Reading skills and white matter correlated.

As per a  recent article published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers have reported a correlation between white matter development in children aged 7-12 and their performance on standardized reading assessments i.e. reading skills.

This can be good news for the educators if this study can shed light on when to start reading interventions, or which cognitive processes the reading interventions should target. But like it happens mostly, such findings result in misinterpretations and get lost or become detrimental. Read more here. 

In case if the reader does not already know, white matter is one of the two components of the central nervous system  and consists mostly of Glial cells and Myelinated axons. The main effect of white matter is to transmit signals from one region of the Cerebrum to another and between the cerebrum and lower brain centers. In simple words, it is believed that the white matter connects different information, which is contained in grey matter and so the more the white matter the smarter the person. The Grey matter which comprises Neuron is another major component and is believed to store information.