Letter processing in the visual system: Different activation patterns for single letters and strings

Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience

Volumn 5, Issue 4, 2005, Pages 452-466

  James, Karin H ^a   James, Thomas W ^a   Jobard, Gael ^b   Wong, Alan C N ^b   Gauthier, Isabel ^b  

^a INDIANA UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ADULT; ARTICLE; BRAIN FUNCTION; BRAIN REGION; FEMALE; HUMAN; HUMAN EXPERIMENT; MALE; NERVE POTENTIAL; NORMAL HUMAN; PATTERN RECOGNITION; READING; RECOGNITION; SPINDLE CELL; STIMULUS RESPONSE; TASK PERFORMANCE; VISUAL CORTEX; VISUAL MEMORY; VISUAL SYSTEM; VISUAL WORD FORM AREA; WORD RECOGNITION; ATTENTION; BRAIN CORTEX; BRAIN MAPPING; IMAGE PROCESSING; LANGUAGE; NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING; PHYSIOLOGY;

ADULT; ATTENTION; BRAIN MAPPING; CEREBRAL CORTEX; FEMALE; HUMANS; IMAGE PROCESSING, COMPUTER-ASSISTED; LANGUAGE; MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING; MALE; PATTERN RECOGNITION, VISUAL; READING;

EID: 33646463493     PISSN: 15307026     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.3758/CABN.5.4.452     Document Type: Article

References (71)

