Effects of a Phonologically Driven Treatment for Dyslexia on Lactate Levels Measured by Proton MR Spectroscopic Imaging

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Dyslexia is a language disorder in which reading ability is compromised because of poor phonologic skills. The purpose of this study was to measure the effect of a phonologically driven treatment for dyslexia on brain lactate response to language stimulation as measured by proton MR spectroscopic imaging. METHODS: Brain lactate metabolism was measured at two different time points (1 year apart) during four different cognitive tasks (three language tasks and one nonlanguage task) in dyslexic participants (n = 8) and in control participants (n = 7) by using a fast MR spectroscopic imaging technique called proton echo-planar spectroscopic imaging (1 cm 3 voxel resolution). The age range for both dyslexic and control participants was 10 to 13 years. Between the first and second imaging sessions, the dyslexic boys participated in an instructional intervention, which was a reading/science workshop. RESULTS: Before treatment, the dyslexic boys showed significantly greater lactate elevation compared with a control group in the left anterior quadrant (analysis of variance, P = .05) of the brain during a phonologic task. After treatment, however, brain lactate elevation was not significantly different from that of the control group in the left anterior quadrant during the same phonologic task. Behaviorally, the dyslexic participants improved in the phonologic aspects of reading. CONCLUSION: Instructional intervention that improved phonologic performance in dyslexic boys was associated with changes in brain lactate levels as measured by proton echo-planar spectroscopic imaging.