Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia - birth to 26 years

Prof Jarmo Hämäläinen, University of Jyväskylä (Finland)

Wednesday 27 March 2024, 08.10-10.00, Education Building 602

Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia (JLD) has been following the same children from birth to 26 years of age. Half of the families where the children were born have a family risk for dyslexia with at least one of the parents having reading difficulties in addition to one other close relative. The other half of the families do not have any history of reading difficulties in the family. The project has utilized various methods ranging from cognitive assessments to EEG recordings to disentangle risk and protective factors related to reading difficulties. The EEG recordings were carried out 3-5 days after birth, at 6 months, 6.5 years, 9.5 years, and 26 years. The results show that EEG-based brain responses to auditory and speech sounds differentiate the at risk and control groups and, further, show predictive relationship to later developing reading skills.

Short bio

Prof Jarmo Hämäläinen is a professor of cognitive neuroscience at the Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. He has been studying learning difficulties, development of brain activity related to the auditory system, and brain processes occurring during learning.