Medicine: Underlying Functional Neuroanatomy in Dyslexia (Term Paper Sample)

Dyslexia
Name
Institution
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a neuro-developmental disorder whose characteristics include complications in learning to read in spite of having enough intelligence, no emotional disorders, conventional instruction, and a sociocultural background that is balanced (Zadina, 2003). Among the types of learning disorders, dyslexia is the most common.
Underlying Functional Neuroanatomy in Dyslexia
Individuals with dyslexia have four different neuro-anatomical structures. First, their planum temporale are uneven unlike their counterparts without dyslexia. In the Sylvian fissure part of the brain, the planum temporale which deals with language and speech is located. The lack of asymmetry of the planum temporale is caused by the difference in size of the parietal lobes and temporal on the left and the right because of the reciprocal growth of the posterior horizontal and ascending branches of the Sylvian fissure. Research indicates that since reading is a task associated with language, the anatomical variations among one of the brain language areas rhymes with the functional limitations of dyslexia (Wajuihian & Naidoo, 2012). The second functional neuroanatomy in dyslexia is the rampant distribution of neural elements which are misplaced all over the cerebral cortex, especially in the perisylvian language areas, this leads to changes in the organization of the brain. The misplaced neural elements in the brain are caused by the failure of neurons to reach their frequent targets during the development of the fetus. Thirdly, persons with dyslexia have a slow development of their nerve fibers of the corpus collosum, which is suspected to result from to the neurological etiology of dyslexia. The neurological etiology of dyslexia leads to the delaying of the development of corpus collosum thus causing an insufficient growth of language functions. Lastly, the dyslexics show a lateral spread of language functions to the left hemisphere, which is caused by its less specialization; therefore, this may cause the mixture of different speech styles since the normal growth of the language area in the brain is affected (Wajuihian & Naidoo, 2012).
The Deficits Expected and the Functions that Remain Intact
During reading, Dyslexic children show the following signs and symptoms: skipping and reversing of words, re-reading lines, substitution of words, diplopia, inability to differentiate between letters which seems similar both in size and shape, such as e and o, and inability to differentiate between letters having similar shape but different orientation, such as p and b. Difficulties in spelling include omitting the ending or beginning a letter, and difficulties in the numeric association, etc. Reading difficulties include problems in learning to read, complications in composing or identifying rhyming words, and problems in manipulating sound in words. Verbal signs include problems in the acquisition of vocabulary, difficulties in following directions, difficulties in retrieving words, difficulties in grasping concepts and the relationships between sentences and words. Nonlinguistic difficulties include difficulties with primary sensory processing, dyspraxia, and problems with synchronization of eye movements (Wajuihian & Naidoo, 2012). Additionally, children with dyslexia may experience anger, anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem.
On the other hand, the creativity aspect and the meaning of words of the dyslexic remain intact. Most individuals having dyslexia have high creativity levels, and they formulate some clever skills which greatly assist them to know words and sentences which trouble them. Dyslexics often have problems with the sound of words, but not their meaning.
How the Dyslexia Affects a Child Functionally at Different Levels of Development
Children undergo a process of learning how to read, which mostly a harder task for children compared to speaking (Zadina, 2003). In a particular stage of development, children use the phonological model to learn. Through this, deficiency in a particular component of language system which is involved in processing the sound of words can be reflected. Also, children must be taught how to read; some children experience the difficulty of breaking a word into its smaller parts, which a crucial reading task.
Phonemes are the smallest speech sound units which can be identified as being unique from other sounds and can be articulated in a specific language. Letters must be linked to the sound of spoken word so as to convert the printed letters found on the page into meaningful words. Reading acquisition develops on the spoken language of the child. After phonolo...