What's Happening in the Brain When Reading Is Hard
Perdue and colleagues (2022) reviewed 39 brain-scan studies of reading teaching. The studies did not agree. Meyler and colleagues' 2008 study measured brain activity, not the brain's structure. By Catts and colleagues' account (2026), nothing beyond the reading and spelling trouble reliably identifies dyslexia in one child. No scan or gene test does. Reading improves with reading instruction.
TL;DR
- Perdue and colleagues (2022) reviewed 39 brain-scan studies of reading teaching. The studies did not agree. Meyler and colleagues' 2008 study measured brain activity, not the brain's structure.
- By Catts and colleagues' account (2026), nothing beyond the reading and spelling trouble reliably identifies dyslexia in one child. No scan or gene test does.
- Whatever the scans show, reading improves with reading instruction.
- In our words, practice builds the pathways for reading. That is a picture of learning a skill. It is not something a scan measured.
- In our view, the first step does not wait for a scan. That step is to work out which job of reading is going wrong. The exception is a skill that was there and has gone. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first, not a tutor.
Dyslexia is a name for a pattern of trouble reading words, spelling, or both. Struggling to read says nothing about how smart your child is.
”DyslexiaWhat does a brain scan of reading show?
One kind of brain scan is called fMRI. It shows which parts of the brain are more active during a task. It does not show the brain's structure.
The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) wrote a new definition in 2025. The definition describes trouble reading words or spelling, in accuracy, speed or both. It says the causes are complex. It names "genetic, neurobiological, and environmental influences" that act on each other as a child grows.
Our page on what causes dyslexia has more on the causes.
Catts and colleagues (2026) write that "no behavioral, genetic, or neurological correlate, beyond difficulties in word-level literacy, shows consistency at the individual level that is necessary to reliably identify dyslexia."
By their account, nothing beyond the reading and spelling trouble reliably identifies dyslexia in one child. No scan or gene test does. What is left to look at is the reading and the spelling themselves.
What happened when children were taught?
One study scanned a group of children with reading trouble (Meyler and colleagues, 2008). The children had 100 hours of intensive reading teaching. At first, activity in two left-side areas was well below good readers'. Activity there kept going up after the teaching ended. A year later, the group's average there reached the good readers' level. That is a group average, in two areas of the brain. That change is about groups of children, not a promise about yours. It is not a reason to wait and see. No study we have tests wait-and-see as a plan for a learning difficulty. So we would not tell you to wait.
Meyler and colleagues' 2008 study measured brain activity, not the brain's structure.
Perdue and colleagues (2022) reviewed 39 imaging studies of reading teaching. The studies do not agree on a set of brain changes. Perdue's pooled analysis found no significant effect.
Whatever the scans show, reading improves with reading instruction.
Is brain change the same as better reading?
To us, brain change and better reading are different claims. Ask which one a program has shown.
No brain scan we hold studied any Learning Success program.
Suppose a program promises better reading from an activity that is not reading. Check that claim. Reading improves with reading instruction.
How does a child learn to read?
Reading has to be taught. It does not come the way talking does. To read, a child has to link letters to the sounds in spoken words.
In our words, practice builds the pathways for reading. That is a picture of learning a skill. It is not something a scan measured.
What does this change for your child?
In our view, the first step does not wait for a scan. That step is to work out which job of reading is going wrong. The exception is a skill that was there and has gone. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first, not a tutor.
Our rule is to describe patterns on these pages. We do not put a name on a child. We say a child "is developing reading skills."
A diagnosis describes where a child is today. It does not predict where they will be after a year of the right kind of practice.
When to ask for help
Each of these is a reason to ask for help on its own.
- Little change, even with steady practice and good teaching.
- Reading well below what school expects.
- A teacher who raises a concern about reading.
- Extreme upset about reading.
- Complete avoidance of reading.
- Hopelessness about learning.
- Sadness or worry that lasts.
- Significant delays in speech, language or motor development.
- A skill that was there and has gone. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first, not a tutor.
Start with the teacher. Say what you are seeing at home, and what you have tried. Beyond the teacher, the right person depends on what it turns out to be about. If the work is too hard, someone who works on that school skill. If worry or mood is the thing, someone who works with children's mental health. In our view, delays in speech, language or movement are worth raising with your child's doctor. In our view, if you are worried enough to ask, a professional evaluation is worth asking about.
