Attention to Reading

Reading is a crucial skill for humans, which involves coordinating eye movements and visual attention while interpreting text to understand its meaning. However, the underlying neuronal mechanisms that support natural reading are not yet well understood. Our research aims to use insights into spatial attention to uncover the neuronal dynamics that support natural reading and investigate how this mechanism matures in children. We have developed a hypothesis for how brain oscillations guide the flow of information and control eye movements during reading, which we are testing in both children and adults using a combination of magnetoencephalography (MEG) and eye-tracking. In the future, we plan to develop a paediatric Optically Pumped Magnetometer (OPM) system to better understand the mechanisms involved in children learning to read.

This research line is funded by a Wellcome Discovery Award and the Leverhulme Trust.