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There is a PowerPoint file available to accompany this presentation. The BDA Conference 2001 CD-ROM contains 61 PowerPoint files. For details of how to obtain the CD-ROM, please contact the BDA.
Thursday stream 1 Session 11.35 - 12.50 Length 50 minutes
Angela J. Fawcett and Roderick I. Nicolson
Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield a.fawcett@shef.ac.uk
Abstract
In this talk we summarise the evidence from our longstanding research programme that has led to the hypothesis that cerebellar function is abnormal for dyslexic children. The hypothesis is based firmly on work in cognitive neuroscience that shows the cerebellum is a key structure in skill automatisation, together with the recent realisation that the cerebellum is centrally involved in cognitive skill as well as motor skill. In brief, we will claim: (i) that the behavioural symptoms of dyslexia (both within and beyond the literacy domain) can be characterised as difficulties in skill automatisation. (ii) that the qualitative and quantitative pattern of difficulties in cognitive, information processing and motor skills is as predicted by the cerebellar deficit hypothesis. (iii) Dyslexic children showing the above behavioural manifestations of cerebellar impairment also show direct neurobiological evidence of cerebellar impairment. This is consistent with other evidence of cerebellar abnormalities in dyslexia. (iv) It is possible to present an ontogenetic causal model for the development of the reading-related and other problems of dyslexic children, with the major causal factor being impaired implicit learning owing to cerebellar abnormality. This model has recently been supported by analyses of long-term learning and of classical conditioning of the eyeblink response. The framework accounts for a number of previously unresolved issues in dyslexia research, including the key one of why there is a discrepancy between reading performance and that predicted on the basis of the child's IQ. We believe that the hypothesis may provide a fruitful and unifying framework for subsequent research.
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