Brain activation patterns resulting from learning letter forms through active self-production and passive observation in young children

Abstract

Although previous literature suggests that writing practice facilitates neural specialization for letters, it is unclear if this facilitation is driven by the perceptual feedback from the act of writing or the actual execution of the motor act. The present study addresses this issue by measuring the change in BOLD signal in response to hand-printed letters, unlearned cursive letters, and cursive letters that 7-year-old children learned actively, by writing, and passively, by observing an experimenter write. Brain activation was assessed using fMRI while perceiving letters—in both cursive and manuscript forms. Results showed that active training led to increased recruitment of the sensori-motor network associated with letter perception as well as the insula and claustrum, but passive observation did not. This suggests that perceptual networks for newly learned cursive letters are driven by motor execution rather than by perceptual feedback.

Neural Signatures of the Reading-Writing Connection: Greater Involvement of Writing in Chinese Reading than English Reading

“…We found that it was more involved in Chinese writing than in English writing, and that reading did not activate the Exner’s area in either language. Previous studies have also found that viewing letters/reading activated the left MFG but not the Exner’s area [29,41][42], even though the authors did not explicitly and clearly discuss the different functions of the left MFG and Exner’s area in reading and writing. Longcamp, 2003 found that reading and writing overlap at the left MFG (-53, 4, 40), but only writing showed activation in the more medial Exner’s area (-28, -1, 65), although it was not directly tested whether the Exner’s area is more activated in writing than reading.…”

“…In reading, imaging studies have found that viewing letters/words/characters that were learned through writing evoked greater activation in this region than viewing those learned by passive viewing. This effect was located in the left IFG at (-56, 4, 19) [40], at (-42, 6, 20) [28], the ventral premotor cortex at (-51,-2,41) [41], the ventral precentral gyrus at (-49,-5,44) [42] and (-53,-6,41) [43]. These regions are all proximal to the left MFG reported to be differentially active in Chinese versus English.…”

A case study in connectomics: the history, mapping, and connectivity of the claustrum

“…It has also been implicated in learning; the insula and claustrum are BOLD-activated during active, but not passive learning (Kersey and James, 2013). Given the prevalence of claustral abnormalities in memory disorders, the role of the claustrum in the creation of fluency heuristics may be due to its involvement in recall.…”

Handwriting generates variable visual output to facilitate symbol learning.

“…Furthermore, there is mounting evidence that many children with reading disabilities, including dyslexia, also have writing impairments (Berninger, 2006). Neuroscientific research shows that brain mechanisms that support visual letter categorization only respond to letters in pre-literate children after handwriting (printing) practice, but not after visual-auditory (the usually taught method), typing, or tracing practice (James, 2010; James & Engelhardt, 2012; Kersey & James, 2013). Taken together, results suggest a crucial role for handwriting practice in the development of letter categorization ability and of brain networks supporting letter perception and reading.…”