tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post751537270317498078..comments2024-03-10T05:06:25.309-04:00Comments on Livia Blackburne: What Mirror Images and Foreign Scripts Tell Us About the Reading BrainLivia Blackburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15805379309049803903noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-12135199326308730162010-12-27T23:42:48.580-05:002010-12-27T23:42:48.580-05:00I found it impossible not to read the words. The e...I found it impossible not to read the words. The exercise reminded me of the one where all the words are misspelt, but contain the right letters. Somehow our brain unscrambles them. <br />Your blog is fascinating, Livia. I've linked to you on my own blog.J.T. Websterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18042422842347246547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-26945659868735500922010-12-24T01:37:36.940-05:002010-12-24T01:37:36.940-05:00alleyjack - it's still an open question. The ...alleyjack - it's still an open question. The field has moved away from the idea that dyslexia is "seeing things backwards." It seems that all children do it, and people notice it more when the child is dyslexic. But then, I still hear a lot of personal reports from people with dyslexia about flipping letters, so I'm not sure how to resolve that.<br /><br />Jake -- that's actually a really good question -- one that is still being pursued. Recent research suggests that the region takes over part of the face processing region. Literate people have smaller face processing regions than illiterate people. That's not the whole story though. More research is needed.Livia Blackburnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15805379309049803903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-32449665885790978522010-12-23T02:06:25.800-05:002010-12-23T02:06:25.800-05:00This is an absolutely fascinating concept. I coul...This is an absolutely fascinating concept. I could not stop myself from reading the words.<br />Now, since I'm not a brain scientist, this might be a dumb question, but I'll ask anyway.<br />This region in the brain that activates when it sees words, is it a 'new' region that the brain developed? Or is the brain utilising a region that was already there, but not used?Jake Heneganhttp://writinginmediasres.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-62163650154707080962010-12-22T15:33:17.903-05:002010-12-22T15:33:17.903-05:00What would be really interesting would be to see w...What would be really interesting would be to see what this implies about dyslexia and other reading disorders, if anything.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-54074715675313290282010-12-22T11:33:21.490-05:002010-12-22T11:33:21.490-05:00twaza -- Thank you so much for your kind review! I...twaza -- Thank you so much for your kind review! I passed along your footnote comment to my publisher, and they're trying to see if they can fix it. Amazon is tricky because they are by far the most influential retailer and have the best recommendation engines. If a book sells well on Amazon, it tends to snowball because Amazon starts recommending it to new customers in a very intelligent way. Unfortunately, Amazon chooses to only sell their kindle format, and you're absolutely right that it's not the best format for people who do not use ereading devices. I'd say that if you are used to reading paper books, you should go for the PDF that can print out. If you are accustomed to reading on a Kindle, iPad, or smartphone, then the Kindle format has more flexibility in terms of layout and font resizeability.<br /><br />Grillyfish -- Haha, you read it backwards! That's awesome.Livia Blackburnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15805379309049803903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-40825540096053379082010-12-22T04:26:28.235-05:002010-12-22T04:26:28.235-05:00I found this absolutely fascinating (I really stru...I found this absolutely fascinating (I really struggled not to 'read' the sentences and ended up having to go from the end and work letter by letter back to the start... and even then I read some of the words!)<br /><br />There is also an exhibit at the British Library about language (more than reading) and dialect, which looks to be interesting: it is looking at how language is evolving.<br /><br />Thanks :)Grillyfishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17910638116963555132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-51800144989126659422010-12-22T03:39:26.165-05:002010-12-22T03:39:26.165-05:00Livia, I have posted my comment on Amazon.com and ...Livia, I have posted my comment on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. I wanted to post it here too, but my paste pastes something else. Apologies! I can't copy it again, because I closed the window and Amazon are holding it for vetting before they publish it.<br /><br />Anyway, it is a very favourable review, but it was hard to keep my promise to not (directly) criticize Kindle. Kindle has removed the superscript from the citation numbers and shown them in a miniscule font so they are much harder to see than the "a-s" in your exercise. And, worse, Kindle has hidden the citations right at the back of the essay behind trailers for other essays and books.<br /><br />*Tip for readers of this blog*: <br />"From words to brain" is well worth owning. Get the PDF version from Smashwords, which is much easier to read - and, you can print it out.twaza (@wassabeee on twitter)https://www.blogger.com/profile/11078200068429582694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-75033071792353527632010-12-22T00:22:17.131-05:002010-12-22T00:22:17.131-05:00Marisa -- Have you heard of the stroop task? that...Marisa -- Have you heard of the stroop task? that's another great demo of how automatic reading is<br /><br />Carolyn -- It's awesome that you're writing books with family history of dyslexia. That's amazing.<br /><br />Clarissa -- Sharp eye :-) Thanks again for reviewing.Livia Blackburnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15805379309049803903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-80678457712925215732010-12-21T17:30:35.268-05:002010-12-21T17:30:35.268-05:00I was going to say, this is from your work. I'...I was going to say, this is from your work. I'm finding the topic so fascinating to read. Can't wait to do a review of this on my blog.<br />CDAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12160669603997465454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-74556254937163140392010-12-21T13:44:56.444-05:002010-12-21T13:44:56.444-05:00Very interesting! There's a lot of dyslexia in...Very interesting! There's a lot of dyslexia in my family and some of my siblings, myself included when I am tired, still reverse letters (writing a d when b is meant etc.)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09858789421494610124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-75635999597742377092010-12-21T13:43:39.051-05:002010-12-21T13:43:39.051-05:00I tried the experiment but couldn't stop "...I tried the experiment but couldn't stop "reading" some of the words.<br /><br />The brain is such a fascinating subject!Marisa Birnshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17945909737147497606noreply@blogger.com