Human brain has flexibility to reconstruct deep parts by training 'reading and writing' even after adulthood

by Aaron Burden

Even in the brain who has reached the age of 30 without being able to read and write, the survey revealed that it is possible to acquire the literacy ability equivalent to the first grader of elementary school by training for only half a year. This shows that the adult brain is more flexible than it has been thought so far, and a new view on dyslexia (dyslexia) has been obtained.

Learning to read alters cortico-subcortical cross-talk in the visual system of illiterates | Science Advances
http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/5/e1602612

Max Planck Neuroscience on Nautilus: Learning to Read in Your 30s Profoundly Transforms the Brain
http://maxplanck.nautil.us/article/338/learning-to-read-in-your-30s-profoundly-transforms-the-brain

Until now, reading and writing have reconstructed the cerebral cortex of the brain, and it has been thought that the visual system area becomes the interface between visual and language. However, unlike previous assumptions, it is understood by the research team at Max Planck Institute and Hyderabad University that it is reconstructed in "reading and writing", it is a part including the deep brain structure of thalamus and brain stem It was.

This fact became apparent as we were able to investigate " illiterate " (a person who can not read or write). It is difficult to clarify the fact that literacy rate is over 97% in Europe, it was difficult to clarify the fact that it is illiteracy, but the research team was able to do experiments in India with a literacy rate of about 70% , Succeeded to collect subjects.

In charge of reading and writing education was a specialized teacher wearing teaching methods around Northern India / Lucknow city ​​who gathered subjects. Teach content, the first month characters, used in the Hindi Devanagari reading and writing of the basic 46 characters, the second month is read and write simple sentences that contain the word of two syllables, words of 3 months 3 syllables With the reading and writing of sentences, the remaining three months were more complex words and basic grammar rules.

by MIXTRIBE

As a result of the education, it turned out that the subjects were able to obtain the level of reading and writing ability equivalent to the first grader of elementary school. Project leader Falk Huettig commented, "This cognitive growth is worth noting, it shows that adult brains are surprisingly flexible." Although it has been thought that only the cerebral cortex adapts quickly to new challenges so far, it has been found that fMRI examination reconstructs even in deep parts of the thalamus and the brain stem. This result not only became a light for the illiterate who took years, but also showed new possibilities for improving dyslexia, which is thought to be one of causes of thalamic dysfunction It is getting.