Marcin Szwed|Emilie Qiao|Antoinette Jobert|Stanislas Dehaene|Laurent Cohen
Effects of Literacy in Early Visual and Occipitotemporal Areas of Chinese and French Readers
Jagiellonian University|Inserm|Inserm|Sorbonne Université|Inserm|Inserm|Collège de France|Inserm|Sorbonne Université|Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital
reading expertise change visual system explored whether visual system could develop dedicated perceptual mechanisms early intermediate visual cortex pressure fast processing particularly strong reading compared fmri activations chinese participants limited knowledge french french participants knowledge chinese exploiting doubly dissociated reading skills tool study neural correlates visual expertise participants viewed stimuli words languages matched visual controls presented fast rate comparable fluent reading visual word form area participants showed enhanced responses known scripts however group differences found occipital cortex french readers reading french activations enhanced lefthemisphere visual area v1 strongest differences french words controls found central horizontal meridian representations chinese participants expert french readers show early visual activations contrast chinese readers reading chinese showed enhanced activations intermediate visual areas v3vhv4 absent french participants together previous findings szwed dehaene kleinschmidt eger e valabregue r amadon et al specialization written words objects visual cortex neuroimage 56 330344 2011 results suggest effects extensive practice found lowest levels visual system also reveal crossscript variability alphabetic reading involves enhanced engagement central right meridian v1 representations particularly used lefttoright reading whereas chinese characters put greater emphasis intermediate visual areas