from both group contrasts and analyses at the individual case level did not provide support for claims of motor–cerebellar involvement in either typical or atypical reading acquisition. Results were more consistent with a phonological core process account of both typical reading and reading difficulty. Phonological deficits for children with dyslexia compared to RA-matched controls were, however, only evident in group contrasts. Findings thus also have important implications for identifying at-risk readers among their same-aged peers.

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Notes

  1. The term “eligible” refers to children who attended schools in which English was the first language of instruction during elementary years. These were also the schools, and teachers, who provided permission for conducting the present study. It should also be noted that only in a limited number of schools in the city where the study took place English is the first language of instruction during elementary years.

  2. Given that performance on more complex nonwords have been found to be more likely in identifying a deficit in individuals with dyslexia (Rack et al., 1992), group and individual differences on polysyllable nonwords in word attack task were also investigated.

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Acknowledgments

We extend our gratitude to school boards, schools, and teachers who showed interest in the present study and provided their permission for conducting this research. We thank all parents and children who participated in this study. We would like to acknowledge Dr. Ronald Stringer for his contribution to the methodology of assessing motor and cerebellar measures and Dr. Paul Stapley for providing his expertise and assistance in measuring the postural stability task. Portions of this research were supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

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  1. Office of Students with Disabilities (OSD), McGill University, 3600 McTavish Street, Room 3100, Brown Student Services Building, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 1Y2, Canada

    Shahrzad Irannejad

  2. Faculty of Educational and Counseling Psychology, McGill University, 3700 McTavish Street, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 1Y2, Canada

    Robert Savage

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Irannejad, S., Savage, R. Is a cerebellar deficit the underlying cause of reading disabilities?. Ann. of Dyslexia 62, 22–52 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-011-0060-2

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