Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT04323488

Neural Mechanisms of Successful Intervention in Children With Dyslexia

Dyslexia, an impairment in accurate or fluent word recognition, is the most common learning disability affecting roughly ten percent of children. This proposal capitalizes on cutting edge neuroimaging methods, in combination with reading education programs, to generate a new understanding of how successful reading education shapes the development of the brain circuits that support skilled reading. A deeper understanding of the mechanisms of successful remediation of dyslexia, and individual differences in learning, will pave the way for personalized approaches to dyslexia treatment.

Completed

Looking for future studies?

Notify Me

Key information

Conditions

Dyslexia, Developmental Communication Disorders Dyslexia Language Disorders Learning Disabilities Mental Disorders Nervous System Diseases Neurobehavioral Manifestations Neurodevelopmental Disorders Neurologic Manifestations Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Signs and Symptoms Specific Learning Disorder

Age range

8 year–12 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Stanford University

Stanford, California, 94305, United States

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Reading difficulties defined as low scores on standardized measures of reading skills

Exclusion criteria

  • no major contraindication for MRI (braces, metal implants, pacemakers, vascular stents, or metallic ear tubes).
  • Because the study involves measurements of reading and language ability, new recruits will be native English speakers.
  • Subjects have no history of neurological disorder, significant psychiatric problems
  • exclude claustrophobic subjects since an MRI might be uncomfortable for them.

Treatment and study plan

Lindamood-Bell Seeing Stars

Behavioral

Seeing Stars in a curriculum developed by Lindamood-Bell. It is published and openly available. It involves systematic training in the building blocks of skilled reading.

Primary outcomes

  1. White Matter Plasticity - Left Arcuate Tract

    Time frame: Baseline (within 2 weeks pre-intervention), post-intervention (within 2 weeks post-intervention, up to 10 weeks), and at 1 year follow up

    Change in white matter mean diffusivity (MD) measured with diffusion MRI. MD quantifies the average magnitude of water diffusion within a given region of tissue. An increase in mean diffusivity (MD) suggests an increase in free water movement (corresponds to less white matter integrity), while a decrease in MD suggests restricted water diffusion, potentially from increased cellular density (corresponds to greater white matter integrity). Values typically range from approximately 0.5 to 1.5 × 10^-3 mm²/s in healthy white matter.

  2. White Matter Plasticity - Inferior Longitudinal Tract

    Time frame: Baseline (within 2 weeks pre-intervention), post-intervention (within 2 weeks post-intervention, up to 10 weeks), and at 1 year follow up

    Change in white matter mean diffusivity (MD) measured with diffusion MRI. MD quantifies the average magnitude of water diffusion within a given region of tissue. An increase in mean diffusivity (MD) suggests an increase in free water movement (corresponds to less white matter integrity), while a decrease in MD suggests restricted water diffusion, potentially from increased cellular density (corresponds to greater white matter integrity). Values typically range from approximately 0.5 to 1.5 × 10^-3 mm²/s in healthy white matter.

  3. Visual Word Form Area (VWFA) Size

    Time frame: Baseline (within 2 weeks pre-intervention), post-intervention (within 2 weeks post-intervention, up to 10 weeks), and at 1 year follow up

    Visual Word Form Area (VWFA) refers to a region in the brain associated with the recognition of written words. VWFA size is calculated as the number of vertices in the cotrical surface. There are no definitive clinical relevant thresholds for the size of the VWFA that apply universally. Research indicates that variations in VWFA size and activation are associated with reading abilities and disorders.

  4. Woodcock-Johnson Basic Reading Skills (WJ BRS) Assessment Battery

    Time frame: Baseline (within 2 weeks pre-intervention), post-intervention (within 2 weeks post-intervention, up to 10 weeks), and at 1 year follow up

    The Woodcock-Johnson Basic Reading Skills (WJ BRS) Assessment Battery results in a composite score across multiple assessments. Assessment scores are transformed to create an overall score range of 0 to 200. A score of 100 indicates average reading ability. Scores below 85 may indicate potential reading difficulties

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Stanford University

Other

Collaborators

  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2021
Primary completion
2024
Study completion
2024
First posted
Mar 26, 2020
Registry last updated
Nov 14, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Related clinical trials

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.