Fingerprints of developmental dyslexia

Developmental dyslexia is a reading disorder—but what are the underlying cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms? The variety of different explanations in the literature ranges from phonological abilities via sensory (auditory, visual) processing to attention, learning, and cross-modal integration. Here, we suggest that it is advantageous to accept the variability encountered in dyslexia. Different cognitive profiles, or “fingerprints”, characterise groups of dyslexic individuals. Most importantly, these fingerprints have a repercussion in differential brain activation patterns in dyslexia, supporting the notion of a neurobiological basis. We conclude that considering the neurocognitive fingerprint of a dyslexic reader may be helpful to plan an individually targeted training, which, in turn, may optimise the outcome of remediation.