Structural Differences between a Normal Brain vs Dyslexic Brain

Although no two brains are alike, there are significant differences

between the anatomy of a normal brain and a dyslexic brain (Great Schools Staff, n.d.).
Through microscopic examination, scientists found major differences in multiple areas of

the brain; we will be choosing to focus on the cerebral cortex, the thalamus, and the grey
and white matter.

Cerebral Cortex

One noticeable difference in the autopsied brains of dyslexic individuals is

the presence of ectopias. Ectopias are small bunches of nerve cells and bundles

of tangled nerve fibers. This would look similar to a jellyfish’s tentacles being

tangled. Ectopias are caused by a change during neuronal migration

(Great Schools Staff, n.d.) Neuronal migration is the method by which neurons

travel from their origin or birthplace to their final position in the brain

(Development of the nervous system, 2019). Because ectopias occur early in

fetal development and it most commonly is hereditary, scientists suspect that

these hereditary differences in the familial genes cause ectopias. Most ectopias

are found in the language networks and areas of the brain that are related to

verbal memory. Scientists believe this can greatly affect the complex functions of reading

and writing because of the altered wiring (Great Schools Staff, n.d.).

Thalamus

The thalamus plays an important role in the brain and has multiple functions: it

processes and relays sensory and motor information to different subcortical regions

via nerve fibres that make up part of the brain’s white matter; and also regulates

states of sleep and wakefulness, including arousal and the level of awareness.

(Dyslexic, n.d.) Researchers at Vanderbilt Peabody College in the US set out to

examine the structural differences in the brain of people with Dyslexia and those

who do not have the disorder. (Dyslexic, n.d.) The results showed that in the dyslexic

group, a different pattern of thalamic connectivity was found in their sensorimotor

and lateral prefrontal cortices. (Dyslexic, n.d.) These results could lead to underlying

future results suggesting that the thalamus may play a key role in reading behaviour

by mediating the functions of task-specific cortical regions. This could open up the

discussion that people with dyslexia have different Thalamus anatomy and therefore

this is the reason they have the learning disability.

Grey and White Matter

The brain is made up of two types of material: grey matter and white matter.
Grey material is what we are able to see when looking at a brain, and is mainly
made up of nerve cells; the function of gray matter is processing information.
White matter what is found deeper in the brain and cannot be seen just by looking
at one. The white matter is responsible for communication between the nerves in
the brain. It transfers information in order to allow us to perform an action.
(Dyslexia and the Brain: What Does Current Research Tell Us?, 2013) A study
by Booth and Burman (2001) found that people with dyslexia have less gray matter
than non dyslexic brains. This could lead to problems processing sounds, and reading
words in their head. They also found many people with dyslexia have less white
matter than others, which effects the communication between brain regions when trying
to read (Deutsch, Dougherty, Bammer, Siok, Gabrieli, & Wandell, 2005).