Any talk of hurting themselves is a same-day call to your doctor or a crisis line.
In the classroom
In our view, describe the reading, not the brain. Note which words went wrong, and what the child did when stuck.
Check for a missed step early. Teach it again, and see what the child does with it.
Two sentences for an email home: "Your child read new words better when we sounded them out slowly, one sound at a time. Could you try a few new words at home the same way?"
Key Takeaways
In Perdue and colleagues' 2022 review, brain-imaging studies of reading teaching did not agree. Meyler and colleagues' 2008 study measured brain activity, not the brain's structure.
By Catts and colleagues' account (2026), nothing beyond the reading and spelling trouble reliably identifies dyslexia in one child. No scan or gene test does.
Whatever the scans show, reading improves with reading instruction.
In our view, the first step does not wait for a scan. That step is to work out which job of reading is going wrong. The exception is a skill that was there and has gone. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first, not a tutor.
A diagnosis describes where a child is today. It does not predict where they will be after a year of the right kind of practice.
Listen to your child read a short page aloud. Then write down three things. Which words went wrong? What did your child do when stuck? What have you tried? Take the list when you ask for help. You do not need a scan for this. You are looking for which job of reading is going wrong.
”What to do tonightWhat to use next
A set of questions you answer about what you see at home. A screener is a starting point, not a diagnosis. If your child might need formal accommodations (an IEP or 504 plan), or you suspect a vision, hearing, or medical cause, pursue a professional evaluation too — that's the only route to those supports.
A short reading and spelling practice. Each word appears letter by letter. The picture comes only once the word is complete. So guessing from the image is not available. It includes writing words from memory. That practices the spelling and the writing of a word at the same time.
Common questions from parents
Can a brain scan show whether my child has dyslexia?
Catts and colleagues (2026) write that "no behavioral, genetic, or neurological correlate, beyond difficulties in word-level literacy, shows consistency at the individual level that is necessary to reliably identify dyslexia." By their account, nothing beyond the reading and spelling trouble reliably identifies dyslexia in one child. No scan or gene test does. What is left to look at is the reading and the spelling themselves. In our view, the first step does not wait for a scan. That step is to work out which job of reading is going wrong. The exception is a skill that was there and has gone. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first, not a tutor.
Does reading teaching change the brain?
One study scanned a group of children with reading trouble (Meyler and colleagues, 2008). The children had 100 hours of intensive reading teaching. At first, activity in two left-side areas was well below good readers'. Activity there kept going up after the teaching ended. A year later, the group's average there reached the good readers' level. That is a group average, in two areas of the brain. That change is about groups of children, not a promise about yours. It is not a reason to wait and see. No study we have tests wait-and-see as a plan for a learning difficulty. So we would not tell you to wait. Meyler and colleagues' 2008 study measured brain activity, not the brain's structure. Perdue and colleagues (2022) reviewed 39 imaging studies of reading teaching. The studies do not agree on a set of brain changes. Perdue's pooled analysis found no significant effect. Whatever the scans show, reading improves with reading instruction.
Is there a reading circuit in the brain?
One study scanned a group of children with reading trouble (Meyler and colleagues, 2008). It reported a group average, in two areas on the left side of the brain. Perdue and colleagues (2022) reviewed 39 brain-scan studies of reading teaching. The studies did not agree. By Catts and colleagues' account (2026), nothing beyond the reading and spelling trouble reliably identifies dyslexia in one child. No scan or gene test does.
Can brain training fix dyslexia?
Simons and colleagues (2016) reviewed brain-training programs sold on the promise of wider gains. They found good evidence for the trained task, less for closely related tasks, and little for distant ones. They also found little evidence that these programs make daily thinking better. Researchers still argue about whether some limited carry-over happens. To us, brain change and better reading are different claims. Ask which one a program has shown. Reading improves with reading instruction.
Is my child's brain damaged?
To us, a child who finds reading hard is not broken. They are developing reading skills. Dyslexia is a name for a pattern of trouble reading words, spelling, or both. Struggling to read says nothing about how smart your child is. The International Dyslexia Association's definition names "neurobiological" influences among the causes. By Catts and colleagues' account (2026), nothing beyond the reading and spelling trouble reliably identifies dyslexia in one child. No scan or gene test does. Our rule is to describe patterns on these pages. We do not put a name on a child.