RETRACTED: The visual word form area is organized according to orthography
Abstract
Efficient word reading depends on a left fusiform brain region, the Visual Word Form Area (VWFA). The internal organization of this brain area is currently unknown, as are the potential factors that might underlie this organization. Here we combine functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with multi-voxel pattern analyses (MVPA) to probe the internal organization of the VWFA. Our findings reveal distinct activation patterns in the VWFA associated with individual letter strings, as well as for pictures. This result demonstrates that the VWFA is organized in such a way that similar words (as well as pictures) activate neurons consistently, irrespective of their exact visual appearance or location. The activation patterns for letter strings were driven primarily by orthographic similarity, and we observed no effects of semantics or lexical status (words versus pseudowords). This effect of orthographic similarity was significant only in the VWFA and not in retinotopic areas and object-selective control regions. Given the relationships between the internal organization and how visual input is processed in a brain region, our findings provide important constraints for computational models of how visual word forms are represented in the brain.
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The left occipitotemporal cortex is involved in the perceptual processing of generic visual features present in all visual stimuli including words, objects, letters and faces.
“A second perspective is that the left occipitotemporal cortex is involved in the perceptual processing of generic visual features that are present to varying degrees in all visual stimuli including words, objects, letters and faces (Barton et al., 2010; Mei et al., 2010; Braet et al., 2011; Reinke et al., 2008).”
From A review and synthesis of the first 20years of PET and fMRI studies of heard speech, spoken language and reading (2012) · cites this paper as Braet et al., 2011
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- Authors
- Braet, W., Wagemans, J., & Op de Beeck, H. P.
- Affiliations
- KU Leuven (BE)
- Corresponding author
- Braet, Wouter
- ORCID
- Wagemans, Johan
- Venue
- NeuroImage
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2012-02
- Volume
- 59
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 2751-2759
- ISSN
- 1053-8119 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1998326011
- Cited by
- 27
- References
- 47
- Citations by year
- 2021: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 14
- FWCI
- 16.35
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Status
- Retracted
- Update notices
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- NeuroImage (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Reading and Literacy Development
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Keywords
- visual word form area, orthographic similarity, word reading, fusiform gyrus, image recognition, multi-voxel pattern analysis, retracted article, retinotopic areas
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Brain Mapping, Cerebral Cortex, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Neurons, Occipital Lobe, Photic Stimulation, Reading, Regression Analysis, Retina, Semantics, Visual Pathways, Visual Perception, Linear Models, Young Adult
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