Brain, Mind and Soul in Dyslexia: A Conceptual Review

Learning is a psychological process that includes sensation, perception, thinking and memory. Dyslexia, which is characterized by problems with accurate or fluent word recognition, poor decoding, and poor spelling abilities and the main deficit will be in phonological awareness. It is a lifelong condition and is managed only through remedial learning techniques. Dyslexia in Ayurveda can be seen as a disturbance where mana and buddhi fail to properly process and integrate sensory information with memory. Our literature review included a comprehensive search of Ayurveda textbooks and online databases such as PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar. The objective was to interpret dyslexia using Ayurvedic principles and to provide a detailed understanding of its samprapti (etiopathology), with special reference to phonological awareness and to develop a management protocol. Although dyslexia is not mentioned explicitly in Ayurveda classics its features suggest impairment in cognition stages of Jnanotpathikrama (process of cognition and knowledge acquisition) particularly at indriyartha sannikarsha (association of sense organs with their objects) and during the analytical processing performed by buddhi (intellect), aided by mana (mind). Certain principles of Unmada Chikitsa may be applicable in dyslexia due to the involvement of cognitive and perceptual dysfunctions, with Buddhi Vibhrama being a central feature in Unmada Samprapti and Buddhi playing an important role in dyslexia. The Ayurvedic perspective highlights the integration of sensory organs, mind, intellect, and consciousness in knowledge acquisition.