Keywords: language structure tracking, brain oscillation (rhythmic activity in the brain), developmental dyslexia

"Cortical tracking of spoken and written language structures in (dys)fluent readers"

How do we learn and understand language? This is probably not only one of the most fascinating and difficult questions for scientists, but also one that each of us will feel curious about

at some point in our lives. In order to understand language processing and its association with developmental dyslexia better, this thesis used non-invasive methods to measure and modulate the brain oscillations (brain activity) that underlie the perception, learning, and construction of language structures. Our findings suggest that slow cortical oscillations may modulate the dynamic and functionally coordinated processes of syllable-to-word integration in both speech and text. However, they may not directly contribute to the perception of fine-grained auditory information. Compared to their peers, adults with dyslexia showed slower learning of speech structures, over-reliance on larger and familiar language units, along with a more bilaterally distributed brain network for spoken word tracking. This may inspire the development of tailored intervention programs for dyslexia.

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