Dyslexic children showed a significant improvement in their ability to read after taking part in a specially designed education program for three weeks, a U.S. study says.

What's more, the researchers were able to produce actual changes in the brains of the learning-disabled children. Using high-tech brain scanning equipment, they found that those with dyslexia developed activity patterns that matched those of normal readers.

"This shows that dyslexics are treatable, they can learn to read," said Virginia Berninger, an educational psychologist at the University of Washington in Seattle and one of the researchers involved in the study. "However, it took more intensive preplanned teaching and monitoring . . . it was really hard work."

Researchers used to think that dyslexia was a visual problem because those with the condition tend to reverse letters. But they have come to realize that it is a far more complex genetic disorder involving how the brain processes language. People with dyslexia have difficulty making the connection between written letters and their spoken sounds.

"The back part of the brain that processes words is different in some way from children who learn to read easily, so they actually have to exert more effort in order to learn to read," Dr. Berninger said.

Dyslexics, who make up an estimated 15 per cent of the population, often feel frustrated, depressed and stupid even though many of them have normal or above-average intelligence.

To overcome these learning difficulties, Dr. Berninger put together an intensive training program based upon the recommendations of the National Reading Panel convened by the U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Her program teaches basic alphabetic principles, focusing on which sounds go with which group of letters and how to apply them when reading.

Although this is not unique, the teaching is done in a very deliberate fashion, with much monitoring and review, to make sure "the children are getting every little piece of it," she said.

To determine the effectiveness of the program, the research team did brain scans using magnetic-resonance-imaging equipment that can show what part of the brain is working to perform a particular activity.

As part of the study, 10 dyslexic children first performed specific reading tasks while their brains were being scanned. Their scans were compared with 11 normal readers.

The initial results showed major differences in what was going on in the brains of the two groups of children, said Todd Richards, a member of the research team and a professor of radiology at the University of Washington.

"The dyslexic children were both underactive in some areas of the brain and overactive in other areas," compared with the other children, he said. "They were using their brain in a different way and they were struggling."

However, after taking part in Dr. Berninger's training program for three weeks, the dyslexic children were not only reading better, but their brain activity patterns had also changed to resemble those of the good readers.

"This means that their brains may be starting out differently, but there are ways to help the brain . . . make the right connections," Dr. Richards said.

The research team cautioned that it would take far longer than three weeks to bring reading up to a desired level. "They had improved significantly, but obviously they had not been fully cured. It takes time," Dr. Berninger said.

"But what is interesting is that the brain circuits and processing showed changes within that short period of time and in the direction of being normal, suggesting that both the dyslexics and the good readers were using the same brain circuits."

"We know from brain-imaging research that there really are brain differences and it's invisible, you can't see it. They look like they are normal children," Dr. Berninger said. "It really is harder for them [to learn to read] and they give up on themselves. So part of the treatment is convincing them and motivating them that if they just work harder, they can get it.

"Literacy goes through stages of development and it's very complex. All children require many years of formal education to master it," she said.

"Dyslexics do too. It's just you need to point out explicitly every aspect of the language to them. They don't figure it out on their own. They are good at thinking. They are intelligent, they are creative. But when it comes to language you have to to explain every aspect of it to them," she said.

The findings of the study are being published today in Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Defeating dyslexia

Dyslexic children have trouble reading due to lower activity in certain regions of their brains. A new study has found that an additional reading program can promote brain activity in those areas responsible for reading.

Wernicke's area

In the temporal lobe of the brain, it is responsible for language comprehension by analyzing and interpreting the sounds and words. People with dyslexia tend to have less brain activity here to perform this task.

Broca's area

In the frontal lobe, it analyzes the arrangement of the words, co-ordinates mouth movements and converts letters into sounds producing speech. Dyslexic people tend to have more brain activity here to compensate for the missing areas noted above, which leads to misinterpretation when reading.

Angular gyrus

Part of the parietal lobe of the brain, it converts a visual pattern into meaningful sounds and words. Dyslexic people tend to have less brain activity here as well.

How the program works

The new intense reading program has four key components:

Activities, such as word games, to get children to reflect upon the parts of language.

Application of alphabetic principles to pronounce unfamiliar words.

Repeated reading of material to increase speed of oral reading.

Questions about material, such as summarizing text, to increase reading comprehension.

10 famous dyslexics

Leonardo da Vinci (artist/inventor)

Alexander Graham Bell (inventor)

Cher (musician/vocalist)

Tom Cruise (actor)

Pablo Picasso (artist)

Albert Einstein (scientist)

John Lennon (musician/vocalist)

George Patton (military hero)

Harry Belafonte (actor/singer)

Jay Leno (entertainer)