Dyslexia, DevelopmentalNCT04323488
Neural Mechanisms of Successful Intervention in Children With Dyslexia
A study testing Lindamood-Bell Seeing Stars in people with Dyslexia, Developmental, run by Stanford University at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
Dyslexia, an impairment in accurate or fluent word recognition, is the most common learning disability affecting roughly ten percent of children. This proposal capitalizes on cutting edge neuroimaging methods, in combination with reading education programs, to generate a new understanding of how successful reading… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 8 to 12 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Dyslexia, Developmental
- What is being tested?
- Lindamood-Bell Seeing Stars
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 90 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 1 May 2021to 1 Sep 2024
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 8 to 12 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Child
Who may be able to join
- Reading difficulties defined as low scores on standardized measures of reading skills
Who cannot join
- no major contraindication for MRI (braces, metal implants, pacemakers, vascular stents, or metallic ear tubes).
- Because the study involves measurements of reading and language ability, new recruits will be native English speakers.
- Subjects have no history of neurological disorder, significant psychiatric problems
- exclude claustrophobic subjects since an MRI might be uncomfortable for them.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
Dyslexia, an impairment in accurate or fluent word recognition, is the most common learning disability affecting roughly ten percent of children. This proposal capitalizes on cutting edge neuroimaging methods, in combination with reading education programs, to generate a new understanding of how successful reading education shapes the development of the brain circuits that support skilled reading. A deeper understanding of the mechanisms of successful remediation of dyslexia, and individual differences in learning, will pave the way for personalized approaches to dyslexia treatment.
- Conditions
- Dyslexia, Developmental
- Being tested
- Lindamood-Bell Seeing Stars
- Medical subject headings
- Dyslexia
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Lindamood-Bell Seeing StarsBehavioural
Seeing Stars in a curriculum developed by Lindamood-Bell. It is published and openly available. It involves systematic training in the building blocks of skilled reading.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Lindamood-Bell Seeing Stars | Experimental | Subjects receive reading instruction focusing on the building blocks of reading Receives: Behavioral: Lindamood-Bell Seeing Stars |
| Control | No intervention | Subjects are followed longitudinally but do not receive intervention |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
White Matter Plasticity - Left Arcuate Tract
Change in white matter mean diffusivity (MD) measured with diffusion MRI. MD quantifies the average magnitude of water diffusion within a given region of tissue. An increase in mean diffusivity (MD) suggests an increase in free water movement (corresponds to less white matter integrity), while a decrease in MD suggests restricted water diffusion, potentially from increased cellular density (corresponds to greater white matter integrity). Values typically range from approximately 0.5 to 1.5 × 10^-3 mm²/s in healthy white matter.
Measured: Baseline (within 2 weeks pre-intervention), post-intervention (within 2 weeks post-intervention, up to 10 weeks), and at 1 year follow up
White Matter Plasticity - Inferior Longitudinal Tract
Change in white matter mean diffusivity (MD) measured with diffusion MRI. MD quantifies the average magnitude of water diffusion within a given region of tissue. An increase in mean diffusivity (MD) suggests an increase in free water movement (corresponds to less white matter integrity), while a decrease in MD suggests restricted water diffusion, potentially from increased cellular density (corresponds to greater white matter integrity). Values typically range from approximately 0.5 to 1.5 × 10^-3 mm²/s in healthy white matter.
Measured: Baseline (within 2 weeks pre-intervention), post-intervention (within 2 weeks post-intervention, up to 10 weeks), and at 1 year follow up
Visual Word Form Area (VWFA) Size
Visual Word Form Area (VWFA) refers to a region in the brain associated with the recognition of written words. VWFA size is calculated as the number of vertices in the cotrical surface. There are no definitive clinical relevant thresholds for the size of the VWFA that apply universally. Research indicates that variations in VWFA size and activation are associated with reading abilities and disorders.
