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Chen Y, Fu S, Iverson SD, Smith SM, Matthews PW.

Testing for dual brain processing routes in reading: A direct contrast of Chinese character and pinyin reading using fMRI

fMRIDC Accession Number: 2-2002-112MY
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 2002 Oct ;14(7): p.1088-1098
View entire article (off-site link)
PubMed ID: 12419131 (off-site link)
 Study Meta-Data

Chinese offers a unique tool for testing the effects of word form on language processing during reading. The processes of letter-mediated grapheme-to-phoneme translation and phonemic assembly (assembled phonology) critical for reading and spelling in any alphabetic orthography are largely absent when reading non-alphabetic Chinese characters. In contrast, script-to-sound translation based on the script as a whole (addressed phonology) is absent when reading the Chinese alphabetic sound symbols known as Pinyin, for which the script-to-sound translation is based exclusively on assembled phonology. The present study aims to contrast patterns of brain activity associated with the different cognitive mechanisms needed for reading the two scripts. FMRI was used with a block design involving a phonological and lexical task in which subjects were asked to decide whether visually presented, paired Chinese characters or Pinyin "sounded like" a word. Results demonstrate that reading Chinese characters and Pinyin activate a common brain network including the inferior frontal, middle and inferior temporal gyri, the inferior and superior parietal lobules and extrastriate areas. However, some regions show relatively greater activation for either Pinyin or Chinese reading. Reading Pinyin (the more difficult task) led to a greater activation in the inferior parietal cortex bilaterally, the precuneus and anterior middle temporal gyrus. In contrast, activation in the left fusiform gyrus, the bilateral cuneus, the posterior middle temporal, the right inferior frontal gyrus, and the bilateral superior frontal gyrus were greater for non-alphabetic Chinese reading. We conclude that both alphabetic and non-alphabetic scripts activate a common brain network for reading. However, differences in language surface form appear to determine relative activation in other regions. Some of these regions (e.g., inferior parietal cortex for Pinyin and fusiform gyrus for Chinese characters) are candidate regions for specialized processes associated with reading via predominantly assembled (Pinyin) or addressed (Chinese characters) procedures.

Supplemental Information

Language: English
fMRIDC Comments: Chinese character & pinyin processing Dataset Size: 2.9M Available on 2 CDs
Country: UK
Magnetic Field Strength: 3.0T
Scanner Manufacturer: Siemens AS22
Analysis Software: FEAT
Cognitive Domain: Language
Subjects: 9
Age Range: Not given in paper
Has anatomical data
Has raw image data
Has high-res images

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