Reading, Reading Acquisition, and Reading Disability (Dyslexia)
This chapter reviews the quite extensive literature of magnetoencephalography (MEG) studies on reading. Neuroimaging relying on hemodynamic methods such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and MEG has been instrumental in establishing brain activation profiles during a variety of reading tasks through the phases of acquisition of reading skills. Importantly, both methods have contributed to establishing associations between individual profiles of reading-related brain activity and specific reading skills. More recently, MEG studies have even attempted to account for individual differences of response to educational interventions. The chapter then looks at studies examining the mature outline of the brain circuits for reading; developmental studies of typical reading acquisition; investigations of the activation profiles associated with reading in children manifesting difficulties in learning to read and in adults with a history of reading disability or dyslexia; and studies on the effects of reading interventions on reading-related neuromagnetic activity.