Findings:
Functional MRI was used to measure activity in the human brain in response to reading words. We scanned the brain of a healthy young female whose native language was English. At first, we assessed the baseline activity of brain regions involved in word reading by presenting a series of words to the participant in the scanner while simultaneously scanning her brain. We found a typical network of brain areas involved in reading meaningful words, including visual cortex and Broca’s area.
We then wanted to see how training with the EyeQ software changes the brain response to reading. To test this, we had the participant complete task # 2 of the EyeQ program inside the scanner. No brain activity was measured during this time. We then repeated the same word reading task as before, but using new words that were very similar in length and lexical frequency.
We found that the same network of brain areas was activated after training, however, brain activity now was significantly higher in visual cortex and Broca’s area. The visual cortex processes complicated visual patterns and is essential for the fast recognition of visual symbols, such as written words. Increased activity in this area suggests that the brain now devoted more resources to the visual cortex, which explains why we see faster reading speeds after EyeQ training.
Broca’s area is involved in the higher-level processing of language and words. It is a supermodal structure which processes language information from both the visual and auditory modalities. It is involved in the production and comprehension of speech. Increased brain activity in this cortical area suggests that EyeQ training might have positive effects on language comprehension.
We also found that EyeQ training balances activation in the cerebral hemispheres from a very dominant left-lateralization to a more evenly distributed processing across the hemispheres.
Therefore, the results from this functional neuroimaging studies supports the claim that EyeQ training facilitates both the sensory and cognitive processing of language during reading.
