An Evolutionary Perspective of Dyslexia, Stress, and Brain Network Homeostasis

Kershner, John R.

doi:10.3389/fnhum.2020.575546

Cited by 6 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 188 publications

(312 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A plethora of models have been proposed for DD etiopathology, supporting the critical role of the environment [15,26]. Environmental triggers, such as stress, maternal diet, and lifestyle have been proposed as modulators of genetic susceptibility via posttranslational, epigenetic interactions [23,[28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40].…”

Section: A Role For Stress In the Dd Phenotypementioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is well established that early life stressful experiences are associated with the development of psychopathology, due to their effects on early programming and on the function of the HPA axis [53][54][55][56][57]. ELS has also been associated with learning difficulties and neurodevelopmental disorders [15,[58][59][60]. Stress is a core concept in the current perspective of recent DD approaches.…”

Section: Stress In Pathophysiology and Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent findings associated dyslexia with stress-related genes, changes in the HPA axis and neuroplasticity. The stressful learning process during childhood and later life can epigenetically influence neuroplasticity, altering the expression profiles of the HPA axis-and neuroplasticity-related genes, as well as influencing personality characteristics [15,49,57,92].…”

Section: Stress In Pathophysiology and Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the era of advanced technologies (imaging) and omics, research on DD unravels much more complex aetiologies than those originally supported [14]. Such genome wide approaches have only started to deepen our understanding on DD phenotypes, not by rejecting the established knowledge but by adding information on complex molecular mechanisms and their interplay with risk genes [15,16]. DD might arise from stress response system dysregulation, due to excessive stress exposure [5,15,17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such genome wide approaches have only started to deepen our understanding on DD phenotypes, not by rejecting the established knowledge but by adding information on complex molecular mechanisms and their interplay with risk genes [15,16]. DD might arise from stress response system dysregulation, due to excessive stress exposure [5,15,17]. The interaction between neural, genetic, cognitive and environmental factors is believed to govern susceptibility, and its broad phenotypic spectrum may be due to the individual's genomic architecture, plus the epigenetic alterations [18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Developmental Dyslexia: Environment Matters

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Developmental dyslexia (DD) is a multifactorial, specific learning disorder. Susceptibility genes have been identified, but there is growing evidence that environmental factors, and especially stress, may act as triggering factors that determine an individual’s risk of developing DD. In DD, as in most complex phenotypes, the presence of a genetic mutation fails to explain the broad phenotypic spectrum observed. Early life stress has been repeatedly associated with the risk of multifactorial disorders, due to its effects on chromatin regulation, gene expression, HPA axis function and its long-term effects on the systemic stress response. Based on recent evidence, we discuss the potential role of stress on DD occurrence, its putative epigenetic effects on the HPA axis of affected individuals, as well as the necessity of early and appropriate intervention, based on the individual stress-associated (endo)phenotype.

show abstract

Section: A Role For Stress In the Dd Phenotypementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Stress In Pathophysiology and Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Stress In Pathophysiology and Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Developmental Dyslexia: Environment Matters

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Early life stress, literacy and dyslexia: an evolutionary perspective

Kershner

2024

Brain Struct Funct

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Stress and learning co-evolved in parallel, with their interdependence critical to the survival of the species. Even today, the regulation of moderate levels of stress by the central autonomic network (CAN), especially during pre- and post-natal periods, facilitates biological adaptability and is an essential precursor for the cognitive requisites of learning to read. Reading is a remarkable evolutionary achievement of the human brain, mysteriously unusual, because it is not pre-wired with a genetic address to facilitate its acquisition. There is no gene for reading. The review suggests that reading co-opts a brain circuit centered in the left hemisphere ventral occipital cortex that evolved as a domain-general visual processor. Its adoption by reading depends on the CAN’s coordination of the learning and emotional requirements of learning to read at the metabolic, cellular, synaptic, and network levels. By stabilizing a child’s self-control and modulating the attention network’s inhibitory controls over the reading circuit, the CAN plays a key role in school readiness and learning to read. In addition, the review revealed two beneficial CAN evolutionary adjustments to early-life stress “overloads” that come with incidental costs of school under-performance and dyslexia. A short-term adaptation involving methylation of the FKBP5 and NR3C1 genes is a liability for academic achievement in primary school. The adaptation leading to dyslexia induces alterations in BDNF trafficking, promoting long-term adaptive fitness by protecting against excessive glucocorticoid toxicity but risks reading difficulties by disruptive signaling from the CAN to the attention networks and the reading circuit.

show abstract

Developmental Dyslexia and the Stress of Reading: A Social Stress Study of Neuroendocrine Response in Children

Buchweitz

Azeredo

Esper

et al. 2023

Mind Brain and Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by persistently slow and effortful reading. It is associated with core cognitive deficits in decoding words, but it also presents significant challenges associated with, for example, anxiety and stress related to academic performance. We asked, thus, whether, reading out loud would be associated with elevated stress for readers with dyslexia, relative to good readers, and we investigated stress‐related hormone response in these two groups. We carried out an acute psychosocial stress test (Trier Social Stress Test‐Children adapted for children, TSST‐C), which included a reading out loud task. We carried out a quasi‐experimental study with an experimental group of participants with Developmental Dyslexia (n = 17), and a control group, with good readers (n = 18). During the stress test, we collected six saliva samples for evaluation of two stress‐related hormones, cortisol, and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) levels. We found a main effect for group for ACTH and for cortisol levels. We also found significantly higher levels of ACTH in the dyslexic group at the end of the task, and during the post‐task recovery period. Results are discussed in the light of the less‐understood emotional impact of dyslexia, and of a recently proposed role for stress as a trigger for increased risk of development of dyslexia. Lastly, we underscore the contribution for the evidence of the emotional impact of learning disorders, especially, as is the case, from a population generally underrepresented in cognitive neuroscience research (i.e., Latin‐American children).

show abstract

An Evolutionary Perspective of Dyslexia, Stress, and Brain Network Homeostasis

Cited by 6 publications

References 188 publications

Developmental Dyslexia: Environment Matters

Developmental Dyslexia: Environment Matters

Early life stress, literacy and dyslexia: an evolutionary perspective

Developmental Dyslexia and the Stress of Reading: A Social Stress Study of Neuroendocrine Response in Children

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About