Neurobiological And Genetic Bases Of Reading Difficulty In Older Children: Implications For Developmental Intervention

Reading difficulty in older children often persists beyond the early stages of literacy acquisition and becomes increasingly evident as academic demands shift toward independent reading and written work. In many affected individuals, reading remains slow and inconsistent despite appropriate instruction, indicating differences in underlying neurodevelopment rather than delayed learning alone. This conceptual paper addresses reading difficulty from a biological perspective, with a specific focus on neural and genetic factors associated with its persistence in later childhood. Reading is an acquired skill that depends on the coordinated activity of distributed brain systems supporting visual processing, phonological analysis, and language integration. Differences in the organisation, connectivity, and efficiency of these systems have been observed in older children with reading difficulty, particularly within networks linking occipito-temporal, temporoparietal, and frontal regions. Genetic and hereditary influences are also examined, drawing on evidence related to genes involved in neuronal migration, axonal connectivity, and synaptic regulation. Variability in these biological processes appears to contribute to individual differences in reading development and vulnerability to persistent difficulty. Alongside biological risk, the paper reviews developmental approaches used to support reading improvement in older children. Evidence from behavioural and neuroimaging studies is synthesised to describe how structured and intensive interventions are associated with changes in neural activation patterns, connectivity, and processing efficiency. These findings indicate that reading-related neural systems retain a degree of plasticity beyond early childhood, although the magnitude and stability of intervention-related change vary across individuals. By integrating neurobiological, genetic, and intervention-related evidence, this paper situates reading difficulty within the broader context of neurodevelopmental diversity and highlights the relevance of biologically informed approaches to intervention in later childhood.