Neural Mechanisms of Successful Intervention in Children With Dyslexia

NCT04323488 | Completed Results

• 2 other identifiers: 52231R01HD095861-01A1
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 90
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Dyslexia, an impairment in accurate or fluent word recognition, is the most common learning disability affecting roughly ten percent of children. This proposal capitalizes on cutting edge neuroimaging methods, in combination with reading education programs, to generate a new understanding of how successful reading education shapes the development of the brain circuits that support skilled reading. A deeper understanding of the mechanisms of successful remediation of dyslexia, and individual differences in learning, will pave the way for personalized approaches to dyslexia treatment.

Conditions

Dyslexia, Developmental

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• White Matter Plasticity - Left Arcuate Tract

  Change in white matter mean diffusivity (MD) measured with diffusion MRI. MD quantifies the average magnitude of water diffusion within a given region of tissue. An increase in mean diffusivity (MD) suggests an increase in free water movement (corresponds to less white matter integrity), while a decrease in MD suggests restricted water diffusion, potentially from increased cellular density (corresponds to greater white matter integrity). Values typically range from approximately 0.5 to 1.5 × 10\^-3 mm²/s in healthy white matter.

  Baseline (within 2 weeks pre-intervention), post-intervention (within 2 weeks post-intervention, up to 10 weeks), and at 1 year follow up

• White Matter Plasticity - Inferior Longitudinal Tract

  Change in white matter mean diffusivity (MD) measured with diffusion MRI. MD quantifies the average magnitude of water diffusion within a given region of tissue. An increase in mean diffusivity (MD) suggests an increase in free water movement (corresponds to less white matter integrity), while a decrease in MD suggests restricted water diffusion, potentially from increased cellular density (corresponds to greater white matter integrity). Values typically range from approximately 0.5 to 1.5 × 10\^-3 mm²/s in healthy white matter.

  Baseline (within 2 weeks pre-intervention), post-intervention (within 2 weeks post-intervention, up to 10 weeks), and at 1 year follow up

• Visual Word Form Area (VWFA) Size

  Visual Word Form Area (VWFA) refers to a region in the brain associated with the recognition of written words. VWFA size is calculated as the number of vertices in the cotrical surface. There are no definitive clinical relevant thresholds for the size of the VWFA that apply universally. Research indicates that variations in VWFA size and activation are associated with reading abilities and disorders.

  Baseline (within 2 weeks pre-intervention), post-intervention (within 2 weeks post-intervention, up to 10 weeks), and at 1 year follow up

• Woodcock-Johnson Basic Reading Skills (WJ BRS) Assessment Battery

  The Woodcock-Johnson Basic Reading Skills (WJ BRS) Assessment Battery results in a composite score across multiple assessments. Assessment scores are transformed to create an overall score range of 0 to 200. A score of 100 indicates average reading ability. Scores below 85 may indicate potential reading difficulties

  Baseline (within 2 weeks pre-intervention), post-intervention (within 2 weeks post-intervention, up to 10 weeks), and at 1 year follow up

Study Arms (2)

Lindamood-Bell Seeing Stars

EXPERIMENTAL

Subjects receive reading instruction focusing on the building blocks of reading

Behavioral: Lindamood-Bell Seeing Stars

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Subjects are followed longitudinally but do not receive intervention

Interventions

Lindamood-Bell Seeing Stars BEHAVIORAL

Seeing Stars in a curriculum developed by Lindamood-Bell. It is published and openly available. It involves systematic training in the building blocks of skilled reading.

Lindamood-Bell Seeing Stars

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 8 Years - 12 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Reading difficulties defined as low scores on standardized measures of reading skills

You may not qualify if:

• no major contraindication for MRI (braces, metal implants, pacemakers, vascular stents, or metallic ear tubes).
• Because the study involves measurements of reading and language ability, new recruits will be native English speakers.
• Subjects have no history of neurological disorder, significant psychiatric problems
• exclude claustrophobic subjects since an MRI might be uncomfortable for them.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Stanford University: lead
• Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Stanford University

Stanford, California, 94305, United States

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Stone HL, Mitchell JL, Fuentes-Jimenez M, Tran JE, Yeatman JD, Yablonski M. Anatomically distinct regions in the inferior frontal cortex are modulated by task and reading skill. J Neurosci. 2025 Mar 24;45(19):e1767242025. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1767-24.2025. Online ahead of print.

  PMID: 40127940 RESULT

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Dyslexia

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Language Disorders; Communication Disorders; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Specific Learning Disorder; Learning Disabilities; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Mental Disorders

Results Point of Contact

• Title: Jason Yeatman, PhD
• Organization: Stanford University

jyeatman@stanford.edu

(650) 321-7553

Study Officials

• Jason D Yeatman, PhD

  Stanford University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: Yes

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assistant Professor

Model Details: subjects are seen before and after receiving 8 weeks of reading instruction

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 23, 2020
• First Posted: March 26, 2020
• Study Start: May 1, 2021
• Primary Completion: September 1, 2024
• Study Completion: September 1, 2024
• Last Updated: November 14, 2025
• Results First Posted: November 14, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-10

Locations

US (1)