Speech is a product of human evolution for which nature has prepared our brains prior to birth. Is it possible we have also been endowed with mechanisms to allow us to read even without formal education? The answer given by modern psychology and neuroscience is “no, or not entirely”. Equipped with modern tools, scientists are now searching for the typical characteristics of a developing brain that prepare us to read by the age of 6 or 7. It is becoming increasingly evident that the reading brain undergoes at least two transformations: certain functions are shaped and honed, while others are reorganised.

All rights reserved