Fast ForWord Dyslexia research

Fast ForWord Dyslexia research conducted at Stanford and Harvard Universities.

 

 

A research study conducted by Stanford University showed increased activation in the areas of the brain associated with reading, spelling and writing after using Fast ForWord, as well as improvements on tests of reading and language. This research was later replicated at Harvard Medical School.

In this study conducted at Stanford University, children with dyslexia (reading problems) experienced changes in their brain activation patterns and significant improvements in reading and language skills following Fast ForWord participation.

Brain imaging scans of children with dyslexia (reading problems) who used the Fast ForWord Language program showed normalisation of activity in critical areas of the brain used for reading. Furthermore, the children showed significant improvements in reading and oral language skills improving on a number of assessments.

 

Methodology and measures

The study included children with dyslexia aged 8 to 12 years, who used the Fast ForWord Language program for eight weeks. Before and after Fast ForWord Language participation, their brains were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at Stanford’s Lucas Center for Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy. At both time points, their language and reading skills were measured using the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test – Revised (WRMT-R), the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, Third Edition (CELF-3), and the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP). A control group of children with normal reading abilities also had their brains scanned, and completed the same test battery at both time points, but they did not use the Fast ForWord Language program.

Source

Temple, E., Deutsch, G. K., Poldrack, R. A., Miller, S. L., Tallal, P., Merzenich, M. M., Gabrieli, J. D. (2003). Neural deficits in children with dyslexia ameliorated by behavioral remediation: Evidence from functional MRI. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 100, No. 5: pp. 2860-2865.

Also see

Harvard Medical School: Gaab, N., Gabrieli, J.D.E, Deutsch, G.K., Tallal, P., Temple, E. (2007). Neural correlates of rapid auditory processing are disrupted in children with developmental dyslexia and ameliorated with training: An fMRI study. Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience 25, 295–310.

Gabrieli, J.D.E., et al. (2009). Dyslexia: A New Synergy Between Education and Cognitive Neuroscience. Science, 325, 280.