Tal Erez-Hod

Doctorate Scholarship at the field of Cognitive development and learning disabilities

The Development of Hemispheric Lateralization of Word and Face Processing: A Longitudinal Observation of Pre-School and Elementary-School Students with and without Reading and Attention Difficulties

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Research has previously linked word processing with face processing, based on their shared common ground, the fusiform gyrus, located in ventral occipito-temporal cortex. This study aims to investigate word and face processing’s hemispheric lateralization, while considering cognitive and environmental contributions that might affect the acquirement of this lateralization. The participants will be Hebrew speaking students, from different socio-economical backgrounds, with and without reading and attention difficulties. They will be followed from pre-school into early elementary school, for at least two years, as part of the longitudinal study, to observe and investigate their performance from a developmental aspect.