Cortical Activation in Children with Developmental Dyslexia during a Working Memory Task with Pseudo Kanji

Abstract

The aim of this study was to clarify the brain regions activated during a working memory task using pseudo Kanji in four Japanese children with developmental dyslexia. The children had been diagnosed with developmental dyslexia based on the results of standardized achievement tests of reading and writing and tests of cognitive abilities. The study revealed that the dyslexia group exhibited activation in the left prefrontal cortex, left parieto-temporal area and left inferior temporal-to-fusiform area. These results suggest that cerebral dysfunction in children with developmental dyslexia likely results from the same biological disorder irrespective of the writing system —alphabet or Chinese characters (Kanji) — used by the individual dyslexic.