Functional MRI evidence for an abstract, not perceptual, word-form area
Abstract
Previous studies have found an area in left ventral visual cortex that responds more to words and pseudowords than to consonant strings. Does this area respond to the perceptual form of wordlike stimuli, or is it responding to some more abstract, linguistic property, such as orthographic regularity (i.e., conformity with the spelling rules of the language)? During a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment, participants read alternating-case words and pseudowords, which are orthographically regular but are perceptually unfamiliar. These stimuli activated the same area that was activated by pure-case words and pseudowords. These results suggest that the response of the so-called word-form area is not based on perceptual familiarity but rather on some more abstract feature such as orthographic regularity.
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Brain imaging studies reliably localize a region of visual cortex that is especially responsive to visual words.
“Brain imaging studies reliably localize a region of visual cortex that is especially responsive to visual words.”
From The visual word form area: expertise for reading in the fusiform gyrus (2003) · cites this paper as [10]
This finding is robust enough to identify a significant peak of activation in over 90% of individual subject scans, with a standard deviation of <5 mm.
“This finding is robust enough to identify a significant peak of activation in over 90% of individual subject scans, with a standard deviation of , 5 mm [8-11] (Fig. 1).”
From The visual word form area: expertise for reading in the fusiform gyrus (2003) · cites this paper as [10]
The VWFA shows equally robust fMRI responses when words (versus control stimuli) are presented in a familiar format and in a perceptually novel mixed-case format.
“For example, the VWFA shows equally robust fMRI responses when words (versus control stimuli) are presented in a familiar format (e.g. 'table') and in a perceptually novel mixed-case format (e.g. 'tAbLe') [10].”
From The visual word form area: expertise for reading in the fusiform gyrus (2003) · cites this paper as [10]
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- Authors
- Polk, T. A., & Farah, M. J.
- Affiliations
- University of Michigan (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Experimental Psychology General
- Published
- 2002
- Volume
- 131
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 65-72
- ISSN
- 0096-3445 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-2222
- OpenAlex
- W2026438464
- Cited by
- 169
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 25.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Experimental Psychology General (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (R01DC04205, R01DC004205)
- 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
- orthographic regularity, pseudowords, orthographic processing, case alternation, word reading
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Brain Mapping, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Models, Psychological, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Psycholinguistics, Reading, Visual Cortex
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