Measured: Baseline (within 2 weeks pre-intervention), post-intervention (within 2 weeks post-intervention, up to 10 weeks), and at 1 year follow up
Woodcock-Johnson Basic Reading Skills (WJ BRS) Assessment Battery
The Woodcock-Johnson Basic Reading Skills (WJ BRS) Assessment Battery results in a composite score across multiple assessments. Assessment scores are transformed to create an overall score range of 0 to 200. A score of 100 indicates average reading ability. Scores below 85 may indicate potential reading difficulties
Measured: Baseline (within 2 weeks pre-intervention), post-intervention (within 2 weeks post-intervention, up to 10 weeks), and at 1 year follow up
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted26 Mar 2020
- Study start1 May 2021
- Primary completion1 Sep 2024
- Study completion1 Sep 2024
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Posted resultsParticipant flow, outcome measures and adverse events reported by the sponsor.
- Publications (1)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Dyslexia, DevelopmentalStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by Stanford UniversityThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Basic science
- Allocation
- Non-randomised
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Model description
- subjects are seen before and after receiving 8 weeks of reading instruction
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 90 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Stanford University
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Jason Yeatman, Stanford University
- Investigators
- Jason D Yeatman, PhD, Principal investigator, Stanford University
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04323488
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 52231
- Other IDs
- R01HD095861-01A1
- Status last verified
- Oct 2025
- First submitted
- 23 Mar 2020
- Last updated
- 14 Nov 2025
- Results posted
- Yes, on ClinicalTrials.gov
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Undecided: All consent forms in the Yeatman lab contain a data sharing clause that allows de-identified data to be shared publicly. The lab policy is that data and analysis code are always publicly released to accompany each published manuscript from the lab. This policy ensures that published findings can be reproduced by other researchers and the general public. In our experience, this also creates a useful resource to document our methods, describe methodological decisions in greater detail than afforded by journal articles, and publicly release datasets that may be of utility to other researchers. Data and code are organized into a well-documented repository (see https://github.com/yeatmanlab) with a persistent digital identifier ensuring that it will be available in perpetuity. Within the repository is documentation to reproduce each manuscript figure and each reported statistic. The lab is a strong proponent of open science and has adhered to this lab policy for every published manuscript.
Publications
Stone HL, Mitchell JL, Fuentes-Jimenez M, Tran JE, Yeatman JD, Yablonski M. Anatomically Distinct Regions in the Inferior Frontal Cortex Are Modulated by Task and Reading Skill. J Neurosci. 2025 May 7;45(19):e1767242025. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1767-24.2025.
PubMed 40127940
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 14 Nov 2025. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Neural Mechanisms of Successful Intervention in Children With Dyslexia
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04323488
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 52231
- Conditions
- Dyslexia, Developmental
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 90 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Stanford UniversityUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
- Study start
- 1 May 2021 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 1 Sep 2024 (actual)
- Study completion
- 1 Sep 2024 (actual)
- First posted
- 26 Mar 2020 (actual)
- Results
- Posted 14 Nov 2025
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
Dyslexia, an impairment in accurate or fluent word recognition, is the most common learning disability affecting roughly ten percent of children. This proposal capitalizes on cutting edge neuroimaging methods, in combination with reading education programs, to generate a new understanding of how successful reading education shapes the development of the brain circuits that support skilled reading. A deeper understanding of the mechanisms of successful remediation of dyslexia, and individual differences in learning, will pave the way for personalized approaches to dyslexia treatment.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Basic science
- Allocation
- Non-randomised
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 2
- Model description
- subjects are seen before and after receiving 8 weeks of reading instruction
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Lindamood-Bell Seeing Stars | Experimental | Behavioral: Lindamood-Bell Seeing StarsSubjects receive reading instruction focusing on the building blocks of reading |
| Control | No intervention | –Subjects are followed longitudinally but do not receive intervention |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 8 to 12 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Child
Key inclusion criteria (1 listed)
- Reading difficulties defined as low scores on standardized measures of reading skills
Key exclusion criteria (4 listed)
- no major contraindication for MRI (braces, metal implants, pacemakers, vascular stents, or metallic ear tubes).
- Because the study involves measurements of reading and language ability, new recruits will be native English speakers.
- Subjects have no history of neurological disorder, significant psychiatric problems
- exclude claustrophobic subjects since an MRI might be uncomfortable for them.
