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Sigurdardottir HM, Omarsdottir HR, Valgeirsdottir AS. Reading problems and their connection with visual search and attention. DYSLEXIA (CHICHESTER, ENGLAND) 2024; 30:e1764. [PMID: 38385948 DOI: 10.1002/dys.1764] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2022] [Revised: 01/11/2024] [Accepted: 01/18/2024] [Indexed: 02/23/2024]
Abstract
Attention has been hypothesized to act as a sequential gating mechanism for the orderly processing of letters and words. These same visuoattentional processes are often assumed to partake in some but not all types of visual search. In the current study, 24 dyslexic and 36 typical readers completed an attentionally demanding visual conjunction search. Visual feature search served as an internal control. It has been suggested that reading problems should go hand in hand with specific problems in visual conjunction search-particularly elevated conjunction search slopes (time per search item)-often interpreted as a problem with visual attention. Results showed that reading problems were associated with slower visual search, especially conjunction search. However, reading deficits were not associated with increased conjunction search slopes but instead with increased search intercepts, traditionally not interpreted as reflecting attention. We discuss these results in the context of hypothesized visuoattentional problems in dyslexia. Remaining open to multiple interpretations of the data, the current study demonstrates that difficulties in visual search are associated with reading problems, in accordance with growing literature on visual cognition problems in developmental dyslexia.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Hilma Ros Omarsdottir
- Icelandic Vision Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
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Rima S, Kerbyson G, Jones E, Schmid MC. Advantage of detecting visual events in the right hemifield is affected by reading skill. Vision Res 2020; 169:41-48. [PMID: 32172007 PMCID: PMC7103781 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2020.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2019] [Revised: 02/26/2020] [Accepted: 03/01/2020] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Visual perception is often not homogenous across the visual field and can vary depending on situational demands. The reasons behind this inhomogeneity are not clear. Here we show that directing attention that is consistent with a western reading habit from left to right, results in a ~32% higher sensitivity to detect transient visual events in the right hemifield. This right visual field advantage was largely reduced in individuals with reading difficulties from developmental dyslexia. Similarly, visual detection became more symmetric in skilled readers, when attention was guided opposite to the reading pattern. Taken together, these findings highlight a higher sensitivity in the right visual field for detecting the onset of sudden visual events that is well accounted for by left hemisphere dominated reading habit.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samy Rima
- Universite de Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland.
| | - Grace Kerbyson
- Newcastle University, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Elizabeth Jones
- Newcastle University, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Michael C Schmid
- Newcastle University, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom; Universite de Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland.
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Tablet computer games to measure dorsal stream performance in good and poor readers. Neuropsychologia 2018; 130:92-99. [PMID: 30030193 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.07.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2017] [Revised: 04/30/2018] [Accepted: 07/16/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Evidence suggests a link between deficits in visuo-spatial attention, and subsequent reading ability. However, all the research in the area thus far has been conducted using traditional, lab-based psychophysics, with very tightly controlled visual parameters. In order to take this research further, such as using visuo-spatial tasks for remediation purposes, it must be established that such tasks can be taken out of the laboratory, 'gamified', and still predict reading ability. This study aimed to determine if subtle visual deficits in poor readers could be detected outside a traditional laboratory, in relatively uncontrolled settings using portable game-like technology. Classic visual search and change detection programs, thought to rely on the visual dorsal stream, were modified to a game-like format. They were administered on a portable computer tablet within the participants' school setting. Whilst IQ predicted reading rate, visuo-spatial tasks such as visual search speed, and change detection, each accounted for unique variance in reading rate over and above IQ, age and phonological ability. These results are consistent with the visuo-spatial attention deficit hypothesis, and provide support for the development of portable computerised games that may assess and potentially target this deficit in poor readers.
