Question: would your work effect other people

Jen Todd Jones answered on 11 Mar 2013:

Hi emmm1996!

My research involves running experiments to understand which parts of the brain use language and how long reading takes for the average reader. It’s important on its own just for trying to understand the brain as a whole and how all of the parts interact, but there are some ways it works in the real world too.

My research is important for people with dyslexia who might have difficulty reading or confuse words, and trying to understand how this happens may help us develop ways of printing or reading words that can stop this happening. Dyslexia effects an awful lot of people and I hope it can help in some way (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyslexia). There are also those born with genetic language problems like ‘Specific Language Impairment’ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_language_impairment) that my work can help by developing an understanding of the language areas of the brain and how the growing brain might develop language areas.

It’s also possible that this can help us understand where in the brain these words are thought of which can help us understand how brain damage affects reading, when someone has an accident and bumps their head for example (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traumatic_brain_injury). It’s also important to understand where language exists in the brain to try and estimate whether brain surgery is going to stop someone from being able to read. Sometimes people with very severe epilepsy require brain surgery when medication doesn’t work for them, and knowing where the brain processes language means we can avoid it during operating (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epilepsy).

If you have any questions about whether some of these things might affect you you can ask your teacher or parents, chances are you already know if you have it, though!

Jen