The bilingual brain and resilience to dyslexia

The bilingual brain and resilience to dyslexia

Phonological development plays a key role in learning to read, but this process can be influenced by the environ-ment—particularly in bilinguals who acquire 2 phonological systems. This project investigates how early bilingualism shapes the brain networks supporting reading development. We hypothesise that bilingualism modifies whole-brain connectivity dynamics, helping to mitigate the impact of genetic risks for dyslexia, a condition associated with poorly connected neural systems. By studying 500 Basque-Spanish bilingual children, BIBALANCE aims to uncover how bilin-gualism interacts with genetic risk to improve reading outcomes, providing new insights for education and dyslexia in-terventions.