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Franceschini S, Bertoni S, Gianesini T, Gori S, Facoetti A. A different vision of dyslexia: Local precedence on global perception. Sci Rep 2017; 7:17462. [PMID: 29234050 PMCID: PMC5727118 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-17626-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2017] [Accepted: 11/29/2017] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Individuals perceive the wor(l)d hierarchically. Firsty, the global visual scene is processed by the right hemisphere, and later, the local features are perceived by the left hemisphere. Based on this hierarchical analysis, humans evolved unique communication ability: reading. However, for about 10% of people reading acquisition is extremely difficult, they are affected by a heritable neurodevelopmental disorder called dyslexia. Differences in perceiving the wor(l)d might be one of the causes of reading disabilities. Here we show multiple causal links between the global before local perception and learning to read. Five behavioral experiments in 353 children reveal that: (i) a local before global perception characterizes three independent groups of unselected children with dyslexia; (ii) two global before local perception trainings improve reading skills in children with dyslexia; and stringently (iii) pre-reading local before global perception longitudinally predicts future poor readers. Challenging the uni-causal and left-lateralized phonological explanation of dyslexia, our results demonstrate that learning to read depends also on an efficient right neural network for the global analysis of the visual scene. These results provide new insights in learning strategies and pave the way for early identification and possible prevention programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandro Franceschini
- Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padova, 35131, Italy. .,Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute "E. Medea", Bosisio Parini, Lecco, 23842, Italy.
| | - Sara Bertoni
- Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padova, 35131, Italy
| | - Tiziana Gianesini
- Neurorehabilitation Unit, Down syndrome association, Verona, 37142, Italy
| | - Simone Gori
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute "E. Medea", Bosisio Parini, Lecco, 23842, Italy.,Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, Bergamo, 24129, Italy
| | - Andrea Facoetti
- Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padova, 35131, Italy.,Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute "E. Medea", Bosisio Parini, Lecco, 23842, Italy
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Chen L, Zhang M, Ai F, Xie W, Meng X. Crossmodal synesthetic congruency improves visual timing in dyslexic children. RESEARCH IN DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES 2016; 55:14-26. [PMID: 27022720 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2016.03.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2015] [Revised: 03/11/2016] [Accepted: 03/17/2016] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Consistent with the temporal ventriloquism effect, synesthetic correspondence between the features of visual size and auditory pitch has been shown to modulate the performance of visual temporal order judgment (TOJ) in typical adults. Here in the two main experiments we recruited seventeen dyslexic children and twenty typically developing children to perform a visual TOJ task and measured their ability of synesthetic correspondence between visual size and auditory pitch. In Experiment 1, participants were shown two consecutively presented visual discs that were temporally flanked by two synesthetic congruent or incongruent auditory beeps. In Experiment 2, participants received a crossmodal matching test (visual-size vs. auditory pitch). The results showed that compared to the typically developing group, dyslexic children benefited more from cross-modal synesthetic correspondence to partially compensate for their deficiency in visual TOJ task. The multisensory facilitation for timing performance was correlated with reading ability (Exp.1). Moreover, dyslexic children formed intact "congruent" matching of visually larger shapes to lower auditory pitch, and visually smaller shapes to higher auditory pitch, as did their typically developing peers (Exp 2). The results of our present study suggested general deficits of temporal processing in dyslexic children, However, with relatively intact ability of auditory pitch-visual size matching, dyslexic children could separate visual events using auditory cues. The current study also indicates a feasible way to improve the reading ability by exploiting temporal ventriloquism effect, modulated by appropriate crossmodal synesthetic associations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lihan Chen
- Department of Psychology and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Key Laboratory of Machine Perception (Ministry of Education), Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
| | - Manli Zhang
- Department of Psychology and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Feng Ai
- Department of Psychology and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Weiyi Xie
- Department of Psychology and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Xiangzhi Meng
- Department of Psychology and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
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Harrar V, Tammam J, Pérez-Bellido A, Pitt A, Stein J, Spence C. Multisensory Integration and Attention in Developmental Dyslexia. Curr Biol 2014; 24:531-5. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.01.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2013] [Revised: 12/09/2013] [Accepted: 01/13/2014] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Pammer K. Temporal sampling in vision and the implications for dyslexia. Front Hum Neurosci 2014; 7:933. [PMID: 24596549 PMCID: PMC3925989 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00933] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2013] [Accepted: 12/23/2013] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
