Thesis (doctoral) - Universität, Kiel, 2004.

Universiẗat, Diss., 2002--Jena.

Zugl.: Regensburg, Univ., Diss., 2006

Das Faltblatt ist für Eltern der Schülerinnen und Schüler gedacht, bei denen die Vermutung einer bestehenden Lese-Rechtschreib-Schwäche (LRS) gegeben ist. Redaktionsschluss: 29.09.2023

Universiẗat, Diss.--Potsdam, 2007.

Zugl.: Potsdam, Univ., Diss., 2007

Universiẗat, Diss., 2002--Jena.

Auf der Grundlage psycholinguistischer, deutsch-didaktischer und linguistischer Forschungsergebnisse wurde ein Lesetraining auf Silbenbasis entwickelt, in dem Kindern mit Leseschwierigkeiten explizit Strategien zur visuellen Gliederung von Wörtern in größere funktionale Einheiten (Silben, einzelne Wörter (bei Zusammensetzungen), Präfixe) vermittelt werden. Es wird davon ausgegangen, dass Kinder mit Leseschwierigkeiten Wörter in zu kleinen linguistischen Einheiten erlesen. Das Training basiert linguistisch auf der Schreibsilbe als funktionaler Einheit beim Lesen. Basis des Lesetrainings ist ein von Scheerer-Neumann (1981) durchgeführtes Training zur Verbesserung der Lesegenauigkeit von Grundschulkindern. <br><br> Die empirische Überprüfung des Lesetrainings hatte zum einen das Ziel, die Wirksamkeit des Trainingsprogramms als solches zu überprüfen und zum anderen, ob das Training zu einer deutlich verbesserten Lesegeschwindigkeit und -genauigkeit bei Grundschulkindern der 3. und 4. Klassen führt. Das Training wurde von der Autorin ohne den Einsatz von Hilfskräften mit einer relativ kleinen Zahl von Kindern (N=11) durchgeführt, um so intensiv auf die Bedürfnisse der einzelnen Kinder eingehen und gegebenenfalls flexibel reagieren zu können. Aus organisatorischen und ethischen Gründen wurde auf eine Kontrollgruppe verzichtet. Die Wirksamkeit des Trainings wurde als Prätest-Training-Posttest-Follow-up Test-Design überprüft. Das Training umfasst 18 Einheiten (je 45 Minuten) und fand zweimal wöchentlich statt. Trainingsgruppen bestanden aus einer Dreiergruppe und einer Zweiergruppe; die anderen sechs Kinder wurden einzeln trainiert. <br><br> Der Posttest nach Abschluss des Trainings zeigte deutliche Verbesserungen der Lesegeschwindigkeit und -genauigkeit, die zum Teil auch signifikant waren. Der Follow-up Test drei Monate nach Ende des Trainings zeigte weitere Verbesserungen, die ebenfalls zum Teil signifikant waren. <br><br> Die Befunde sprechen dafür, dass das Trainingsprogramm geeignet ist, die Lesefähigkeit von leseschwachen Grundschulkindern der dritten und vierten Klasse zu verbessern. Die Teilnehmerzahl ist allerdings relativ gering, so dass die Ergebnisse nicht ohne weiteres auf die allgemeine Population von Kindern mit Leseschwierigkeiten übertragen werden können. Eine erneute Durchführung des Trainingsprogramms mit einer größeren Stichprobe und einer parallelisierten Kontrollgruppe, bei der die Kinder der Experimentalgruppe in größeren Gruppen trainiert werden, erscheint deshalb sinnvoll. / A syllable-based training program for reading disabled children was developed on the basis of psycholinguistic, educational and linguistic research results. The program teaches explicit strategies to visually segment words in larger functional linguistic units (syllables, prefixes, single words (in compound words)). <br><br> It is assumed that children with reading difficulties process words in linguistic units that are too small to make use of the linguistic structure of words. The training program, Potsdamer Lesetraining, emphasizes the role of the orthographical syllable as a functional unit in reading development. The program is based on a training program developed by Scheerer-Neumann (1981) that aimed at improving reading accuracy in reading disabled elementary school children. <br><br> The aim of the empirical test was to check if the training program had a positive effect on the decoding speed and accuracy of elementary school children with reading disabilities (3rd and 4th grade). The program was carried out by the author with a relatively small sample of children (N=11) and without further staff. This procedure made it possible to react intensively and flexible to the children's individual needs. A control group was not implemented for ethical and organizational reasons. <br><br> The validity of the training program was tested with a pretest-posttest-follow-up-test design. The program consisted of 18 training units (45 minutes each) and took place twice a week. The training groups consisted of one group with three children, another group with two children; the remaining six children were trained individually. <br><br> The posttests which were carried out immediately after training ended, showed significant effects of training for decoding speed and an increase of accuracy for several subtests. Follow-up tests carried out three months after the training had ended showed further improvement in decoding speed and an increase in accuracy; several subtests revealed significant effects. <br><br> The results indicate that the training program is suitable to improve the decoding speed and accuracy of dyslexic elementary school children in 3rd and 4th grade. A transfer of this conclusion to the general dyslexic population, however, is limited due to the small number of participants. <br><br> A replication of the study with a larger sample of reading disabled children trained in groups of two and three children and a matched control group would therefore seem necessary.

