scholarly journals Orthographic Priming in Braille Reading as Evidence for Task-specific Reorganization in the Ventral Visual Cortex of the Congenitally Blind

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (7) ◽  
pp. 1065-1078
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Rączy ◽  
Aleksandra Urbańczyk ◽  
Maksymilian Korczyk ◽  
Jakub Michał Szewczyk ◽  
Ewa Sumera ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Orthographic Processing ◽  
Sentence Structure ◽  
Input Modality ◽  
Double Dissociation ◽  
Repetition Suppression ◽  
Congenitally Blind ◽  
Auditory Priming ◽  
Occipitotemporal Cortex ◽  
Orthographic Priming ◽  
Language Areas

The task-specific principle asserts that, following deafness or blindness, the deprived cortex is reorganized in a manner such that the task of a given area is preserved even though its input modality has been switched. Accordingly, tactile reading engages the ventral occipitotemporal cortex (vOT) in the blind in a similar way to regular reading in the sighted. Others, however, show that the vOT of the blind processes spoken sentence structure, which suggests that the task-specific principle might not apply to vOT. The strongest evidence for the vOT's engagement in sighted reading comes from orthographic repetition–suppression studies. Here, congenitally blind adults were tested in an fMRI repetition–suppression paradigm. Results reveal a double dissociation, with tactile orthographic priming in the vOT and auditory priming in general language areas. Reconciling our finding with other evidence, we propose that the vOT in the blind serves multiple functions, one of which, orthographic processing, overlaps with its function in the sighted.

scholarly journals Tool Selectivity in Left Occipitotemporal Cortex Develops without Vision

2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 1225-1234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marius V. Peelen ◽  
Stefania Bracci ◽  
Xueming Lu ◽  
Chenxi He ◽  
Alfonso Caramazza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Organization ◽  
Auditory Task ◽  
Anatomical Location ◽  
Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽  
Frontoparietal Network ◽  
Congenitally Blind ◽  
Occipitotemporal Cortex ◽  
Auditory Tasks ◽  
Tool Motion ◽  
Selective Activity

Previous studies have provided evidence for a tool-selective region in left lateral occipitotemporal cortex (LOTC). This region responds selectively to pictures of tools and to characteristic visual tool motion. The present human fMRI study tested whether visual experience is required for the development of tool-selective responses in left LOTC. Words referring to tools, animals, and nonmanipulable objects were presented auditorily to 14 congenitally blind and 16 sighted participants. Sighted participants additionally viewed pictures of these objects. In whole-brain group analyses, sighted participants showed tool-selective activity in left LOTC in both visual and auditory tasks. Importantly, virtually identical tool-selective LOTC activity was found in the congenitally blind group performing the auditory task. Furthermore, both groups showed equally strong tool-selective activity for auditory stimuli in a tool-selective LOTC region defined by the picture-viewing task in the sighted group. Detailed analyses in individual participants showed significant tool-selective LOTC activity in 13 of 14 blind participants and 14 of 16 sighted participants. The strength and anatomical location of this activity were indistinguishable across groups. Finally, both blind and sighted groups showed significant resting state functional connectivity between left LOTC and a bilateral frontoparietal network. Together, these results indicate that tool-selective activity in left LOTC develops without ever having seen a tool or its motion. This finding puts constraints on the possible role that this region could have in tool processing and, more generally, provides new insights into the principles shaping the functional organization of OTC.

scholarly journals Learning to Read an Alphabet of Human Faces Produces Left-lateralized Training Effects in the Fusiform Gyrus

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 896-913 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle W. Moore ◽  
Corrine Durisko ◽  
Charles A. Perfetti ◽  
Julie A. Fiez
Keyword(s):  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Reading Performance ◽  
Fusiform Gyrus ◽  
Orthographic Processing ◽  
Word Form ◽  
Learning To Read ◽  
Visual Word Form Area ◽  
The Right ◽  
Human Faces ◽  
Language Areas

Numerous functional neuroimaging studies have shown that most orthographic stimuli, such as printed English words, produce a left-lateralized response within the fusiform gyrus (FG) at a characteristic location termed the visual word form area (VWFA). We developed an experimental alphabet (FaceFont) comprising 35 face–phoneme pairs to disentangle phonological and perceptual influences on the lateralization of orthographic processing within the FG. Using functional imaging, we found that a region in the vicinity of the VWFA responded to FaceFont words more strongly in trained versus untrained participants, whereas no differences were observed in the right FG. The trained response magnitudes in the left FG region correlated with behavioral reading performance, providing strong evidence that the neural tissue recruited by training supported the newly acquired reading skill. These results indicate that the left lateralization of the orthographic processing is not restricted to stimuli with particular visual-perceptual features. Instead, lateralization may occur because the anatomical projections in the vicinity of the VWFA provide a unique interconnection between the visual system and left-lateralized language areas involved in the representation of speech.

scholarly journals Repetition Suppression for Speech Processing in the Associative Occipital and Parietal Cortex of Congenitally Blind Adults

PLoS ONE ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. e64553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laureline Arnaud ◽  
Marc Sato ◽  
Lucie Ménard ◽  
Vincent L. Gracco
Keyword(s):  
Parietal Cortex ◽  
Speech Processing ◽  
Repetition Suppression ◽  
Congenitally Blind

