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. 1999 Sep;20(8):1393-8.

Dyslexic children have abnormal brain lactate response to reading-related language tasks

T L Richards  1 , S R Dager, D Corina, S Serafini, A C Heide, K Steury, W Strauss, C E Hayes, R D Abbott, S Craft, D Shaw, S Posse, V W Berninger
Affiliations

Dyslexic children have abnormal brain lactate response to reading-related language tasks

T L Richards et al. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 1999 Sep.

Abstract

Background and purpose: Children with dyslexia have difficulty learning to recognize written words owing to subtle deficits in oral language related to processing sounds and accessing words automatically. The purpose of this study was to compare regional changes in brain lactate between dyslexic children and control subjects during oral language activation.

Methods: Brain lactate metabolism was measured during four different cognitive tasks (three language tasks and one nonlanguage task) in six dyslexic boys and in seven control subjects (age- and IQ-matched right-handed boys who are good readers) using a fast MR spectroscopic imaging technique called proton echo-planar spectroscopic imaging (1-cm3 voxel resolution). The area under the N-acetylaspartate (NAA) and lactate peaks was measured to calculate the lactate/NAA ratio in each voxel.

Results: Dyslexic boys showed a greater area of brain lactate elevation (2.33+/-SE 0.843 voxels) as compared with the control group (0.57+/-SE 0.30 voxels) during a phonological task in the left anterior quadrant. No significant differences were observed in the nonlanguage tasks.

Conclusion: Dyslexic and control children differ in brain lactate metabolism when performing language tasks, but do not differ in nonlanguage auditory tasks.

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Figures

<sc>fig</sc> 1.
fig 1.
Bar graphs show number of activated voxels (as defined by MR spectroscopic lactate increases) in the four quadrants of the brain for both dyslexic and control children. A–C, Graphs of phonological task data (A), lexical access task (B), and tone task (C). (Error bars are standard error of the mean; asterisk indicates dyslexic versus control comparisons that were significantly different).
<sc>fig</sc> 2.
fig 2.
MR image and proton spectra from an activated brain region of one dyslexic subject. A, MR image with white box indicating the brain region measured with MR spectroscopy. B, Proton MR spectrum from the white box brain region during the passive listening task. C, Proton MR spectrum from the white box brain region during the phonological task. The intensity axis of the spectra is scaled so that the lactate can be seen easier; however, choline (Cho) and NAA are scaled off the figure. Note the increase in the lactate peaks during the phonological task as compared with passive listening.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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