A Combined FMRI Study of Typed Spelling and Reading

Overview

Journal Neuroimage

Specialty Radiology

Date 2010 Nov 27

PMID 21109009

Citations 41

Authors

Jeremy J Purcell

Eileen M Napoliello

Guinevere F Eden

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

In this study we employed a novel technique to examine the neural basis of written spelling by having subjects touch-type single words on an fMRI compatible QWERTY keyboard. Additionally, in the same group of participants we determined if task-related signal changes associated with typed spelling were also co-localized with or separate from those for reading. Of particular interest were the left inferior frontal gyrus, left inferior parietal lobe as well as an area in the left occipitotemporal cortex termed the Visual Word Form Area (VWFA), each of which have been associated with both spelling and reading. Our results revealed that typed spelling was associated with a left hemisphere network of regions which included the inferior frontal gyrus, intraparietal sulcus, inferior temporal/fusiform gyrus, as well as a region in the superior/middle frontal gyrus, near Exner's area. A conjunction analysis of activation associated with spelling and reading revealed a significant overlap in the left inferior frontal gyrus and occipitotemporal cortex. Interestingly, within the occipitotemporal cortex just lateral and superior to the VWFA we identified an area that was selectively associated with spelling, as revealed by a direct comparison of the two tasks. These results demonstrate that typed spelling activates a predominantly left hemisphere network, a subset of which is functionally relevant to both spelling and reading. Further analysis revealed that the left occipitotemporal cortex contains regions with both conjoint and dissociable patterns of activation for spelling and reading.

Citing Articles

White matter associations with spelling performance.

Sagi R, Taylor J, Neophytou K, Cohen T, Rapp B, Rastle K Brain Struct Funct. 2024; 229(9):2115-2135.

PMID: 38528269 PMC: 11611966. DOI: 10.1007/s00429-024-02775-7.

Atypical characteristic changes of surface morphology and structural covariance network in developmental dyslexia.

Zhang Y, Huang J, Huang L, Peng L, Wang X, Zhang Q Neurol Sci. 2023; 45(5):2261-2270.

PMID: 37996775 DOI: 10.1007/s10072-023-07193-x.

A single case neuroimaging study of tickertape synesthesia.

Hauw F, El Soudany M, Rosso C, Daunizeau J, Cohen L Sci Rep. 2023; 13(1):12185.

PMID: 37500762 PMC: 10374523. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-39276-2.

Positive changes to written language following phonological treatment in logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia: Case report.

Nickels K, Beeson P, Rising K, Jebahi F, Kielar A Front Hum Neurosci. 2023; 16:1006350.

PMID: 36760227 PMC: 9905434. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.1006350.

A Crossed Pure Agraphia by Graphemic Buffer Impairment following Right Orbito-Frontal Glioma Resection.

Arroyo-Anllo E, Pluchon C, Bouyer C, Baudiffier V, Stal V, Du Boisgueheneuc F Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023; 20(2).

PMID: 36674102 PMC: 9858865. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20021346.

References

Carter C, Botvinick M, Cohen J . The contribution of the anterior cingulate cortex to executive processes in cognition. Rev Neurosci. 1999; 10(1):49-57. DOI: 10.1515/revneuro.1999.10.1.49. View

Salthouse T . Perceptual, cognitive, and motoric aspects of transcription typing. Psychol Bull. 1986; 99(3):303-19. View

Cohen L, Lehericy S, Chochon F, Lemer C, Rivaud S, Dehaene S . Language-specific tuning of visual cortex? Functional properties of the Visual Word Form Area. Brain. 2002; 125(Pt 5):1054-69. DOI: 10.1093/brain/awf094. View

Longcamp M, Anton J, Roth M, Velay J . Visual presentation of single letters activates a premotor area involved in writing. Neuroimage. 2003; 19(4):1492-500. DOI: 10.1016/s1053-8119(03)00088-0. View

Aguirre G, Zarahn E, DEsposito M . The inferential impact of global signal covariates in functional neuroimaging analyses. Neuroimage. 1998; 8(3):302-6. DOI: 10.1006/nimg.1998.0367. View

Sugihara G, Kaminaga T, Sugishita M . Interindividual uniformity and variety of the "Writing center": a functional MRI study. Neuroimage. 2006; 32(4):1837-49. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.05.035. View

Ritaccio A, Hickling E, Ramani V . The role of dominant premotor cortex and grapheme to phoneme transformation in reading epilepsy. A neuroanatomic, neurophysiologic, and neuropsychological study. Arch Neurol. 1992; 49(9):933-9. DOI: 10.1001/archneur.1992.00530330055016. View

Flowers D, Jones K, Noble K, Vanmeter J, Zeffiro T, Wood F . Attention to single letters activates left extrastriate cortex. Neuroimage. 2004; 21(3):829-39. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2003.10.002. View

Tsapkini K, Rapp B . The orthography-specific functions of the left fusiform gyrus: evidence of modality and category specificity. Cortex. 2009; 46(2):185-205. PMC: 2844337. DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2009.02.025. View

10.

Warnke A . Reading and spelling disorders: clinical features and causes. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2000; 8 Suppl 3:2-12. DOI: 10.1007/pl00010689. View

11.

Alario F, Chainay H, Lehericy S, Cohen L . The role of the supplementary motor area (SMA) in word production. Brain Res. 2006; 1076(1):129-43. DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2005.11.104. View

12.

Cohen L, Martinaud O, Lemer C, Lehericy S, Samson Y, Obadia M . Visual word recognition in the left and right hemispheres: anatomical and functional correlates of peripheral alexias. Cereb Cortex. 2003; 13(12):1313-33. DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhg079. View

13.

Menichelli A, Rapp B, Semenza C . Allographic agraphia: a case study. Cortex. 2008; 44(7):861-8. PMC: 3095950. DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2007.06.002. View

14.

Bitan T, Booth J, Choy J, Burman D, Gitelman D, Mesulam M . Shifts of effective connectivity within a language network during rhyming and spelling. J Neurosci. 2005; 25(22):5397-403. PMC: 1382290. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0864-05.2005. View

15.

Jobard G, Crivello F, Tzourio-Mazoyer N . Evaluation of the dual route theory of reading: a metanalysis of 35 neuroimaging studies. Neuroimage. 2003; 20(2):693-712. DOI: 10.1016/S1053-8119(03)00343-4. View

16.

Rapcsak S, Beeson P, Henry M, Leyden A, Kim E, Rising K . Phonological dyslexia and dysgraphia: cognitive mechanisms and neural substrates. Cortex. 2008; 45(5):575-91. PMC: 2689874. DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2008.04.006. View

17.

Henderson V . Chapter 37: alexia and agraphia. Handb Clin Neurol. 2009; 95:583-601. DOI: 10.1016/S0072-9752(08)02137-4. View

18.

Hillis A, Newhart M, Heidler J, Barker P, Herskovits E, Degaonkar M . The roles of the "visual word form area" in reading. Neuroimage. 2005; 24(2):548-59. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.08.026. View

19.

Katanoda K, Yoshikawa K, Sugishita M . A functional MRI study on the neural substrates for writing. Hum Brain Mapp. 2001; 13(1):34-42. PMC: 6871921. DOI: 10.1002/hbm.1023. View

20.

Booth J, Burman D, Meyer J, Gitelman D, Parrish T, Marsel Mesulam M . Functional anatomy of intra- and cross-modal lexical tasks. Neuroimage. 2002; 16(1):7-22. DOI: 10.1006/nimg.2002.1081. View