Eyes in people with dyslexia may have symmetrical eyes

The eyes of people who read with ease have asymmetrical retinas and also transmit visual information to the brain asymmetrically, according to a report in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The eyes of people with dyslexia, on the other hand, appear to be physically and functionally symmetrical.


Dyslexia, characterized by a difficulty with learning to read, affects somewhere between 5 percent and 10 percent of people. Although genetic and environmental factors have been linked with the condition, the underlying causes remain largely unknown. (1)

As per the authors of this paper: "In human vision, the brain has to select one view of the world from our two eyes. However, the existence of a clear anatomical asymmetry providing an initial imbalance for normal neural development is still not understood. Using a so-called foveascope, we found that for a cohort of 30 normal adults, the two blue cone-free areas at the centre of the foveas are asymmetrical. By contrast, we found that this asymmetry is absent in a similar cohort of 30 adults with normal ocular status, but with dyslexia, i.e. with visual and phonological deficits. The interplay between the lack of asymmetry and the development in the neural maturation of the brain pathways suggests new implications in both fundamental and biomedical sciences."

Dyslexia may be the cause of inability to spot clearly. This study reveals that most persons with dyslexia have dominant spots in both their eyes that cause them to see blurred images leading to their confusion with letters and reading, spelling and writing. (2)

---

More about Retina Global here.