Understanding the neural basis of dyslexia

Manuel Francisco Carreiras Valiña

Centre Basc de Cognició, Cervell i Llengua (BCBL), Spain

The ability to read is an essential ability in modern societies to exchange knowledge, promote human progress and exercise our rights as citizens. In addition, reading allows the development of other cognitive abilities, being one of the pillars of the educational system. However, one in ten people has difficulty learning to read.

Dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental disorder whose etiology has yet to be clarified. Much of the research on the neural bases of dyslexia has focused on the cerebral cortex. However, this project focuses on the thalamus, a brain structure that filters out sensory stimuli that contribute to reading before they reach the cerebral cortex.

Specifically, Carreiras investigates the functioning of thalamocortical circuits, which communicate the different nuclei of the thalamus with different areas of the cerebral cortex. This new approach could shed light on why there are people with learning and reading difficulties.

Dyslexia and the thalamus: integrating anatomy and function in a mechanistic account of the reading brain

€500,000