The Neuroscience of Dyslexia; Fumiko Hoeft, M.D., Ph.D.

Fumiko Hoeft MD, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychiatry and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, Director of UC-Stanford Multi-Campus Precision Learning Center and UCSF Laboratory for Educational Neuroscience, Deputy Director of UCSF Dyslexia Center, and Research Scientist at Yale Haskins Laboratories. She was trained in medicine, neurophysiology and systems/cognitive neurosciences, at Keio University (Tokyo), Harvard, Caltech and Stanford. Hoeft's program of research focuses on the neuroscience of skill acquisition such as literacy, neurodevelopmental disorders such as dyslexia, and socio-emotional competencies such as motivation and resilience in those with dyslexia. Her team also specializes in R&D of cognitive science-based tools that can be deployed in educational practice to maximize personalized learning. She has received numerous federal and private foundation grants, published over 120 articles, and delivered over 150 talks including remarks at the White House. Hoeft currently serves on over a dozen boards and committees, including CA Department of Education Dyslexia Guideline Work Group, IDA Executive Board and NCLD Professional Advisory Board.

Honors include the 2014 Norman Geschwind Memorial Lectureship from the International Dyslexia Association, 2015 Transforming Education through Neuroscience Award from Learning & the Brain Foundation, and 2017 Multicampus Research Program Award from the University of CA Office of the President. Her work has been widely covered in media such as The New York Times, NPR, CNN, the New Yorker, and Scientific American.

In this talk — The Neuroscience of Dyslexia: At-risk populations, early identification, developing compensatory mechanisms, and building cognitive and socio-emotional resilience, I will cover a wide range of topics related to the neuroscience of dyslexia. I will discuss the latest neuroscience research on how the brains of at-risk populations differ from those with low risk, and the key predictors of successful early literacy acquisition in young children drawing from the behavioral and brain imaging literature. I will discuss the emerging trends in how we think about the cause of dyslexia, from the idea that multiple factors contribute to the overall liability of a child in developing dyslexia disorders, as well as our latest comprehensive neurobiological theory of dyslexia, which we call the "Neural Noise Hypothesis of Dyslexia". Finally, I will close by presenting work on the concept of normalization versus compensation after intervention in dyslexia, as well as how we can help promote resilience (cognitive as well as socio-emotional) in children with dyslexia, now known as the "Resilience Framework of Dyslexia".

ALTA offers its members 1.5 hours for this video.