Wake Forest University* has recently shown dyslexia to be caused by a faulty linkage between hearing and seeing. Dr. Zelinsky has been studying this linkage since 1992, and has presented her research in both France and Australia.

Using eyeglasses to enhance auditory processing is an innovative way to have students pay better attention in class lectures.

*EXCERPTS FROM News Release
For immediate release, Nov. 10, 2003
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-11/wfub-dmi110303.php

Dyslexia Involves Both Vision and Hearing,
Say Researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Dyslexia may stem from how the brain processes sight and sound together - rather than simply a problem "decoding" the written word - reported researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center today at the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting in New Orleans.

"For the first time, there is evidence that dyslexia is a multi-sensory disorder," says Mark Wallace, Ph.D., associate professor of neurobiology and anatomy. "It isn't solely a problem with visual processing or with language. This is a novel way of looking at the disorder."

..."Until now, experts have thought that dyslexia was either a visual processing problem or a problem involving language areas of the brain," said Wallace. "But our study suggests that it's actually a problem combining visual information with auditory information."

..."We believe this time difference is the fundamental problem that dyslexics have when learning to read. Early reading involves matching what you see with what you hear. But in dyslexics, we believe this matching process is disrupted. The sights and sounds of words are inappropriately matched. So, while the average person very quickly matches the written word "dog" with the sound "dog," a child with dyslexia may have much more difficulty."

..."Because the brain is very changeable in young children, we hope we could change the brain's architecture so that the children could process sight and sound normally."

..."We're exploring what happens in the brain when a person with dyslexia reads," said Wallace. "The future is exciting. We hope this is the first in a long series of studies to learn more about this common and often debilitating disorder."

Media Contacts: Karen Richardson (krchdsn@wfubmc.edu) or Shannon Koontz (shkoontz@wfubmc.edu) at 336-716-4587.