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Putting the cart before the horse: A neurological model of how an auditory deficit might be a consequence, not a cause, of the phonological deficit

Franck Ramus

LSCP, Paris, and ICN, UCL f.ramus@ucl.ac.uk

Abstract

It is now well established that a significant proportion of dyslexics have auditory problems. But do their auditory problems cause their phonological deficit, hence their reading retardation? One piece of evidence that has been invoked in favour of this causal link is the finding of cytoarchitectonic anomalies in dyslexics' medial geniculate nucleus (auditory relay), co-occuring with cortical anomalies presumably associated with the phonological deficit (Galaburda and colleagues). However, a closer examination of both the anatomical data and the animal models of these brain anomalies reveals that they are inconsistent with a causation from the auditory to thephonological level. A complete reinterpretation of this set of data leads to a revised neurological model of dyslexia, in which the primary cause of the reading retardation lies in cortical anomalies leading to a phonological deficit, while auditory (and visual) deficits arise only secondarily and optionally, in a fraction of the dyslexic population.

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