How the brain learns to read is an evolutionary mystery—a new study offers clues

image via New Scientist

August 28, 2026, 11:00 AM

• •The article reports on a Cerebral Cortex study linking reading ability to structural differences in several brain regions using Human Connectome Project scans and reading-test data.
• •A well-organized medial belt area near the left primary auditory cortex was associated with reading ability, and that link appeared partly heritable.
• •The size of the right dorsal temporal pole and the left anterior middle temporal gyrus also correlated with reading skill and showed genetic relationships.
• •Other reading-related traits, including thicker primary auditory cortex and some fibre-bundle connections, appeared more shaped by experience than inheritance.
• •The piece argues that reading can develop through multiple neural routes, including in people with dyslexia, deaf readers and Braille readers.

The article says reading is too recent in evolutionary terms for humans to have evolved a dedicated reading center, so the brain repurposes older systems instead. Mikael Roll’s study used Human Connectome Project brain scans, reading-test results and twin comparisons to identify brain regions whose structure correlates with reading skill. Some links, including associations involving the medial belt area and anterior temporal regions, appeared partly heritable, while others seemed more strongly shaped by experience and practice. The piece argues that reading can emerge through multiple neural routes, helping explain variation across typical readers, people with dyslexia, deaf readers and Braille readers.

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