Evolution of reading and face circuits during the first three years of reading acquisition

Feng, Xiaoxia; Monzalvo, Karla; Dehaene, Stanislas; Dehaene‐Lambertz, Ghislaine

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119394

Cited by 13 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 106 publications

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“…Previous research has emphasized the similarities between word and face recognition (e.g. Dehaene et al, 2015;Feng et al, 2022;Hasson et al, 2002;Puce et al, 1996). Indeed, faces also require foveal processing and elicit category-specific activation in the VOTC, mesial and adjacent to word-specific activations but with right-hemispheric predominance (Kanwisher et al, 1997;Kanwisher & Yovel, 2006).…”

Section: Localizer For Visual Categories and Overall Reading Circuitmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This previous finding suggested a competition between the newly acquired words and the already existing face specificity, consistent with the cultural recycling hypothesis . The word-face competition hypothesis was revisited in later developmental studies of children learning to read (Dehaene-Lambertz et al, 2018;Feng et al, 2022;Monzalvo et al, 2012): during reading acquisition, the VWFA invades largely unspecialized cortical patches in the left OTS, and their growth blocks the slow development of face patches and forces it to shift towards the right hemisphere (Feng et al, 2022;Golarai et al, 2010), perhaps because both call upon the same cytoarchitectonic region (Gomez et al, 2017). The current study confirms that, indeed, there may be shared mechanisms between face and word processing, but surprisingly indicate that cortical competition (in alphabetic readers) may switch to cortical overlap (in Chinese readers).…”

Section: Multiple Specialized Cortical Patches For Readingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Within the left ventral occipitotemporal cortex (VOTC), the recognition of written words mobilizes a small cortical area which has been termed the visual word form area (VWFA) (Cohen et al, 2000). This region emerges during reading acquisition (Brem et al, 2010;Dehaene et al, 2010Dehaene et al, , 2015Dehaene-Lambertz et al, 2018;Feng et al, 2020Feng et al, , 2022Schlaggar & McCandliss, 2007) and becomes attuned only to the script that the person has learned to read (Baker et al, 2007;Dehaene et al, 2015;Dehaene & Cohen, 2011;Szwed et al, 2014). In readers of all languages, the VWFA occupies a reproducible location within a mosaic of cortical regions specialized for the recognition of various categories of visual stimuli such as faces, bodies, objects or places.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In readers of all languages, the VWFA occupies a reproducible location within a mosaic of cortical regions specialized for the recognition of various categories of visual stimuli such as faces, bodies, objects or places. This reproducible specialization is thought to be based on a combination of factors including foveal bias (Hasson et al, 2002), preference for geometrical features (Long et al, 2018;Srihasam et al, 2014;Szwed et al, 2009) and preexisting connectivity to distant language areas (Bouhali et al, 2014;Feng et al, 2022;Hannagan et al, 2015;Mahon & Caramazza, 2011;Saygin et al, 2016). Longitudinal studies of school children show that the VWFA acquires its specialization for written words within the first few months of schooling (Dehaene-Lambertz et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Does the visual word form area split in bilingual readers? A millimeter-scale 7T fMRI study

Zhan

Pallier

Dehaene

et al. 2022

Preprint

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In expert readers, a brain region known as the visual word form area (VWFA) is highly sensitive to written words, exhibiting a posterior-to-anterior gradient of increasing sensitivity to orthographic stimuli whose statistics match those of real words. Using high-resolution 7T fMRI, we ask whether, in bilingual readers, distinct cortical patches specialize for different languages. In 21 English-French bilinguals, unsmoothed 1.2 mm fMRI revealed that the VWFA is actually composed of several small cortical patches highly selective for reading, with a posterior-to-anterior word similarity gradient, but with near-complete overlap between the two languages. In 10 English-Chinese bilinguals, however, while most word-specific patches exhibited similar reading specificity and word-similarity gradients for reading in Chinese and English, additional patches responded specifically to Chinese writing and, surprisingly, to faces. Our results show that the acquisition of multiple writing systems can indeed tune the visual cortex differently in bilinguals, sometimes leading to the emergence of cortical patches specialized for a single language.

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Section: Localizer For Visual Categories and Overall Reading Circuitmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Multiple Specialized Cortical Patches For Readingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Does the visual word form area split in bilingual readers? A millimeter-scale 7T fMRI study

Zhan

Pallier

Dehaene

et al. 2022

Preprint

Self Cite

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“…But as we learn more about how brain structures interact, it has become clear that whilst the primary sensory and motor areas are indeed functionally localized, in the rest of the cortical “association areas,” it is more useful to consider how they connect with each other, their “connectomes,” than to concentrate on a single area ( Dick et al, 2013 ). Recent advances in functional MRI, in particular diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), allows the functional connectivity between areas to be traced and also to investigate how these change not only over the long term during development ( Feng et al, 2022 ), but also over shorter terms to mediate the acquisition of new cognitive skills, such as reading.…”

Section: The Reading Connectomementioning

confidence: 99%

The visual basis of reading and reading difficulties

Stein

2022

Front. Neurosci.

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Most of our knowledge about the neural networks mediating reading has derived from studies of developmental dyslexia (DD). For much of the 20th C. this was diagnosed on the basis of finding a discrepancy between children’s unexpectedly low reading and spelling scores compared with their normal or high oral and non-verbal reasoning ability. This discrepancy criterion has now been replaced by the claim that the main feature of dyslexia is a phonological deficit, and it is now argued that we should test for this to identify dyslexia. However, grasping the phonological principle is essential for all learning to read; so every poor reader will show a phonological deficit. The phonological theory does not explain why dyslexic people, in particular, fail; so this phonological criterion makes it impossible to distinguish DD from any of the many other causes of reading failure. Currently therefore, there is no agreement about precisely how we should identify it. Yet, if we understood the specific neural pathways that underlie failure to acquire phonological skills specifically in people with dyslexia, we should be able to develop reliable means of identifying it. An important, though not the only, cause in people with dyslexia is impaired development of the brain’s rapid visual temporal processing systems; these are required for sequencing the order of the letters in a word accurately. Such temporal, “transient,” processing is carried out primarily by a distinct set of “magnocellular” (M-) neurones in the visual system; and the development of these has been found to be impaired in many people with dyslexia. Likewise, auditory sequencing of the sounds in a word is mediated by the auditory temporal processing system whose development is impaired in many dyslexics. Together these two deficits can therefore explain their problems with acquiring the phonological principle. Assessing poor readers’ visual and auditory temporal processing skills should enable dyslexia to be reliably distinguished from other causes of reading failure and this will suggest principled ways of helping these children to learn to read, such as sensory training, yellow or blue filters or omega 3 fatty acid supplements. This will enable us to diagnose DD with confidence, and thus to develop educational plans targeted to exploit each individual child’s strengths and compensate for his weaknesses.

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Unraveling individual differences in learning potential: A dynamic framework for the case of reading development

Bonte,

Brem

2024

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

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Evolution of reading and face circuits during the first three years of reading acquisition

Cited by 13 publications

References 106 publications

Does the visual word form area split in bilingual readers? A millimeter-scale 7T fMRI study

Does the visual word form area split in bilingual readers? A millimeter-scale 7T fMRI study

The visual basis of reading and reading difficulties

Unraveling individual differences in learning potential: A dynamic framework for the case of reading development

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