Video games could boost reading skills in dyslexia

Action video games may help those with dyslexia learn to read.

Compared with good readers, people with dyslexia, a developmental reading disorder, have a harder time switching from visual cues to auditory ones. When asked to press a button as quickly as possible when they heard a sound, saw a dim flash or experienced both together, dyslexic subjects were slow to respond when a visual cue flashed first and then a sound cue played, researchers report February 13 in Current Biology.

Playing action video games, which forces one’s attention to shift constantly, might improve dyslexics’ literacy by training people to process sensory changes faster. The games have already proven useful in building multitasking skills, the researchers note.