Decoding Dyslexia: A Study of Brainwaves During Word Identification and Recognition
Abstract
Dyslexia is a learning disorder experienced by approximately 7% of the US population. It is characterized by difficulty with accurate and fluent word recognition, spelling, and/or decoding ability (Lyon et al., 2003). It has also been reported that some people with dyslexia have working memory deficits (Jeffries & Everatt, 2004). This study investigates how people process words and nonwords, using an electroencephalogram (EEG; i.e., brainwaves), to quantify the N400 event-related potential (ERPs), which is a brainwave associated with word recognition. In the first part of the study, participants evaluated a string of 4-6 letters as a word or nonword. In the second part of the study, the participants responded to whether the word or nonword was presented in the first part of the study. Our hypotheses are as follows: (1) participants with dyslexia will respond more slowly than non-dyslexic participants in identifying words; (2) dyslexic participants will make more errors in word identification (Part 1) and recognition (Part 2); and (3), the N400 response of dyslexic participants will be smaller than the N400 of non-dyslexic participants. In addition to providing observable response measures, the study will also provide physiological data to examine the time-course of neural processing.
Start Time
16-4-2025 9:00 AM
End Time
16-4-2025 11:30 AM
Presentation Type
Poster
Presentation Category
Science, Technology and Engineering
Student Type
Undergraduate Student
Faculty Mentor
Eric Sellers
Faculty Department
Psychology
Decoding Dyslexia: A Study of Brainwaves During Word Identification and Recognition
Dyslexia is a learning disorder experienced by approximately 7% of the US population. It is characterized by difficulty with accurate and fluent word recognition, spelling, and/or decoding ability (Lyon et al., 2003). It has also been reported that some people with dyslexia have working memory deficits (Jeffries & Everatt, 2004). This study investigates how people process words and nonwords, using an electroencephalogram (EEG; i.e., brainwaves), to quantify the N400 event-related potential (ERPs), which is a brainwave associated with word recognition. In the first part of the study, participants evaluated a string of 4-6 letters as a word or nonword. In the second part of the study, the participants responded to whether the word or nonword was presented in the first part of the study. Our hypotheses are as follows: (1) participants with dyslexia will respond more slowly than non-dyslexic participants in identifying words; (2) dyslexic participants will make more errors in word identification (Part 1) and recognition (Part 2); and (3), the N400 response of dyslexic participants will be smaller than the N400 of non-dyslexic participants. In addition to providing observable response measures, the study will also provide physiological data to examine the time-course of neural processing.