Summary: A UCSF study finds that children with dyslexia exhibit stronger emotional reactivity than peers without dyslexia. Higher emotional responses were associated with increased connectivity in the brain’s salience network, a circuit involved in emotion generation and self-awareness.
Source: UCSF
A collaborative study by neuroscientists at the UCSF Dyslexia Center and the UCSF Memory and Aging Center shows that children diagnosed with dyslexia display greater emotional reactivity than children without the disorder. The research points to differences in both behavior and brain connectivity that expand our understanding of dyslexia beyond reading difficulty alone.
Published online in an early form on November 20, 2020 in Cortex, the study compared physiological, behavioral and neuroimaging responses of children with dyslexia to those of children without dyslexia while they watched short film clips designed to evoke emotions such as amusement and disgust. The researchers found that children with dyslexia reacted more strongly—both in facial expressions and in measures such as heart rate and skin conductance. Those increased responses correlated with stronger connectivity within the brain’s salience network, particularly between the right anterior insula and the right anterior cingulate cortex.
These findings suggest dyslexia can be associated with heightened social and emotional responsiveness, adding to a growing view that dyslexia may include interpersonal strengths in addition to reading challenges. The results encourage educators, clinicians and families to consider a broader profile of abilities and vulnerabilities when supporting children with dyslexia.
“There are anecdotes that some kids with dyslexia have greater social and emotional intelligence,” said Virginia Sturm, PhD, the John Douglas French Alzheimer’s Foundation Endowed Professor at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center and a member of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. “We don’t want to say that all kids with dyslexia are necessarily gifted in this way, but we can think about dyslexia as being associated with both strengths and weaknesses.”
The study recruited 32 children aged 8 to 12 with the classic phonological form of dyslexia and 22 children without dyslexia. Researchers confirmed reading difficulties in the dyslexia group, evaluated children’s understanding of emotional vocabulary, and administered a battery of cognitive tests. Children and their parents also completed questionnaires about emotional and mental health.
During experimental sessions at the UCSF Dyslexia Center, children were fitted with noninvasive sensors to monitor breathing, skin conductance and heart rate while their facial expressions were recorded. They viewed brief clips chosen to provoke specific emotions—for example, a laughing baby to elicit amusement and a clip of someone in physical distress to elicit disgust. The children with dyslexia showed stronger facial expressions and greater physiological arousal during these clips compared with the control group.
Functional MRI scans further revealed that children who were most emotionally expressive had stronger connectivity between the right anterior insula and the right anterior cingulate cortex, core nodes of the salience network known to support emotion generation and self-awareness. Within the dyslexia group, stronger emotional expressiveness related to higher parent-reported social skills, but it was also linked to increased symptoms of anxiety and depression.
These results suggest that heightened emotional reactivity in many children with dyslexia may be a foundation for social strengths, such as the ability to connect with teachers and peers. Some adults with dyslexia report relying on social skills during their schooling—an approach often dismissed as purely compensatory but possibly reflective of genuine emotional and social abilities rooted in brain processes.
At the same time, a diagnosis of dyslexia does not guarantee positive social outcomes. As parent reports in the study indicate, strong emotional sensitivity can also increase vulnerability to anxiety and depression, making it important to support emotional regulation and mental health alongside reading interventions. Ensuring appropriate protections and supports in school, college and the workplace remains essential.
“The message for families is that while dyslexia is defined by its effect on reading, we must look more broadly at brain function to understand associated strengths and to identify effective remediation strategies,” said Maria Luisa Gorno-Tempini, MD, PhD, the Charles Schwab Distinguished Professor in Dyslexia and Neurodevelopment and co-director of the UCSF Dyslexia Center and the UCSF-UCB Schwab Dyslexia and Cognitive Diversity Center.
“Our findings have implications for education,” added Sturm, who is also an associate professor in the UCSF departments of Neurology and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. “Teaching approaches should build on both strengths and weaknesses. Some children with dyslexia may thrive in one-on-one or small-group settings when they can engage emotionally with a teacher or peers, but they also need supports to process strong emotions and reduce risk for anxiety.”
The research team plans follow-up studies to test whether increased emotional reactivity translates to greater empathy and to explore how social and emotional strengths in dyslexia can inform targeted interventions. Better understanding these dimensions may help reduce stigma and improve educational and clinical support for people with dyslexia.
The study also reflects growing integration of UCSF’s clinical and basic neuroscience efforts through the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences and collaboration with UC Berkeley via the UCSF-UCB Schwab Dyslexia and Cognitive Diversity Center. “It’s novel for a medical institution to take on dyslexia because it’s often seen as an academic issue, but dyslexia is rooted in the brain,” said Gorno-Tempini. “An integrated approach across neurology, psychiatry, psychology and education is needed to better serve children and families.”
Authors: Sturm served as the study’s lead and corresponding author; Gorno-Tempini is the senior author. For a full author list, see the published study.
Funding: The research was supported by the UCSF Dyslexia Center, the Schwab family, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS R01NS050915) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH K24DC015544).
Disclosures: The authors report no competing interests.
About this dyslexia research news
Source: UCSF
Contact: Nicholas Weiler – UCSF
Image: The image is in the public domain
Original Research: The study will appear in Cortex