Using fMRI to Evaluate Instructional Programs for Children With Developmental Dyslexia

NCT ID: NCT00068835

Last Updated: 2005-06-24

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: UNKNOWN
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 160 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2000-06-30
• Study Completion Date: 2005-05-31

Brief Summary

Dyslexia is a common reading disorder. Specialized instructional programs can improve reading ability in children with dyslexia. This study will use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine changes in the brains of children who have taken part in these programs.

Detailed Description

Reading is a uniquely human endeavor and failure to develop this skill can lead to serious educational and emotional consequences. Reading more slowly or less accurately, as is the case in developmental dyslexia, occurs in between 5% and 15% of individuals in the United States. Developmental dyslexia significantly interferes with academic achievement and with activities of daily living that require reading skills. Although dyslexia is considered a reading disorder, dyslexia's clinical signs are varied and include deficits in the sensory domain, abnormal phonological awareness, and problems in related linguistic skills. Phonological awareness training and visual perceptual training can improve reading ability in children with dyslexia. Recent functional imaging studies on sensory and language processing in dyslexia have demonstrated involvement of the posterior temporal and inferior parietal cortical systems of the brain. However, how these brain areas are changed as a result of dyslexia treatment has not been determined.

This study will investigate the neurophysiologic changes before and after treatment in 11- to 14-year-old children immersed in Lindamood-Bell training utilizing either phonological (LiPS) or visual (Seeing Stars) strategies. These training programs have successful behavioral outcomes, but neurophysiologic changes have not been evaluated. The study will determine whether behavioral changes in reading skills result in physiological differences in the brain identifiable with functional brain imaging and whether initial physiological observations are indicative of the degree of success of the intervention.

Participant will be randomized to receive either Lindamood-Bell training, a math intervention (active control), or no intervention (passive control). The intervention will last 6 weeks; children will have both pre- and post-intervention behavioral testing and fMRI scans.

Conditions

Developmental Dyslexia

Keywords

Reading; Brain imaging

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: FACTORIAL
• Primary Study Purpose: ECT
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Interventions

Lindamood-Bell training for dyslexia

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Developmental dyslexia diagnosis
• English speaking
• Right-handed
• General good health

Exclusion Criteria

• Metal implant, braces, or other device that prevents child from undergoing fMRI

• Minimum Eligible Age: 8 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 12 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

NIH

Sponsor Role: lead

Principal Investigators

Guinevere F. Eden, Ph.D.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Georgetown University

Locations

Georgetown University

Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

5R01HD037890

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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