What if rhythm and technology could help students with dyslexia become stronger readers? That’s the question the Poppins team set out to answer.
Between 2021 and 2023, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study showed that rhythmic training significantly improved word reading skills in children with dyslexia. In 2025, the results were published in Scientific Reports, a peer-reviewed journal from the Nature group.
So what does the study actually tell us? What methods were used? And most importantly, what does this kind of scientific validation mean for educators working to support struggling readers in their classrooms?
For researchers, publication in Scientific Reports—a journal from the Nature group—is a strong marker of credibility. It signals that a study has met rigorous, evidence-based standards and undergone international peer review. Within this framework, the Poppins intervention was validated by the global scientific community.
Nature is one of the oldest and most prestigious scientific publishers, founded in 1869. Its journals are known for advancing high-quality, multidisciplinary research. Scientific Reports is one of its open-access journals, publishing studies that are original, methodologically sound, and relevant to both science and society.
Articles must meet strict criteria:
On May 21, 2025, Scientific Reports published a study validating the work of the Poppins team: Descamps, M., Grossard, C., Pellerin, H., et al. (2025). “Rhythm training improves word-reading in children with dyslexia.” Scientific Reports, Nature.
The Poppins project began in 2018 with the goal of creating a digital device that uses rhythm and music to support dyslexia intervention. After several exploratory phases to test feasibility and usability, a large-scale clinical study launched in 2021.
To ensure reliability, the team followed one of the gold standards of clinical research: a randomized, controlled, multicenter, double-blind trial.
This rigorous design, usually reserved for testing medical devices or pharmaceuticals, ensured the results were robust, measurable, and credible.
The initial trial involved 154 children with diagnosed dyslexia, ages 7 to 11. Each trained for 25 minutes, five times a week, for eight weeks. Results showed:
No improvements were noted in spelling or pseudo-word reading, which guided the team to explore new features, including a written language module.
These findings confirmed earlier research on the impact of rhythm on dyslexia and demonstrated that Poppins can significantly improve word reading.
The Poppins study stands out not only for its promising results but also for the level of rigor behind them. By holding the app to the same standards as medical devices, researchers ensured that its benefits are scientifically validated.
For educators, this means that Poppins is more than just another educational app—it’s a research-backed, clinically tested tool designed to complement literacy instruction and intervention.