Study findings 'starkly contrast' marketing claims around dyslexia devices

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-10-04 10:01

International

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Despite a lack of scientific evidence, “flickering” glasses and lamps for dyslexia are being marketed in various countries. These devices either use strobe lights that flicker at an almost imperceptible frequency or glass’ lenses that darken and light up, also at a high frequency. French researchers put these devices to the test in a series of four experiments, using high- and low-frequency flickering on dyslexic and non-dyslexic kids and adults. The team found no noticeable effect of either low or high-frequency flickering on the reading capabilities of dyslexic children. The team says the results “starkly contrast” with marketing claims that these tools can help 90% of dyslexic individuals.

Media release

From: The Royal Society

This work assesses the impact of flickering on reading proficiency among individuals with and without dyslexia, a learning disability that hinders reading processing. Our experiments involved both regular adult readers and dyslexic children. We observed that low-frequency flickering adversely impacted word recognition in adults. Meanwhile, both low and high-frequency flickering demonstrated no noticeable effect on the reading capabilities of dyslexic children. Despite these findings, manufacturers are currently marketing flickering devices, asserting that their products can help 90% of dyslexic individuals. Our results starkly contrast with these statements, compelling us to advocate for caution when considering such potentially transformative solutions.

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Research The Royal Society, Web page URL after publication

Journal/
conference: Proceedings of the Royal Society B

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Université Paris-Saclay, France

Funder: This work was funded by INSERM, Collège de France, CEA, the Collège de France foundation and the Clermont-Tonnerre foundation. M.L. was supported by a CIFRE grant from the CERENE schools and the French national agency ANRT

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