Universiẗat, Diss., 1999--Dortmund. / Dateiformat: PDF.

The ability to read proficiently is key to social participation and an important premise for individual well-being and vocational success. Individuals with developmental dyslexia, a highly prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder affecting hundreds of millions of children and adults worldwide, face severe and persistent difficulties in attaining adequate reading levels. Despite years of extensive research efforts to elucidate the neurobiological origin of this disorder, its exact etiology remains unclear to date. In this context, most neuroimaging research on dyslexia in humans has focused on the cerebral cortex and has identified alterations in a distributed left-lateralized cortical language network. However, pioneering post-mortem human studies and animal models suggest that dyslexia might also be associated with alterations in subcortical sensory thalami and early sensory pathways. The largely cortico-centric view of dyslexia is due in part to considerable technical challenges in assessing the human sensory thalami non-invasively using conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). As a result, the role that sensory thalami may play in dyslexia has been largely unaddressed. In this dissertation, I leveraged recent advances in high-field MRI to investigate the role of the human lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) of the visual thalamus in adults with dyslexia in-vivo. In three multi-modal high-field MRI studies, I show that (i) dyslexia is associated with structural alterations in the direct V1-bypassing white matter pathway connecting the LGN with cortical motion-sensitive area V5/MT in the left hemisphere; (ii) the connectivity strength of which predicts a core symptom of the disorder, i.e., rapid naming ability. I further demonstrate that (iii) the two major functional subdivisions of the LGN can be distinguished non-invasively based on differences in tissue microstructure; and that (iv) adults with dyslexia show functional response alterations specifically in the magnocellular subdivision of the LGN. I also demonstrate that this subdivision deficit (v) is more pronounced in male than female dyslexics; and (vi) predicts rapid naming ability in male dyslexics only. The results of this doctoral thesis are the first to confirm previous post-mortem evidence of LGN alterations in dyslexia in-vivo and point to their relevance to key symptoms of the disorder. In synergy, our research findings offer new perspectives on explanatory models of dyslexia and bear potential implications also for prospective treatment strategies.:Contribution Statement i Acknowledgments iii Abstract v Table of Contents vii 1 General Introduction 1 1.1 Developmental Dyslexia 1 1.1.1 Diagnostic Criteria 1 1.1.2 Prevalence and Etiology 2 1.1.3 Cognitive and Behavioral Symptoms 3 1.1.4 Explanatory Models in Cognitive Neuroscience 4 1.2 Lateral Geniculate Nucleus 7 1.2.1 Anatomy and Function 7 1.2.2 Technical Challenges in Conventional MRI 8 1.2.3 High-Field MRI 9 1.3 Research Aim and Chapter Outline 10 2 Altered Structural Connectivity of the Left Visual Thalamus in Developmental Dyslexia 13 2.1 Summary 14 2.2 Results and Discussion 15 2.3 Conclusions 22 2.4 Materials and Methods 23 2.4.1 Subject Details 23 2.4.2 High-Resolution MRI Acquisition and Preprocessing 23 2.4.3 Lateral Geniculate Nucleus Definition 24 2.4.4 Cortical Region of Interest Definition 26 2.4.5 Probabilistic Tractography 27 2.4.6 Quantification and Statistical Analysis 29 2.5 Supplementary Information 30 3 Mapping the Human Lateral Geniculate Nucleus and its Cytoarchitectonic Subdivisions Using Quantitative MRI 33 3.1 Abstract 34 3.2 Introduction 35 3.3 Materials and Methods 37 3.3.1 In-Vivo MRI 37 3.3.2 Post-Mortem MRI and Histology 41 3.4 Results 44 3.4.1 Lateral Geniculate Nucleus Subdivisions in In-Vivo MRI 44 3.4.2 Lateral Geniculate Nucleus Subdivisions in Post-Mortem MRI 46 3.5 Discussion 50 3.6 Supplementary Information 54 3.6.1 In-Vivo MRI 54 3.6.2 Post-Mortem MRI and Histology 58 3.6.3 Data and Code Availability 60 4 Dysfunction of the Visual Sensory Thalamus in Developmental Dyslexia 61 4.1 Abstract 62 4.2 Introduction 63 4.3 Materials and Methods 66 4.3.1 Subject Details 66 4.3.2 High-Resolution MRI Experiments 66 4.3.3 High-Resolution MRI Acquisition and Preprocessing 67 4.3.4 Lateral Geniculate Nucleus Definition 68 4.3.5 Quantification and Statistical Analysis 69 4.4 Results 70 4.5 Discussion 75 4.6 Supplementary Information 77 4.6.1 Supporting Methods 77 4.6.2 Supporting Results 81 4.6.3 Data and Code Availability 82 5 General Conclusion 83 5.1 Summary of Research Findings 83 5.2 Implications for Dyslexia Models 84 5.2.1 Phonological Deficit Hypothesis 84 5.2.2 Magnocellular Theory 84 5.2.3 Model According to Ramus 85 5.2.4 Need for Revised Model 86 5.3 Implications for Remediation 87 5.4 Research Prospects 88 5.5 Brief Concluding Remarks 90 6 Bibliography 91 7 List of Tables 113 8 List of Figures 115 9 Selbstständigkeitserklärung 117