Open AccessEvidence for neural accommodation to a writing system following learning
Author(s) -
Liu Ying,
Dunlap Susan,
Fiez Julie,
Perfetti Charles
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
human brain mapping
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.005
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1097-0193
pISSN - 1065-9471
DOI - 10.1002/hbm.20356
Subject(s) - orthography , psychology , pronunciation , chinese characters , writing system , reading (process) , mandarin chinese , accommodation , linguistics , meaning (existential) , neuroscience , philosophy , psychotherapist
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. Hum Brain Mapp, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.