Brain Morphology in Developmental Dyslexia and Attention Deficit Disorder/Hyperactivity

TLDR

The study investigated whether patterns of brain asymmetry differ specifically between dyslexic, ADD/H, and normal children using MRI scans. MRI measurements of anterior/posterior widths, areas, insular and planum temporale lengths were obtained with excellent reliability. Dyslexic children showed reduced right anterior‑width, smaller insular and left planum temporale, and a markedly higher rate of plana symmetry or reversed asymmetry compared to ADD/H and controls, while left‑handedness was more frequent but unrelated to other health factors.

Abstract

• This study examined the specificity of deviations in patterns of normal brain asymmetry on the magnetic resonance imaging scans of 10 dyslexic, 10 attention deficit disorder/hyperactivity (ADD/H), and 10 normal age- and sex-matched control children. Reliabilities of region of interest measurements for left and right anterior and posterior width and area, length of the bilateral insular region, and length of the bilateral planum temporale were excellent. Both the dyslexic and ADD/H children had significantly smaller right anterior-width measurements than did normal subjects. The dyslexics also had a bilaterally smaller insular region and significantly smaller left planum temporale than did the normal subjects. Seventy percent of the normal and ADD/H children had the expected left greater than right pattern of plana asymmetry, while only 10% of the dyslexic children did. The very significant increase in the incidence of plana symmetry or reversed asymmetry seems unique to dyslexia and may be related to deviations in normal patterns of corticogenesis. Although significantly more dyslexic children were left-handed than were the normal and ADD/H children, no significant relationship emerged between left-handedness, incidence of allergies or familial autoimmune disease, and variability in indexes of brain morphologic findings.