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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 6, 2026

Author Spotlight: Validation of SICOLE-R for Assessing Cognitive and Reading Skills in Spanish-Speaking Children and Its Role in Personalized Education

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Cerebellar function in children with and without dyslexia during single word processing.

Sikoya M Ashburn¹, D Lynn Flowers¹, Eileen M Napoliello¹

¹Center for the Study of Learning, Department of Pediatrics, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.

Human Brain Mapping

|October 10, 2019

Summary

This study found no evidence supporting the cerebellar deficit hypothesis of dyslexia. Cerebellar activity and connectivity did not differ between children with and without dyslexia during word processing.

Keywords:

cerebellum child dyslexia functional magnetic resonance imaging reading reading disability word processing

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Assessing Dyslexia at Six Year of Age

Assessing Dyslexia at Six Year of Age

Published on: May 1, 2020

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Developmental Psychology
Cognitive Science

Background:

The cerebellar deficit hypothesis suggests cerebellar dysfunction causes dyslexia.
Previous research has not definitively linked cerebellar function to reading difficulties.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate cerebellar activity and functional connectivity during word processing in children with and without dyslexia.
To test the validity of the cerebellar deficit hypothesis of dyslexia.

Main Methods:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure brain activity.
A single word processing task was administered to 46 children (23 with dyslexia, 23 without).
Analysis focused on cerebellar activity and functional connectivity (FC) differences between groups.

Main Results:

No significant cerebellar activity differences were found between groups during word processing.
Background functional connectivity between the cerebellum and cortical regions differed, but not in a task-specific manner.
No task-specific cerebellar activity or connectivity related to word processing was observed in either group.

Conclusions:

The findings do not support the cerebellar deficit hypothesis of dyslexia.
Cerebellar dysfunction is unlikely to be the primary cause of reading difficulties in dyslexia.
Further research may explore other neurobiological underpinnings of dyslexia.