children reading books (Photo : Reuters)
A new study suggests that it is possible to predict which preschool children will have difficulty reading, based on how the human brain comprehends loud speech. Researchers' findings, which involved reading assessments and analyses of brain waves will hopefully help to discover as soon as possible when children are at risk of learning problems, so they can be treated early.
The researchers were from Northwestern University. Their findings were publishecbd July 14, Tuesday in the journal PLOS Biology.
Scientists gave basic pre-reading exams to preschoolers. However, they also evaluated the brain waves of kids as young as three years old.
The research team learned that how well children recognize consonant sounds when there is background noise can be quite telling. It can help to determine which children will likely have reading development problems in the future, according to CBC.
Nina Kraus was the study's senior author. She said that the approach could become a "looking glass," by enriching the life of an at-risk child during the years of early childhood development.
Linking meaning to sounds is a key skill for reading. For instance, preschoolers who connect sounds to letters at an early age can master reading skills better.
Background noise is important as the brain can tune out such sounds in milliseconds. The noise affects consonants more than vowels because the former is usually louder and longer.
The children watched a video that they chose, while hearing a soundtrack in one ear and the sound "dah" in the other ear. An electroencephalogram (EEG) measured their brains' response to sound.
Researchers learned that the 30-minute test forecasted how well preschoolers did on the skill of language-development, and how effectively they performed on standard pre-reading tests one year later, according to North Jersey. They will later learn about the youngsters' reading skills.
Kraus' main goal is to one day test how well even younger children process sound. It might lead to hearing screening for newborns.
