Gaab Laboratory

Researching Early Attributes of Dyslexia (READ)

We hope to idenitfy early signs of dyslexia in children who haven't yet learn to read, through both educational assessments and brain imaging. We aim to screen over a 1,000 kindergarten students for the risk of dyslexia using a battery of research-validated pschoeducational assessments. We then plan to employ brain imaging methods (EEG and fMRI) on a subset of these students and follow them for three years with once-a-year behavioral battery.
This study has the potential to:

Contribute and expand knowledge about reading development in general, and dyslexia in particular.
Allow for early identification of dyslexia risk and therefore more effective interventions in order to prevent the clinical, psychological and social impact of developmental dyslexia.
Help schools and researchers to develop procedures for effectively screening a large number of students for the risk for learning disabilities and employing brain imaging methods with young children.  We are currently recruiting schools and districts to participate in this study.


Study Procedures:

• 1,000 students will be screened with behavioral measures (30 minutes)
• 180 students will be recruited for follow-up study based on eligibility
• Students will attend 2 sessions: MRI and EEG brain imaging session
• Students will be invited for behavioral follow-up:
  • End of 1st grade
  • End of 2nd grade