A Proprioception-Centered Hypothesis Linking Sensorimotor Function, Respiration, and Sleep Across the Day–Night Cycle in Developmental Dyslexia

Objectives: Developmental dyslexia is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental condition in which motor, perceptual, attentional, respiratory, and sleep-related differences have been reported alongside reading difficulties. This Perspective proposes a proprioception-centered sensorimotor coherence framework to consider potential interactions among these domains across the day–night cycle. Methods: This hypothesis-generating narrative Perspective traces the progressive development of the proposed framework from clinical observations to experimental investigations and subsequent refinement of a clinical examination based on functional responses to sensory modulation. No systematic review or new cohort analysis was undertaken. The examination explores three principal domains—tonic-motor regulation, spatial localization, and multisensory integration—together with respiratory and sleep-related factors. Sensorimotor modulation includes ocular, oral, plantar, respiratory, manual, and ergonomic approaches selected according to their observed functional effects across domains. A clinical case illustrates the application of this approach. Results: Experimental studies conducted over nearly two decades in our INSERM laboratory objectively investigated postural regulation, proprioceptive acuity, spatial localization, multisensory processing, and action representation in developmental dyslexia. More recent exploratory clinical studies extended the investigation to respiration and sleep. Taken together, these observations suggest that proprioception-centered sensorimotor coherence may represent one functional level through which motor, perceptual, respiratory, attentional, and learning-related processes interact across the day–night cycle as learning develops and continues. Conclusions: The proposed framework is a working hypothesis rather than an established causal model or a validated treatment for developmental dyslexia. It provides a complementary embodied perspective and identifies clinically observable and experimentally testable relationships that warrant further investigation, including through controlled studies examining the contributions of individual sensory and functional components.