It has recently been suggested that dyslexia may manifest as a deficit in the neural synchrony underlying language-based codes (Goswami, 2011), such that the phonological deficits apparent in dyslexia occur as a consequence of poor synchronisation of oscillatory brain signals to the sounds of language. There is compelling evidence to support this suggestion, and it provides an intriguing new development in understanding the aetiology of dyslexia. It is undeniable that dyslexia is associated with poor phonological coding, however, reading is also a visual task, and dyslexia has also been associated with poor visual coding, particularly visuo-spatial sensitivity. It has been hypothesized for some time that specific frequency oscillations underlie visual perception. Although little research has been done looking specifically at dyslexia and cortical frequency oscillations, it is possible to draw on converging evidence from visual tasks to speculate that similar deficits could occur in temporal frequency oscillations in the visual domain in dyslexia. Thus, here the plausibility of a visual correlate of the Temporal Sampling Framework is considered, leading to specific hypotheses and predictions for future research. A common underlying neural mechanism in dyslexia, may subsume qualitatively different manifestations of reading difficulty, which is consistent with the heterogeneity of the disorder, and may open the door for a new generation of exciting research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristen Pammer
- The Research School of Psychology, The Australian National University Canberra, ACT, Australia
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Lallier M, Donnadieu S, Valdois S. Investigating the role of visual and auditory search in reading and developmental dyslexia. Front Hum Neurosci 2013; 7:597. [PMID: 24093014 PMCID: PMC3782690 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00597] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2013] [Accepted: 09/03/2013] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
It has been suggested that auditory and visual sequential processing deficits contribute to phonological disorders in developmental dyslexia. As an alternative explanation to a phonological deficit as the proximal cause for reading disorders, the visual attention span hypothesis (VA Span) suggests that difficulties in processing visual elements simultaneously lead to dyslexia, regardless of the presence of a phonological disorder. In this study, we assessed whether deficits in processing simultaneously displayed visual or auditory elements is linked to dyslexia associated with a VA Span impairment. Sixteen children with developmental dyslexia and 16 age-matched skilled readers were assessed on visual and auditory search tasks. Participants were asked to detect a target presented simultaneously with 3, 9, or 15 distracters. In the visual modality, target detection was slower in the dyslexic children than in the control group on a “serial” search condition only: the intercepts (but not the slopes) of the search functions were higher in the dyslexic group than in the control group. In the auditory modality, although no group difference was observed, search performance was influenced by the number of distracters in the control group only. Within the dyslexic group, not only poor visual search (high reaction times and intercepts) but also low auditory search performance (d′) strongly correlated with poor irregular word reading accuracy. Moreover, both visual and auditory search performance was associated with the VA Span abilities of dyslexic participants but not with their phonological skills. The present data suggests that some visual mechanisms engaged in “serial” search contribute to reading and orthographic knowledge via VA Span skills regardless of phonological skills. The present results further open the question of the role of auditory simultaneous processing in reading as well as its link with VA Span skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie Lallier
- Basque Center on Cognition Brain and Language Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
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Van der Burg E, Olivers CNL, Theeuwes J. The attentional window modulates capture by audiovisual events. PLoS One 2012; 7:e39137. [PMID: 22808027 PMCID: PMC3393717 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0039137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2012] [Accepted: 05/18/2012] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual search is markedly improved when a target color change is synchronized with a spatially non-informative auditory signal. This "pip and pop" effect is an automatic process as even a distractor captures attention when accompanied by a tone. Previous studies investigating visual attention have indicated that automatic capture is susceptible to the size of the attentional window. The present study investigated whether the pip and pop effect is modulated by the extent to which participants divide their attention across the visual field We show that participants were better in detecting a synchronized audiovisual event when they divided their attention across the visual field relative to a condition in which they focused their attention. We argue that audiovisual capture is reduced under focused conditions relative to distributed settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik Van der Burg
- Department Cognitive Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
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