Neuroimaging study finds extensive brain rewiring –in just six months–among illiterate adults learning to read and write

— Learning to read and write rewires adult brain in six months (New Scientist): “Learning to read can have profound effects on the wiring of the adult brain – even in regions that aren’t usually associated with reading and writing. That’s what Michael Skeide of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, and his colleagues found when they taught a group of illiterate adults in rural India to read and write…By the end of the study, the team saw significant changes in the brains of the people who had learned to read and write. These individuals showed an increase in brain activity in the cortex, the outermost layer of the brain, which is involved in learning. Learning to read also seemed to change brain regions that aren’t typically involved in reading, writing or learning. Two regions deep in the brain, in particular, appeared more active after training – portions of the thalamus and the brainstem. These two regions are known to coordinate information from our senses and our movement, among other things. Both areas made stronger connections to the part of the brain that processes vision after learning to read. The most dramatic changes were seen in those people who progressed the most in their reading and writing skills.” The Study Learning to read alters cortico-subcortical cross-talk in the visual system of illiterates (Science Advances) Abstract: Learning to read is known to result in a reorganization of the develo...
Source: SharpBrains - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Cognitive Neuroscience Education & Lifelong Learning adult-brain brain regions Brain-Plasticity fMRI functional magnetic resonance imaging illiterate India literacy neurobiological neuroplastic changes neuroplasticity reading r Source Type: blogs