Daily Archives: April 20, 2026

Dyslexia and Related Difficulties: A Neurological Account

Posted on April 20, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract Reading difficulties are commonly grouped under the broad heading of dyslexia, but the term as used in popular discussion conceals a more differentiated reality. The reading network that the previous papers in this series have described is built in … Continue reading →

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Screen Reading, Deep Reading, and the Plastic Brain

Posted on April 20, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract The shift from print to screen as the dominant reading medium of daily life is one of the largest changes in the practice of reading in the history of the skill. It has happened within a single generation, and … Continue reading →

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Neural Signatures of Reading Expertise

Posted on April 20, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract A child who is learning to read, a fluent adult reader, and a scholar who spends his days in analytical and syntopical engagement with texts differ from one another in what they can do with print. They also differ … Continue reading →

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The Visual Word Form Area and the Making of a Reader

Posted on April 20, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract A small patch of cortex on the underside of the left hemisphere, roughly the size of a thumbnail, has attracted more attention in reading research over the last three decades than any other brain region. It is now called … Continue reading →

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The Pre-Reading Years: What Matters Before Formal Instruction

Posted on April 20, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract Long before a child sounds out a first word on a page, the groundwork for reading has either been laid or neglected. This paper examines the specific pre-reading capacities that predict later reading success and argues that the years … Continue reading →

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Why Reading Is Not Natural: The Cultural and Neural Basis of Literacy

Posted on April 20, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract Reading feels effortless to the fluent adult, so much so that it is easy to mistake it for a natural capacity that simply matures in children as speech does. This paper argues the opposite. Reading is a culturally transmitted … Continue reading →

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