1. BARON, J., & THURSTONE, I. (1973). An analysis of the word-superiority effect. Cognitive Psychology, 4, 207-228.
2. BLACK, S. E., & BEHRMANN, M. (1994). Localization in alexia. In A. Kertesz (Ed.), Localization and neuroimaging in neuropsychology (pp. 331-376). New York: Academic Press.
3. BOOKHEIMER, S. (2002). Functional MRI of language: New approaches to understanding the cortical organization of semantic processing. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 25, 151-188.
4. BOOTH, J. R., BURMAN, D. D., MEYER, J. R., GITELMAN, D. R., PARRISH, T. B., & MESULAM, M. M. (2002). Modality independence of word comprehension. Human Brain Mapping, 16, 251-261.
5. BOYNTON, G. M., ENGEL, S. A., GLOVER, G. H., & HEEGER, D. J. (1996). Linear systems analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging in human VI. Journal of Neuroscience, 16, 4207-4221.
6. CATTELL, J. M. (1886). The time taken up by cerebral operations. Mind, 11, 220-242.
7. COHEN, L., & DEHAENE, S. (2004). Specialization within the ventral stream: The case for the visual word form area. NeuroImage, 22, 466-476.
8. COHEN, L., DEHAENE, S., NACCACHE, L., LEHERICY, S., DEHAENE-LAMBERTZ, G., HENAFF, M. A., & MICHEL, F. (2000). The visual word form area: Spatial and temporal characterization of an initial stage of reading in normal subjects and posterior split-brain patients. Brain, 123, 291-307.
9. DEHAENE, S., JOBERT, A., NACCACHE, L., CIUCIU, P., POLINE, J. B., LE BIHAN, D., & COHEN, L. (2004). Letter binding and invariant recognition of masked words: Behavioral and neuroimaging evidence. Psychological Science, 15, 307-313.
10. DEHAENE, S., LE CLEC'H, G., POLINE, J. B., LE BIHAN, D., & COHEN, L. (2002). The visual word form area: A prelexical representation of visual words in the fusiform gyrus. NeuroReport, 13, 321-325.
11. DEHAENE, S., NACCACHE, L., COHEN, L., LE BIHAN, D., MANGIN, J. F., POLINE, J. B., & RIVIERE, D. (2001). Cerebral mechanisms of word masking and unconscious repetition priming. Nature Neuroscience, 4, 678-680.
12. DEVLIN, J. T., MOORE, C. J., MUMMERY, C. J., GORNO-TEMPINI, M. L., PHILLIPS, J. A., NOPPENEY, U., ET AL. (2002). Anatomic constraints on cognitive theories of category specificity. NeuroImage, 15, 675-685.
13. DOWNING, P. E., JIANG, Y., SHUMAN, M., & KANWISHER, N. (2001). A cortical area selective for visual processing of the human body. Science, 293, 2470-2473.
14. EPSTEIN, R., & KANWISHER, N. (1998). A cortical representation of the local visual environment. Nature, 392, 598-601.
15. FARAH, M. J. (1990). Visual agnosia. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
16. FLOWERS, D. L., JONES, K., NOBLE, K., VANMETER, J., ZEFFIRO, T. A., WOOD, F. B., & EDEN, G. F. (2004). Attention to single letters activates left extrastriate cortex. NeuroImage, 21, 829-839.
17. FRACKOWIAK, R., FRISTON, K., FRITH, C., DOLAN, R., & MAZZIOTTA, J. C. (1997). Human brain function. New York: Academic Press.
18. GABRIELI, J. D. E., POLDRACK, R. A., & DESMOND, J. E. (1998). The role of left prefrontal cortex in language and memory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 95, 906-913.
19. GARRETT, A. S., FLOWERS, D. L., ABSHER, J. R., FAHEY, F. H., GAGE, H. D., KEYES, J. W., ET AL. (2000). Cortical activity related to accuracy of letter recognition. NeuroImage, 11, 111-123.
20. GAUTHIER, I. (2000). What constrains the organization of the ventral temporal cortex? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 4, 1-2.
21. GAUTHIER, I., & LOGOTHETIS, N. (2000). Is face recognition not so unique after all? Cognitive Neuropsychology, 17, 125-142.
22. GAUTHIER, I., TARR, M. J., ANDERSON, A. W., SKUDLARSKI, P., & GORE, J. C. (1999). Activation of the middle fusiform "face area" increases with expertise in recognizing novel objects. Nature Neuroscience, 2, 568-573.
23. GAUTHIER, I., TARR, M. J., MOYLAN, J., SKUDLARSKI, P., GORE, J. C., & ANDERSON, A. W. (2000). The fusiform "face area" is part of a network that processes faces at the individual level. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 12, 495-504.
24. GAUTHIER, I., WONG, A. C-N., HAYWARD, W. G., & CHEUNG, S.-C. (2004). Font tuning associated with expertise in letter perception. Manuscript submitted for publication.
25. GENOVESE, C. R., LAZAR, N. A., & NICHOLS, T. (2002). Thresholding of statistical maps in functional neuroimaging using the false discovery rate. NeuroImage, 15, 870-878.
26. GRILL-SPECTOR, K. (2003). The neural basis of object perception. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 13, 159-166.
27. GRILL-SPECTOR, K., KUSHNIR, T., EDELMAN, S., AVIDAN, G., ITZCHAK, Y., & MALACH, R. (1999). Differential processing of objects under various viewing conditions in the human lateral occipital complex. Neuron, 24, 187-203.
28. HAGOORT, P., INDEFREY, P., BROWN, C., HERZOG, H., STEINMETZ, H., & SEITZ, R. J. (1999). The neural circuitry involved in the reading of German words and pseudowords: A PET study. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 11, 383-398.
29. HASSON, U., LEVY, I., BEHRMANN, M., HENDLER, T., & MALACH, R. (2002). Eccentricity bias as an organizing principle for human high-order object areas. Neuron, 34, 479-490.
30. ISHAI, A., UNGERLEIDER, L. G., MARTIN, A., SCHOUTEN, J. L., & HAXBY, J. ( 1999). Distributed representation of objects in the human ventral visual pathway. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 96, 9379-9384.
31. JAMES, K. H., & GAUTHIER, I. (2005). Neural specialization for letters: Effects of writing, imagining, and perceiving letters. Manuscript in preparation.
32. JAMES, K. H., MARTELLI, M., JAMES, T. W., MAJAJ, N. J., PELLI, D. G., & GAUTHIER, I. (2004, April-May). fMRI reveals the role of the left fusiform gyrus in letter detection. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, Sarasota, FL.
33. JOBARD, G., CRIVELLO, F., & TZOURIO-MAZOYER, N. (2003). Evaluation of the dual route theory of reading: A metanalysis of 35 neuroimaging studies. NeuroImage, 20, 693-712.
34. JOHNSTON, J. C., & MCCLELLAND, J. L. (1974). Perception of letters in words: Seek not and ye shall find. Science, 184, 1192-1194.
35. JOSEPH, J. E., GATHERS, A. D., & PIPER, G. A. (2003). Shared and dissociated cortical regions for object and letter processing. Cognitive Brain Research, 17, 56-67.
36. KANWISHER, N. (2000). Domain specificity in face perception. Nature Neuroscience, 3, 759-763.
