Evidence for neural accommodation to a writing system following learning.

Full Abstract

Native English speakers with no knowledge of Chinese were trained on 60 Chinese characters according to one of three mapping conditions:
orthography to pronunciation and meaning (P + M), orthography to pronunciation (P), and orthography to meaning (M). Following the training, fMRI scans taken during passive viewing of Chinese characters showed activation in brain regions that partially overlap the regions found in studies of skilled Chinese readers, but typically not found in alphabetic readers. Areas include bilateral middle frontal (BA 9), right occipital (BA 18/19), and fusiform (BA 37) regions. The activation pattern of Chinese characters was similar across the three groups. However, peak location was different in the left middle frontal region between groups. Direct contrasts between the groups also revealed stronger activation of left middle frontal in the P + M group. The results suggest that learners acquired skill in reading Chinese characters using a brain network similar to that used by Chinese native speakers. The results are consistent with the system accommodation hypothesis:
The brain's reading network accommodates to features of an acquired writing system.Copyright 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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Author information

Author/s: Liu, Ying (Y); Dunlap, Susan (S); Fiez, Julie (J); Perfetti, Charles (C);

Affiliation: Learning Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Journal: Human brain mapping (Hum Brain Mapp), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Nov; vol 28 (issue 11) : pp 1223-34

Dates: Created 2007/10/18; Completed 2008/01/08;

PMID: 17274024, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adaptation, Physiological - physiology
Asian Continental Ancestry Group
Brain - anatomy & histology; physiology
Brain Mapping
Functional Laterality - physiology
Humans
Language Tests
Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Nerve Net - anatomy & histology; physiology
Pattern Recognition, Visual - physiology
Photic Stimulation
Prefrontal Cortex - anatomy & histology; physiology
Reading
Verbal Behavior - physiology
Visual Cortex - anatomy & histology; physiology
Writing

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