Developmental Reading-Network Reorganization in Developmental Dyslexia: A Neuroplasticity Framework

Developmental dyslexia is a common neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by persistent difficulties in accurate and fluent word reading despite adequate intelligence, educational opportunity, and intact sensory function. Contemporary neurobiological models have progressively shifted from localization-based explanations toward network-oriented perspectives emphasizing large-scale brain connectivity, developmental maturation, and neuroplasticity. Nevertheless, the developmental mechanisms underlying early right-hemisphere recruitment remain incompletely understood. Although increased right-hemisphere activation has traditionally been interpreted as a compensatory response to left-hemisphere dysfunction, accumulating evidence from longitudinal neuroimaging, intervention, and developmental studies indicates that this explanation alone does not adequately account for the heterogeneity of neurobiological findings observed across individuals with developmental dyslexia. This narrative review synthesizes evidence from developmental neurobiology, network neuroscience, longitudinal neuroimaging, and intervention research to examine the biological processes underlying early right-hemisphere recruitment. Across the reviewed literature, developmental dyslexia is increasingly characterized by atypical maturation of distributed reading networks involving alterations in white-matter development, functional connectivity, hemispheric lateralization, and experience-dependent neuroplasticity. Collectively, these findings suggest that reading networks remain dynamically modifiable throughout literacy acquisition and that multiple developmental pathways may contribute to diverse neurobiological and behavioral outcomes. Building on this evidence, we propose a Developmental Neuroplasticity Framework for Reading Network Reorganization that integrates existing neurobiological models within a unified developmental perspective. Rather than proposing a new neurobiological mechanism, the framework seeks to explain the heterogeneous patterns of early right-hemisphere recruitment that are not fully accounted for by compensation-based interpretations alone. Specifically, it conceptualizes early right-hemisphere recruitment as one possible adaptive developmental outcome emerging from interactions among early neurodevelopmental vulnerability, distributed network connectivity, developmental neuroplasticity, and environmental experience. By integrating evidence that has largely been considered within separate theoretical perspectives, the framework generates empirically testable predictions regarding developmental trajectories, network reorganization, and intervention-related variability, while providing a conceptual basis for earlier identification of children at risk and the development of more targeted, developmentally informed intervention strategies.