•  
  •  
 

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Abstract

Background/aim: Exploratory methods in neuroimaging are gaining increasing attention for revealing functional connectivity structures across the entire brain. This study aims to contribute to the understanding of the functional mechanisms underlying dyslexia, along with the effects of specialized education for dyslexia treatment, by utilizing measures such as regional homogeneity (ReHo), amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF), and fractional ALFF (fALFF).

Materials and methods: Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data were collected from three groups of Turkish-speaking children aged 7–12: diagnosed with dyslexia for the first time (Dys, n = 19), children with dyslexia who received specialized education (EDys, n = 20), and healthy controls (HC, n = 27). In the study, brain activation in individuals with dyslexia was examined through resting-state analyses employing the ReHo, ALFF, and fALFF methods.

Results: Significant reductions in ReHo and ALFF values were observed in brain regions associated with phonological processing and visuomotor integration in children with dyslexia. These findings indicate altered neural synchronization related to cognitive deficits in reading and language processing. Compared to HC, children with Dys showed significantly reduced ReHo and ALFF values in the left precuneus and middle frontal gyrus, while those EDys exhibited compensatory increases in calcarine and lingual gyri.

Conclusion: This study provides valuable insights into the resting-state neural connectivity of individuals with dyslexia, highlighting the impact of specialized educational programs in treating dyslexia. Our findings contribute to understanding the altered connectivity foundations of dyslexia compared to healthy children and support the development of educational interventions within this framework.

Author ORCID Identifier

ESRA DEMİRCİ: 0000-0002-8424-4947

ŞERİFE GENGEÇ BENLİ: 0000-0002-5527-8574

SEMRA İÇER: 0000-0002-3323-9953

ZEYNEP AK: 0000-0002-2113-6439

EBRU AKER: 0000-0001-8791-2990

ZEHRA FİLİZ KARAMAN: 0000-0003-4552-8098

DOI

10.55730/1300-0144.6072

Keywords

Dyslexia, exploratory analyses, rs-fMRI, special education

First Page

1174

Last Page

1187

Publisher

The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK)

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Download

Share

COinS