{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,6]],"date-time":"2026-10-06T12:35:31Z","timestamp":1791290131981,"version":"4.3.0"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)","issue":"5511","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Science"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2001,3,16]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>The recognition of dyslexia as a neurodevelopmental disorder has been hampered by the belief that it is not a specific diagnostic entity because it has variable and culture-specific manifestations. In line with this belief, we found that Italian dyslexics, using a shallow orthography which facilitates reading, performed better on reading tasks than did English and French dyslexics. However, all dyslexics were equally impaired relative to their controls on reading and phonological tasks. Positron emission tomography scans during explicit and implicit reading showed the same reduced activity in a region of the left hemisphere in dyslexics from all three countries, with the maximum peak in the middle temporal gyrus and additional peaks in the inferior and superior temporal gyri and middle occipital gyrus. We conclude that there is a universal neurocognitive basis for dyslexia and that differences in reading performance among dyslexics of different countries are due to different orthographies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1057179","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2002,7,27]],"date-time":"2002-07-27T05:47:44Z","timestamp":1027748864000},"page":"2165-2167","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":818,"title":["Dyslexia: Cultural Diversity and Biological Unity"],"prefix":"10.1126","volume":"291","author":[{"given":"E.","family":"Paulesu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Psychology Department, University of Milan Bicocca, Milan, Italy."},{"name":"INB-CNR, Scientific Institute H San Raffaele, Milan, Italy."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"J.-F.","family":"De\u0301monet","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"INSERM U455, Ho\u0302pital Purpan, Toulouse, France."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"F.","family":"Fazio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"INB-CNR, Scientific Institute H San Raffaele, Milan, Italy."},{"name":"Neuroscience and Biomedical Technologies Department, University of Milan Bicocca, Milan, Italy."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"E.","family":"McCrory","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"V.","family":"Chanoine","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"INSERM U455, Ho\u0302pital Purpan, Toulouse, France."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"N.","family":"Brunswick","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Wellcome Department of Cognitive Neurology, Institute of Neurology, London, UK."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"S. F.","family":"Cappa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Psychology Department, University \u201cVita e Salute H San Raffaele\u201d, Milan, Italy."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"G.","family":"Cossu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Human Physiology, University of Parma, Parma, Italy."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"M.","family":"Habib","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre de Recherche Institut Universitaire de Ge\u0301riatrie, Montre\u0301al, Quebec, Canada."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"C. D.","family":"Frith","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Wellcome Department of Cognitive Neurology, Institute of Neurology, London, UK."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"U.","family":"Frith","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"221","reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_1_2_2","first-page":"239","volume":"70","author":"Smith S. D.","year":"1998","unstructured":"Smith S. D., Kelley P. M., Brower A. M., Hum. Biol. 70, 239 (1998).","journal-title":"Hum. Biol."},{"key":"e_1_3_1_3_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0010-0277(97)00005-X"},{"key":"e_1_3_1_4_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/1130460"},{"key":"e_1_3_1_5_2","unstructured":"S. Brady D. Shankweiler Phonological Processes in Literacy (Erlbaum Hillsdale NJ 1991)."},{"key":"e_1_3_1_6_2","unstructured":"M. Snowling Dyslexia (Blackwell Oxford 2000)."},{"key":"e_1_3_1_7_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/0093-934X(80)90139-X"},{"key":"e_1_3_1_8_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0166-2236(96)01005-3"},{"key":"e_1_3_1_9_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/ana.410180210"},{"key":"e_1_3_1_10_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/brain\/119.1.143"},{"key":"e_1_3_1_11_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0896-6273(00)80911-3"},{"key":"e_1_3_1_12_2","unstructured":"A. Lepschy G. Lepschy La Lingua Italiana (Bompiani Milano Italy 1981)."},{"key":"e_1_3_1_13_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1207\/s1532799xssr0201_2"},{"key":"e_1_3_1_14_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/BF01026945"},{"key":"e_1_3_1_15_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/0096-1523.13.1.104"},{"key":"e_1_3_1_16_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/71163"},{"key":"e_1_3_1_17_2","unstructured":"A complete description of the methods and results is available at www.sciencemag.org\/cgi\/content\/full\/291\/5511\/2165\/DC1."