37. KANWISHER, N., CHUN, M. M., & MCDERMOTT, J. (1996). fMRI in individual subjects reveals loci in extrastriate cortex differentially sensitive to faces and objects. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 37, S193.
38. KANWISHER, N., MCDERMOTT, J., & CHUN, M. M. (1997). The fusiform face area: A module in human extrastriate cortex specialized for face perception. Journal of Neuroscience, 17, 4302-4311.
39. KIRCHER, T. T., BRAMMER, M., TOUS, A.N., WILLIAMS, S. C., & McGUIRE, P. K. (2001). Engagement of right temporal cortex during processing of linguistic context. Neuropsychologia, 39, 798-809.
40. LABERGE, D., & SAMUELS, S. J. (1974). Toward a theory of automatic information processing in reading. Cognitive Psychology, 6, 293-323.
41. LONGCAMP, M., ANTON, J. L., ROTH, M., & VELAY, J. L. (2003). Visual presentation of single letters activates a premotor area involved in writing. NeuroImage, 19, 1492-1500.
42. MALACH, R., LEVY, I., & HASSON, U. (2002). The topography of high-order human object areas. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 6, 176-184.
43. MALACH, R., REPPAS, J. B., BENSON, R. R., KWONG, K. K., JIANG, H., KENNEDY, W. A., ET AL. (1995). Object-related activity revealed by functional magnetic resonance imaging in human occipital cortex. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 92, 8135-8139.
44. McCANDLISS, B. D., COHEN, L., & DEHAENE, S. (2003). The visual word form area: Expertise for reading in the fusiform gyrus. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7, 293-299.
45. McCLELLAND, J. L. (1977). Letter and configuration information in word identification. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 16, 137-150.
46. MEWHORT, D. J. K. (1974). Accuracy and order of report in tachistoscopic identification. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 28, 383-398.
47. MONK, A. F., & HULME, C. (1983). Errors in proofreading: Evidence for the use of word shape in word recognition. Memory & Cognition, 11, 16-23.
48. MOORE, C. J., & PRICE, C. J. (1999). Three distinct ventral occipitotemporal regions for reading and object naming. NeuroImage, 10, 181-192.
49. MURTHA, S., CHERTKOW, H., BEAUREGARD, M., & EVANS, A. (1999). The neural substrate of picture naming. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 11, 399-423.
50. OGAWA, S., MENON, R. S., TANK, D. W., KIM, S. G., MERKLE, H., ELLERMANN, J. M., & UGURBIL, K. (1993). Functional brain mapping by blood oxygenation level-dependent contrast magnetic resonance imaging: A comparison of signal characteristics with a biophysical model. Biophysiology Journal, 64, 803-812.
51. PELLI, D. G., FARELL, B., & MOORE, D. C. (2003). The remarkable inefficiency of word recognition. Nature, 423, 752-756.
52. PILLSBURY, W. B. (1897). A study in apperception. American Journal of Psychology, 8, 315-393.
53. POLK, T. A., & FARAH, M. J. (1995). Brain localization for arbitrary stimulus categories: A simple account based on Hebbian learning. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 92, 12370-12373.
54. POLK, T. A., & FARAH, M. J. (1998). The neural development and organization of letter recognition: Evidence from functional neuroimaging, computational modeling, and behavioral studies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 95, 847-852.
55. POLK, T. A., & FARAH, M. J. (2002). Functional MRI evidence for an abstract, not perceptual, word-form area. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 131, 65-72.
56. POLK, T. A., STALLCUP, M., AGUIRRE, G. K., ALSOP, D. C., D'ESPOSITO, M., DETRE, J. A., & FARAH, M. J. (2002). Neural specialization for letter recognition. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 14, 145-159.
57. PRICE, C. J. (2000). The anatomy of language: Contributions from functional neuroimaging. Journal of Anatomy, 197, 335-359.
58. PRICE, C. J., & DEVLIN, J. T. (2003). The myth of the visual word form area. NeuroImage, 19, 473-481.
59. PUCE, A., ALLISON, T., ASGARI, M., GORE, J. C., & MCCARTHY, G. (1996). Differential sensitivity of human visual cortex to faces, letterstrings, and textures: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Journal of Neuroscience, 16, 5205-5215.
60. PUGH, K. R., MENCL, W. E., JENNER, A. R., KATZ, L., FROST, S. J., LEE, J. R., ET AL. (2001). Neurobiological studies of reading and reading disability. Journal of Communication Disorders, 34, 479-492.
61. REICHER, G. M. (1969). Perceptual recognition as a function of meaningfulness of stimulus material. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 81, 274-280.
62. ROSCH, E., MERVIS, C. B., GRAY, W. D., JOHNSON, D. M., & BOYESBRAEM, P. (1976). Basic objects in natural categories. Cognitive Psychology, 8, 382-439.
63. ROSSION, B., GAUTHIER, I., GOFFAUX, V., TARR, M. J., & CROMMELINCK, M. (2002). Expertise training with novel objects leads to left lateralized face-like electrophysiological responses. Psychological Science, 13, 250-257.
64. SANOCKI, T., BOWVER, K. W., HEATH, M. D., & SARKAR, S. (1998). Are edges sufficient for object recognition? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 24, 340-349.
65. TAGAMETS, M. A., NOVICK, J. M., CHALMERS, M. L., & FRIEDMAN, R. B. (2000). A parametric approach to orthographic processing in the brain: An fMRI study. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 12, 281-297.
66. TARKIAINEN, A., HELENIUS, P., HANSEN, P. C., CORNELISSEN, P. L., & SALMELIN, R. (1999). Dynamics of letter string perception in the human occipitotemporal cortex. Brain, 122, 2119-2131.
67. VAN LEEUWEN, C., & LACHMANN, T. (2004). Negative and positive congruence effects in letters and shapes. Perception & Psychophysics, 66, 908-925.
68. WHEELER, D. D. (1970). Processes in word recognition. Cognitive Psychology, 1, 59-85.
69. WONG, A. C.-N., & GAUTHIER, I. (2002). Visual expertise with different alphabet systems. Unpublished manuscript.
70. WONG, A. C.-N., GAUTHIER, I., WOROCH, B., DEBUSE, C., & CURRAN, T. (2005). An early electrophysiological response associated with expertise in letter perception. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 5, 306-318.
71. WONG, A. C.-N., JOBARD, G., JAMES, T. W., JAMES, K. H., & GAUTHIER, I. (2005). Expertise with characters in alphabetic and non-alphabetic writing systems engage the same occipitotemporal area. Manuscript submitted for publication.