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Lindamood-Bell Seeing StarsSeeing Stars in a curriculum developed by Lindamood-Bell. It is published and openly available. It involves systematic training in the building blocks of skilled reading. | Behavioural | Lindamood-Bell Seeing Stars |
Primary outcome
White Matter Plasticity - Left Arcuate Tract
Time frame: Baseline (within 2 weeks pre-intervention), post-intervention (within 2 weeks post-intervention, up to 10 weeks), and at 1 year follow up
Change in white matter mean diffusivity (MD) measured with diffusion MRI. MD quantifies the average magnitude of water diffusion within a given region of tissue. An increase in mean diffusivity (MD) suggests an increase in free water movement (corresponds to less white matter integrity), while a decrease in MD suggests restricted water diffusion, potentially from increased cellular density (corresponds to greater white matter integrity). Values typically range from approximately 0.5 to 1.5 × 10^-3 mm²/s in healthy white matter.
White Matter Plasticity - Inferior Longitudinal Tract
Time frame: Baseline (within 2 weeks pre-intervention), post-intervention (within 2 weeks post-intervention, up to 10 weeks), and at 1 year follow up
Change in white matter mean diffusivity (MD) measured with diffusion MRI. MD quantifies the average magnitude of water diffusion within a given region of tissue. An increase in mean diffusivity (MD) suggests an increase in free water movement (corresponds to less white matter integrity), while a decrease in MD suggests restricted water diffusion, potentially from increased cellular density (corresponds to greater white matter integrity). Values typically range from approximately 0.5 to 1.5 × 10^-3 mm²/s in healthy white matter.
Visual Word Form Area (VWFA) Size
Time frame: Baseline (within 2 weeks pre-intervention), post-intervention (within 2 weeks post-intervention, up to 10 weeks), and at 1 year follow up
Visual Word Form Area (VWFA) refers to a region in the brain associated with the recognition of written words. VWFA size is calculated as the number of vertices in the cotrical surface. There are no definitive clinical relevant thresholds for the size of the VWFA that apply universally. Research indicates that variations in VWFA size and activation are associated with reading abilities and disorders.
Woodcock-Johnson Basic Reading Skills (WJ BRS) Assessment Battery
Time frame: Baseline (within 2 weeks pre-intervention), post-intervention (within 2 weeks post-intervention, up to 10 weeks), and at 1 year follow up
The Woodcock-Johnson Basic Reading Skills (WJ BRS) Assessment Battery results in a composite score across multiple assessments. Assessment scores are transformed to create an overall score range of 0 to 200. A score of 100 indicates average reading ability. Scores below 85 may indicate potential reading difficulties
Results and safety
Loading the posted results from ClinicalTrials.gov…
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 14 Nov 2025.
- Posted resultsParticipant flow, baseline, all outcome measures and adverse events.
- Results publication: PubMed 40127940Stone HL, Mitchell JL, Fuentes-Jimenez M, Tran JE, Yeatman JD, Yablonski M. Anatomically Distinct Regions in the Inferior Frontal Cortex Are Modulated by Task and Reading Skill. J Neurosci. 2025 May 7;45(19):e1767242025. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1767-24.2025.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Undecided. All consent forms in the Yeatman lab contain a data sharing clause that allows de-identified data to be shared publicly. The lab policy is that data and analysis code are always publicly released to accompany each published manuscript from the lab. This policy ensures that published findings can be reproduced by other researchers and the general public. In our experience, this also creates a useful resource to document our methods, describe methodological decisions in greater detail than afforded by journal articles, and publicly release datasets that may be of utility to other researchers. Data and code are organized into a well-documented repository (see https://github.com/yeatmanlab) with a persistent digital identifier ensuring that it will be available in perpetuity. Within the repository is documentation to reproduce each manuscript figure and each reported statistic. The lab is a strong proponent of open science and has adhered to this lab policy for every published manuscript.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Jason D Yeatman, PhD principal investigator
Stanford University
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Lindamood-Bell Seeing Stars in people with Dyslexia, Developmental, run by Stanford University at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 1 inclusion and 4 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 14 Nov 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 14 Nov 2025). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
White Matter Plasticity - Left Arcuate Tract (time frame: Baseline (within 2 weeks pre-intervention), post-intervention (within 2 weeks post-intervention, up to 10 weeks), and at 1 year follow up). The study lists 4 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT04323488, which also lists 1 linked publication.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 14 Nov 2025; AzTrials last refreshed its copy on 8 Nov 2026.