How ADHD and thinking skills affect reading in children with dyslexia
Official title: Influence of ADHD and Executive Functions on Developmental Dyslexia
Funded at Mgh Institute of Health Professions · NIH-11325068 · Data updated 2026-11-12
The team will follow 8–10 year-old children with dyslexia (with and without ADHD) and typical readers over three years to link thinking skills, brain measures, and reading progress.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Mgh Institute of Health Professions NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Charlestown, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | July 1, 2022 |
| Project end | March 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $664,630 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HD106122-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11325068 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are children aged roughly 8–10 in grades three or four who have been diagnosed with dyslexia or dyslexia plus ADHD, or who are typical readers for comparison.
✕Less likely to help
Children outside the 8–10 age range or without reading concerns would not match this study and likely would not benefit directly.
What this research studies
If your child is in third or fourth grade, researchers will invite them to join one of three groups: typical readers, children with dyslexia, or children with both dyslexia and ADHD. Each child will come for three yearly visits with tests of reading, attention, and executive functions plus brain scans to track changes over time. The study plans about 80 children per group and will use behavioral tests and neuroimaging to separate the effects of ADHD symptoms from underlying thinking-skill weaknesses. Results aim to clarify why some children struggle with reading and guide better assessment and targeted help in school.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the findings could help clinicians and schools tailor assessments and interventions to a child's specific ADHD symptoms or thinking-skill needs.
How similar studies have gone: Previous research has linked executive function and ADHD to reading problems, but few long-term brain imaging studies have followed children across multiple years, so this approach adds important new longitudinal data.
Where this research is happening
-
Mgh Institute of Health Professions
Charlestown, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Christodoulou, Joanna — Mgh Institute of Health Professions
- Study coordinator: Christodoulou, Joanna
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.