A Neurodevelopmental Study of the Gifted and Twice Exceptional With Dyslexia

• In Event: Twice Exceptionality: Insight Into Paradoxical Learners Through Neurological and Neuropsychological Investigation

Abstract

Purpose: Well-designed, replicated research on the etiology of giftedness and twice exceptionality (e.g., reading disability along with gifts in nonverbal abilities) is sparse. Decades after the report of a neurological link between reading disability (RD) and giftedness the question remains: How does neurodevelopment lead to gifts and disabilities in the same individual? This project addresses this “neurodevelopmental paradox” using neuroscience methods. Structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and psychometric studies were conducted on a unique family and on four unrelated groups: those with RD alone, gifts alone (G), normal reading controls (N) and gifts and RD (GRD) together. Results will be discussed in this presentation in the context of literature on the neurology of RD and giftedness.

Subjects:
40 college-age subjects (10 in each of 4 groups: RD, G, GRD and N)

4 groups matched on age and gender distribution. Where appropriate, groups were matched on IQ and reading ability

6 nuclear family members were assessed. Giftedness and RD runs in family

Methods:
Subjects solicited through advertisement and Student Services database (provides guidance and accommodations for students on campus with diagnosed learning disability)

Subjects took part in a psychometric test battery that included measures of reading-related skills, nonverbal (spatial) processing, math and other

Subjects completed questionnaires on medical, neuropsychological history, school, and psychiatric history and other

Brain imaging protocols provided data on brain structure and function on reading and spatial processing tasks

Analyses and Results:
Results are preliminary at the time of this writing. These data are a small subset of analyses to be completed prior to AERA 2012.

Group profiles on psychometric measures indicate appropriate group formation

Hemispheric activation patterns validate prior research using similar reading tasks in the N and RD groups (i.e., abnormal activation in RD and normal activation in N)

Group differences in the location (areas) and degree of functional activation for certain tasks. For example, activation in the G and GRD groups is more diffuse and elevated (relative to normal), especially for the spatial rotation stimuli, but also for the reading stimuli

It appears that subjects with RD process spatial information differently than Ns, although this may not show-up behaviorally

It appears that GRD subjects are a unique subtype of RD subjects based on fMRI

One possible interpretation arising from the data: the brains of RD subjects may be primed to process verbal and spatial material differently than Ns. If exposed to the right environment, deficient neurology for verbal skills are tapped (e.g., when asked to read) leading to RD. If exposed to the right environment, spatial skill neurology is available such that RD subjects might exceed spatial skills in the N population

References:
Craggs, J.G., Sanchez, J., Kibby, M.Y., Gilger, J.W., & Hynd, G.W. (2006). Brain morphology and neuropsychological profiles in a family displaying dyslexia and superior nonverbal intelligence. Cortex, 42(8), 1107-18. doi:10.1016/S0010- 9452(08)70222-3

Olumide, O., Gilger, J., Hynd, G., Talavage, T. (2010). Specialization of processing networks for reading disabled and twice exceptional individuals. Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Barcelona, Spain.

Author

• Jeffrey W. Gilger, Purdue University