Reading Development
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Reading is an amazing skill that many people master. If you watch someone's eyes while they read- the eyes dart across the page, line by line, scanning the text. The precision and speed of these eye movements- planned on the fly with split-second timing- is on par with the skill of a skilled athlete executing a sophisticated maneuver. As with sports, becoming a skilled reader is not something that everyone finds easy. For some, learning to read with moderate proficiency is a painful ordeal that requires extraordinary effort.
The Wandell lab is applying a powerful set of measurement methodologies to study human brain development. In one group of studies, they are measuring the signals and growth of visual cortex in children, aged 8-12, during the period children become skilled readers. Using very high spatial resolution and neuroimaging techniques, including some methods developed by this group, the lab is hoping to understand how visual signals contribute to the neural pathways of reading. These measurements of the developmental changes during the acquisition of skilled reading are intended to explain how visual signals are rapidly identified and classified in as we read.
