Reading in the Brain: The New Science of How We Read

It is a thrilling read for those interested! The book carefully & scientifically describes the miracle of how we are able to read, and many of the variations in our abilities. It is a milestone contribution on how best to LEARN to read. It is a bit dated at this point. Still an excellent basis for learning more in detail and in neurobiological terms. I learned SO much!

All teachers should read this book. Rigorously researched and scientifically valid. Written by a neurologist who has done his own research. Easy to re ad and understand!!!

328 pages 388 pages including references Reading In The Brain: The New Science Of How We Read by Stanislas Dehaene, published in 2009 by Penguin Books, has several potential audiences that could glean truly interesting and potentially useful information from this book. One audience might be Lexile Historians. Dehaene provides copious amounts of details on how cultures have evolved from simply reading the landscape, to drawing images in caves, to the first alphabet written by the Greeks, and so on. How the spoken languages have evolved through various cultures, leading English to be one of the most challenging to speak and spell, seemingly only behind the Chinese, who memorize over 3,000 images to this day. Neurologists (or neurologists-in-training) could also benefit from information provided in this Dehaene’s book. Descriptions of the areas of the brain utilized for reading and writing (spoiler: prefrontal cortex & occipito-temporal region) are provided, explaining how brain formation and development, sometimes at a later age, (check out the chapter on dyslexia!) influence the human ability to recognize letter sounds, followed by the letters themselves, the morphemes, and eventually entire words. We learn about the areas that are linked to facial recognition as well, and how that is linked to reading. In some stages, both hemispheres of the brain play a large role in reading skills, but eventually, one hemisphere takes on a larger responsibility as children are exposed to more and more. The “Letterbox” portion of the brain must be exposed enough to reading to be fully developed at the inception of adolescence in order for the child to be deemed an “expert” in reading. The brain’s function with reading and simple recognition changes over time, and Dehaene provides thorough descriptions of those transformations. Finally, teachers of reading (parents and licensed educators alike) are final benefactors of information in this book. Chapters 4-7 are primary areas of interest for this particular audience, where we learn a bit more about the evolution of writing and reading across cultures, with highlights on several languages and their simplicities or complexities in teaching reading and writing. As an educator, I found the most valuable information in a chapter entitled “Learning to Read.” Dehaene highlights the “Three Steps for Reading,” which are “logographic”-recognizing images, phoneme recognition, and grapheme recognition. It’s important to understand how a child’s brain develops-in that order-in order for them to learn to recognize letters accurately and eventually begin to form words and be able to sound out new ones. Children who are exposed to more speaking and reading at younger ages are more likely to avoid dyslexia, and overall struggles with reading comprehension and verbal processing. We must take our time in teaching children to decipher phonemes & graphemes if we expect them to eventually become fast(er) readers & writers; we cannot rush the process. The most interesting chapter to me was the chapter on Dyslexia-an area which I am very inexperienced with as an educator. Many people with dyslexia also have speech issues, which could be one of the first noticeable red flags for children. The author stresses that no set amount or type of factors play into a diagnosis of dyslexia, but it is predictable based on the parents and genetics, though other factors can play a part. It is also treatable with intensive interventions over the course of several weeks, bringing participants in a study up a few levels of readiness versus where they were prior to the interventions. Cons of the book: This particular reader (me) found some of the content to be bone dry and difficult to get through, primarily due to the heaviness of the material and general lack of interest in the topic. Pros: Plenty of development facts are published in this book, which could truly be a large help in understanding child brain development, and how the brain works when it comes to reading and writing. There is likely something in this book for any of the three audiences previously mentioned, and likely others as well. Fun facts learned: -The eyes move constantly while reading because the fovea, a small part of the cornea, helps to interpret & process. -Our gaze can advance 7-9 letters ahead. -It can take 50 milliseconds to process a word. -Most good readers can read 400-500 words per minute. -Font type influences speed at which we can read. -What we see depends on what we think we’re seeing. -Words take longer to read if they have more graphemes, not necessarily phonemes. -The right hemisphere is linked to facial recognition; the left is linked with reading & writing. -Reading improves verbal memory. -The Literate Mind: spelling mastery, richness of vocabulary, nuances of meaning, pleasures of literature. -Italian is the easiest language to learn (as a child, at least.) Bottom line: This entire book may not be for everyone, but there are portions that anyone could benefit from. It is worth a read, even if you don’t read the whole book.

i first came across dehaene's name in george lakoff's "where mathematics come from" -- and picked up his earlier number sense book. this book is in my opinion much more substantial -- he has been a researcher in this area for a long time, it seems, and he is very literate in the subject -- he provides a deep consideration of the neural correlates of reading, provides a coherent statement of what he calls neural recycling to explain how the brain adopts for reading across cultures, provides an in-depth exploration of dyslexia, and has a very profound vision of the place of neuroscience in education. he writes extremely well -- which is particularly impressive given that his original language is french. moreover, he has a breath of knowledge of language that goes beyond well english -- even pinker seems to be a professor of english. he makes reference to tomassello which impressed me no end since i wouldn't expect that breath of literacy from a neuroscientist. it provided me with everything i could have wished for, except for the field to be further along. i would not just recommend this book, but the author. i think before his career reaches its twilight, he will have contributed greatly both to neuroscience and its communication to the educated layperson.

I’ve been a teacher for 16 years and throughly enjoyed this book. The science behind how the brain works and learns to read was fascinating to me, and honestly filled in the gaps where my professional education lacked. Very helpful!!!!

Every educator, including myself, needs to know how the brain actually learns how to read. It is not political it is just plain brain science! Not only is this fascinating but it supports or dispels practices that you may or may not be using. I wish that I read this earlier in my career.

I really enjoyed reading this book.This is a topic in which I am very interested. Dr. Dehaene wrote a thorough, in-depth, and compelling book. He points out that the area of the brain by which we read was a product of evolution but had evolved for an entirely different purpose other than reading. He makes this statement based on when reading emerged in human culture. A period of time that is too short for evolution to have developed writing. Instead, he shows that reading and writing were processes that were invented by man. Of course, the area of the brain, which is the same area for all human beings regardless of their culture, Was "recycled" for the use of this new and novel invention of man. Dr. Dehaene relates how neuroscience identified and traced the circuits involved in reading via an ever progressing imaging machines. Each evolution of imaging machine gave faster, richer, and more detailed results as to which neurons were firing during reading and more accurate locations in the brain. I found this to be a fascinating journey and literally devoured the material.

I bought this book to increase my teaching strategies for reading instruction. The book was heavily laden with scientific research, hypothesis, and anatomical diagrams. I suppose it was the author's intent to justify brain research and relate it to reading. After wading through the research, I did find some good teaching strategies and increased my knowledge of reading development. Also I ordered the kindle edition and found the charts and diagrams difficult to read. I recommend ordering a hard copy.