Brain structure and hand preference may be as important as environment in influencing a child's ability to learn to read, according to a University of Florida Brain Institute study.

The seven-year study of 39 Alachua County students from kindergarten to sixth grade indicates that while children from a lower socioeconomic class may be at risk for reading failure, the detrimental effects of environment are greatly increased in children with unusual brain asymmetry.

Students in the study were tested for tasks that are known predictors of reading success, including the ability to rhyme, spell and reverse the order of speech sounds. Using MRI scans, researchers also measured the size of the temporal plane on both sides of the brain, an area believed to play a role in language development.

Right-handed students whose left temporal plane was larger than the right demonstrated superior reading skills when they came from an average or high socioeconomic environment. Right-handed children with reversed asymmetry were at risk for reading failure, especially if they came from a poor family.

Most people are right-handed and have a larger temporal plane in the left hemisphere of the brain, called left asymmetry. Left-handed people are more likely to have a larger temporal plane in the right hemisphere of the brain.

Leftward brain asymmetry was not an advantage in children who did not have a strong right-hand preference. Left-handed children with left asymmetry were at risk for reading failure.

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This article was reprinted from the University of Florida Focus, University Of Florida Alumni Association, PO Box 14425, Gainesville, Florida 32604-2425.