Functionally Separable Font-invariant and Font-sensitive Neural Populations in Occipitotemporal Cortex

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (7) ◽  
pp. 1018-1029 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiheng Zhou ◽  
Tutis Vilis ◽  
Lars Strother
Keyword(s):  
Visual Word ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Word Form ◽  
Invariant Representation ◽  
Visual Word Form Area ◽  
Repetition Suppression ◽  
Neural Populations ◽  
Occipitotemporal Cortex ◽  
Middle Occipital Gyrus ◽  
Repeated Words

Reading relies on the rapid visual recognition of words viewed in a wide variety of fonts. We used fMRI to identify neural populations showing reduced fMRI responses to repeated words displayed in different fonts (“font-invariant” repetition suppression). We also identified neural populations showing greater fMRI responses to words repeated in a changing font as compared with words repeated in the same font (“font-sensitive” release from repetition suppression). We observed font-invariant repetition suppression in two anatomically distinct regions of the left occipitotemporal cortex (OT), a “visual word form area” in mid-fusiform cortex, and a more posterior region in the middle occipital gyrus. In contrast, bilateral shape-selective lateral occipital cortex and posterior fusiform showed considerable sensitivity to font changes during the viewing of repeated words. Although the visual word form area and the left middle occipital gyrus showed some evidence of font sensitivity, both regions showed a relatively greater degree of font invariance than font sensitivity. Our results show that the neural mechanisms in the left OT involved in font-invariant word recognition are anatomically distinct from those sensitive to font-related shape changes. We conclude that font-invariant representation of visual word form is instantiated at multiple levels by anatomically distinct neural mechanisms within the left OT.

scholarly journals Language Competence of HSSC Level Students in Pakistan: Developing Writing Proficiency through Literature

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Muhammad Din ◽  
Muhammad Asif Khan ◽  
Mamuna Ghani
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Achievement Test ◽  
Sentence Structure ◽  
Writing Proficiency ◽  
Language Competence ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Writing Skill ◽  
Language Areas ◽  
Pie Chart

Writing is a means of communication and part of everybody’s education. Writing as a medium of language has its special features. This study brings to light the fact that teaching English through literature does not render any substantive and positive pay off in developing and honing the ESL/EFL learners’ writing skill. In the Pakistani context, literature seems to be inadequate and improper language teaching tool at HSSC level. To achieve the set objectives of this study, the researcher went for the quantitative research methodology. So, a questionnaire comprising of four categories i.e., grammar, vocabulary, sentence structure and creative writing was designed to collect data from 600 subjects (male/female) of intermediate level. The researcher also conducted an achievement test so that a correlation might be drawn between their attitude towards “developing writing skill through literature” and the score of their achievement test. This study has also strived to categorize the subjects in accordance with their proficiency level and computed a pie chart to illustrate their proficiency level. The collected data were analyzed through software package (SPSS XX). The findings of this study explicitly reveal that the EFL learners remain unable to develop both the language skills (particularly writing skill) and language areas when they are taught English through literature. This study recommends that the teaching of English should be application oriented and task-based strategies and activities should be resorted to by the EL educators.

scholarly journals Different Neural Mechanisms within Occipitotemporal Cortex Underlie Repetition Suppression across Same and Different-Size Faces

2012 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 1073-1084 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael. P. Ewbank ◽  
Richard N. Henson ◽  
James B. Rowe ◽  
Raliza S. Stoyanova ◽  
Andrew J. Calder
Keyword(s):  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Repetition Suppression ◽  
Occipitotemporal Cortex

Visual and auditory priming in Swedish poor readers: a double dissociation

Dyslexia ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Samuelsson ◽  
Stefan Gustafson ◽  
Jerker Rönnberg
Keyword(s):  
Poor Readers ◽  
Double Dissociation ◽  
Auditory Priming

ERPs Reveal Relationships Between Neural Orthographic Priming Effects and Reading Skill

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 76-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne E. Welcome ◽  
Emma R. Trammel
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
University Students ◽  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Masked Priming ◽  
Orthographic Processing ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Orthographic Priming ◽  
Decoding Efficiency ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Masked priming has long been used to demonstrate the impact of brief presentations of orthographically related stimuli on visual word recognition. The aim of the present study was to examine neural correlates of orthographic priming produced by pronounceable and unpronounceable anagram primes. Crucially, we examined relationships between these priming effects and individual differences on a battery of measures assessing orthographic processing ability, current reading ability, and verbal intelligence in university students. Our study demonstrated group-level priming effects on the N200 and N400, with both components being primarily modulated by unpronounceable, orthographically illegal primes. Relationships between the extent of priming as indexed by N200 amplitude and speed of orthographic processing emerged, as reaction time (RT) on an orthographic choice task was associated with priming effects. Priming effects on N400 amplitude were related to phonological decoding efficiency. Those individuals with less efficient orthographic or phonological processing were more sensitive to the orthographic relationship between primes and targets. These findings demonstrate that university students vary in their sensitivity to orthographic priming and the degree to which orthographic information is used during word recognition.

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