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Binocular coordination of children with dyslexia and typically developing children in linguistic and non-linguistic tasks: evidence from eye movements

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Abstract

Given the increased evidence suggesting the presence of binocular coordination deficits in dyslexia, investigations of binocular eye movements are beneficial to clarify the underlying causes of reading difficulties. This systematic review aims to (a) synthesize the literature through the examination of binocular coordination in children with dyslexia by describing the normative development of stable binocular control and (b) outline future directions. Boolean expressions in the PubMed search were used to define papers. Following a literature search and selection process, 25 papers were included. Studies using binocular eye tracking during linguistic and nonlinguistic tasks in children with dyslexia and typical development 5–17 years of age are reviewed. The studies reviewed provided consistent evidence of poor binocular coordination in children with dyslexia, but the results associated with different task characteristics were less consistent. The relation between binocular coordination deficits and reading difficulties needs to be further elucidated in longitudinal studies which may provide future treatments targeting the binocular viewing system in dyslexia.

Highlights

- Binocular oculomotor control of eye movements in children with dyslexia diverges from the normal developmental pattern.

- Normal development of binocular control changes in different age groups.

- Future eye-tracking research investigating the binocular coordination of children with dyslexia should address the etiology of dyslexia using longitudinal design with large samples involving wide age range.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are sincerely thankful to Özgür Aydın for his generous support and encouragement during the preparation this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey

    Rahime Duygu Temelturk

  2. Faculty of Education, Department of Special Education, Kırıkkale University, Kırıkkale, Turkey

    Esmehan Ozer

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  1. Rahime Duygu Temelturk
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  2. Esmehan Ozer
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Contributions

Conceptualization and study design, R.D.T. and E.Ö.; data curation, R.D.T. and E.Ö.; formal analysis, R.D.T.; writing—original draft preparation, R.D.T.; writing—review and editing, R.D.T. and E.Ö.; visualization, R.D.T. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Rahime Duygu Temelturk.

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Temelturk, R.D., Ozer, E. Binocular coordination of children with dyslexia and typically developing children in linguistic and non-linguistic tasks: evidence from eye movements. Ann. of Dyslexia 72, 426–444 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-022-00256-2

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