Line 1: Normal and abnormal development from novice to fluent reader

This line of research addresses normal and abnormal development of fluent reading. The objective is to provide a new window on the neural mechanisms involved in a developmental pathway from novice to expert reader, and thereby allowing interpretations for neural network anomalies in dyslexia, and to identify success factors in reading fluency intervention for children with dyslexia.

Research projects:

1. Fluent reading acquisition neurocognitively decomposed: The case of dyslexia

Funded by the Netherlands Initiative Brain and Cognition, a part of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) (HCMI, pillar ‘Health’, innovative program ‘Treating cognitive disturbances on the basis of functional brain typography’), in collaboration with Maastricht University, department of Cognitive Neuroscience.

PhD: Gorka Fraga González

Other researchers: Maurits van der Molen, Jurgen Tijms (Maastricht University: Leo Blomert, Milene Bonte, Gojko Zaric (PhD))

2. Improving reading fluency: the role of associative learning and massive exposure

Partially funded by the Jeanne S. Chall Research Fellowship of the International Reading Association (IRA).

PhD: Sebastián Aravena

Other researchers: Maurits van der Molen, Patrick Snellings, Jurgen Tijms

3. Fluency in reading: Behavioral and neural correlates of cognitive processing in children with developmental dyslexia and typical reading children

Part of the University of Amsterdam’s Research priority area Brain and Cognition.

PhD: Maaike Zeguers

Other Researchers: Maurits van der Molen, Patrick Snellings, Hilde Huizenga, Wouter Weeda, Jurgen Tijms