},{"key":"e_1_3_1_18_2","unstructured":"Behavioral study: Male right-handed students with tertiary education participated in the study. Italy: 40 controls (mean age 21.5; SD 2.4); 18 dyslexics (mean age 21.7; SD 2.3). France: 18 controls (mean age 28.2; SD 4.8); 18 dyslexics (mean age 27.2; SD 5.9). United Kingdom: 18 controls (mean age 23.5; SD 2.9); 18 dyslexics (mean age 23.6; SD 4.7). All subjects were tested with the WAIS. Reading accuracy and speed and phonological processing were also assessed. Words and nonwords were presented on a computer and naming latency was recorded via a voice-key. All words had two or three syllables avoiding irregular patterns. Nonwords were created from the words by maintaining the \u201cword envelope\u201d while changing internal consonants. Simple reaction times for a dot stimulus provided a baseline. Spoonerism task: Subjects heard pairs of words with the instruction to repeat back the two words after having swapped the initial sound around (e.g. Basket and Lemon repeated as Lasket and Bemon). Auditory short-term memory: Subjects recalled 10 lists of six short words and 10 lists of six long words. Digit naming time: Participants read aloud as fast as possible strings of 50 single digits."},{"key":"e_1_3_1_19_2","unstructured":"S. Naidoo Specific Dyslexia (Pitman London 1972)."},{"key":"e_1_3_1_20_2","unstructured":"K. Friston in Human Brain Function R. Frackowiak K. Friston C. Frith R. Dolan J. Mazziotta Eds. (Academic Press San Diego CA 1997) pp. 25\u201341."},{"key":"e_1_3_1_21_2","unstructured":"PET experiments: There were two PET scan experiments involving 72 of the aforementioned subjects (17) (36 subjects for each experiment 24 for each country half of whom were dyslexics). In the explicit reading experiment subjects read bisyllabic words and nonwords aloud. In the implicit reading experiment participants performed a feature detection task. Subjects detected the presence or absence of ascenders (graphic features which go above the midline of the word e.g. \u201cb \u201d \u201cl \u201d and \u201ct\u201d as opposed to \u201ca \u201d \u201cc \u201d and \u201co\u201d) within visually presented words nonwords and false font strings. The false fonts were created by substituting letters in the real words with nonletters matched for size and presence or absence of ascenders (e.g. see \u201ccannon\u201d and \u201cmeter\u201d in Scheme 1). Subjects pressed one key with their right-hand index finger if one or more ascender was present and another key with their right middle finger if no ascenders were present. These studies were approved by the ethics committees of the Institute of Neurology (London) and Institute H San Raffaele (Milan). Informed consent was obtained after the nature and possible consequences of the studies were explained to the volunteers. Data analysis: rCBF was measured by recording the distribution of radioactivity following the intravenous injection of 15 O-labeled water (H 2 15 O). Twelve consecutive scans were obtained for each subject in each experiment. Task-related differences in rCBF were examined using Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM'96) software (Wellcome Department of Cognitive Neurology London UK) on stereotactically normalized and smoothed PET images. For each experiment data were analyzed according to a random effects model: replications of each task were collapsed into average images to give one average scan per reading task per subject. The analysis was based on a 2 (controls versus dyslexics) \u00d7 3 (French English Italian subjects) \u00d7 2 (implicit explicit reading) \u00d7 3 (words nonwords baseline) factorial design. The pattern of activation associated with reading was identified as the conjunction of the six main effects of reading (reading minus baseline) in each of the six groups of controls (Fig. 3A) and in each of the six groups of dyslexics (Fig. 3B). We then calculated the differences between controls and dyslexics as the conjunction of the six groups \u00d7 task interaction effects (Fig. 3C). The interaction effects were computed on the voxels identified by the linear contrast of the relevant main effects."},{"key":"e_1_3_1_22_2","unstructured":"C. Price in (19) pp. 301\u2013328."},{"key":"e_1_3_1_23_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1006\/brln.1996.0109"},{"key":"e_1_3_1_24_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1098\/rspb.1996.0219"},{"key":"e_1_3_1_25_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/383254a0"},{"key":"e_1_3_1_26_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1006\/nimg.1999.0441"},{"key":"e_1_3_1_27_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1001\/archneur.1997.00550170042013"},{"key":"e_1_3_1_28_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.95.5.2636"},{"key":"e_1_3_1_29_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/ana.410400206"},{"key":"e_1_3_1_30_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1006\/nimg.1997.0269"},{"key":"e_1_3_1_31_2","unstructured":"This work was funded by the EEC-BIOMED II grant (contract BMH4-CT96-0274) the Gatsby Foundation the Wellcome Trust and by the UK Medical Research Council."}],"container-title":["Science"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1126\/science.1057179","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,9]],"date-time":"2024-01-09T17:57:06Z","timestamp":1704823026000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/science.1057179"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2001,3,16]]},"references-count":30,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5511","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2001,3,16]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1126\/science.1057179"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1126\/science.1057179","relation":{},"ISSN":["0036-8075","1095-9203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0036-8075","type":"print"},{"value":"1095-9203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2001,3,16]]}}}