TORONTO -- Researchers at Western University have discovered a biological deficit that impairs some kid’s ability to sound words out while learning to read. The multi-year research project, funded by the BrainsCAN program and cognitive neuroscientists at Western’s Brain and Mind institute, studied children’s brains using an MRI technique called “diffusion tensor imaging,” which highlights white-matter structure in the brain (located on the inside tissue). Researchers then analyzed the network structures of the children’s brains and compared them to one another. The study, published in the journal Development Cognitive Neuroscience, found through compiled data that some children have a specific cognitive impairment in their brain that impairs phonological decoding – or the ability to sound words out.