Abstract
We evaluated signal-noise discrimination in children with and without dyslexia, using magnocellular and parvocellular visual stimuli presented either with or without high noise. Dyslexic children had elevated contrast thresholds when stimuli of either type were presented in high noise, but performed as well as non-dyslexic children when either type was displayed without noise. Our findings suggest that deficits in noise exclusion, not magnocellular processing, contribute to the etiology of dyslexia.
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Acknowledgements
This research was supported by National Institute of Child Health and Human Development grant HD29891 (F.R.M.), and by National Institute of Mental Health grants KO2-MH01188 and P50-MH64445 (M.S.S.).
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Supplementary information
Supplementary Table 1
Reading and cognitive scores (means and s.d.). (PDF 69 kb)
Supplementary Table 2
Correlations between contrast thresholds and reading and cognitive measures. (PDF 62 kb)
Supplementary Video 1
Magnocellular stimulus, no noise. The signal appears on the left side of the fixation mark, alternating in counter-phase as it fades on and off. (MOV 97 kb)
Supplementary Video 2
Magnocellular stimulus, high noise. The signal, embedded in a noise patch, appears on the left side of the fixation mark, while a plain noise patch appears on the right. (MOV 234 kb)
Supplementary Video 3
Parvocellular stimulus, no noise. The signal appears on the left side of the fixation mark and does not alternate as it fades on and off. (MOV 115 kb)
Supplementary Video 4
Parvocellular stimulus, high noise. The signal, embedded in a noise patch, appears on the left side of the fixation mark, while a plain noise patch appears on the right. (MOV 261 kb)
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Sperling, A., Lu, ZL., Manis, F. et al. Deficits in perceptual noise exclusion in developmental dyslexia. Nat Neurosci 8, 862–863 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1474
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1474
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