UROP Project

Improving reading in young adults with dsylexia with a novel combined TMS and reading intervention program

reading, intervention, TMS, data analysis

Research Mentor: Dr. Nikki Arrington, she/her/hers
Department, College, Affiliation: Psychology, Florida Center for Reading Research, Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: cna25@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Open to all majors
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 10, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link:

• Day: Wednesday, September 2
  Start Time: 1:00
  End Time: 2:00
  Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/97165261812

Project Description

Reading is a critical life-skill for one’s quality of life and health. Children who do not learn to read proficiently, even with quality education and special validated treatments, have a specific neurobiological impairment known as developmental dyslexia. Despite opportunities to learn, the most resistant cases of dyslexia can have severe reading problems into adulthood. Although there are several cognitive and behavioral remediation/rehabilitation techniques effective for children, unfortunately, there are no additional treatment options for adults with persistent, treatment-resistant dyslexia. Adults may be particularly resistant to traditional treatments as the neural circuits that influence reading have less plasticity potential. The long-term and overarching goal of our multidisciplinary research team is to develop an innovative, biologically- and theoretically- driven treatment to improve reading in young adults with persistent dyslexia (PD).
Non-invasive brain stimulation methods, such as rTMS, have the potential to provide the foundation for developing a new treatment model for PD. Behavioral and cognitive treatments can have improved outcomes when paired with rTMS. The purpose of the Reading and Research Education (RARE) study is to assess the impact of combined rTMS and behavioral intervention on reading outcomes in young adults with PD. In this project we will curate and organize behavioral and neuroimaging data from the RARE study to assess the effectiveness of this unique treatment for improving reading.

Research Tasks: Data Curation and Organization: Assist with creating a master data set that organizes pre/post treatment reading assessments and neuroimaging data
Data Analysis: Work with both behavioral and neuroimaging data and summarizing processed data.
Writing & Dissemination: Contribute to drafting research reports, conference proposals, and manuscripts. Opportunities for co-authorship may be available depending on contribution.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Required Skills:
Ability to work collaboratively and communicate openly.
Strong attention to detail and willingness to learn new methods.
Good written and verbal communication skills.
Preferred:
Familiarity with tools such as Excel, R, SPSS (but not required)
Familiarity with online data collection tools such as REDCap, Qualtrics
Interest in educational psychology, learning sciences, or similar.