Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.
Psychology Department, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA 94132, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94131, USA.
Biol Psychol. 2021 Nov;166:108203. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108203. Epub 2021 Oct 12.
Reading difficulties are the hallmark feature of dyslexia, but less is known about other areas of functioning. Previously, we found children with dyslexia exhibited heightened emotional reactivity, which correlated with better social skills. Whether emotional differences in dyslexia extend to the parasympathetic nervous system-an autonomic branch critical for attention, social engagement, and empathy-is unknown. Here, we measured autonomic nervous system activity in 24 children with dyslexia and 24 children without dyslexia, aged 7 - 12, at rest and during a film-based empathy task. At rest, children with dyslexia had higher respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) than those without dyslexia. Cardiac deceleration during the empathy task was greater in dyslexia and correlated with higher resting RSA across the sample. Children with dyslexia produced more facial expressions of concentration during film-viewing, suggesting greater engagement. These results suggest elevated resting parasympathetic activity and accentuated autonomic and behavioral responding to others' emotions in dyslexia.
阅读困难是诵读困难的显著特征，但对于其他功能领域的了解较少。此前，我们发现诵读困难的儿童表现出更高的情绪反应性，这与更好的社交技能相关。诵读困难症的情绪差异是否延伸到自主神经系统——对注意力、社交参与和同理心至关重要的自主分支尚不清楚。在这里，我们在休息和观看基于电影的同理心任务时，测量了 24 名诵读困难症儿童和 24 名无诵读困难症儿童的自主神经系统活动。在休息时，诵读困难症儿童的呼吸窦性心律失常（RSA）高于无诵读困难症儿童。同理心任务中心率减速在诵读困难症中更大，并且与整个样本中更高的静息 RSA 相关。在观看电影时，诵读困难症儿童表现出更多的专注表情，表明参与度更高。这些结果表明，诵读困难症的静息副交感神经活动升高，以及对他人情绪的自主和行为反应增强。
