Cross-cultural effect on the brain revisited: universal structures plus writing system variation

Abstract

Recognizing printed words requires the mapping of graphic forms, which vary with writing systems, to linguistic forms, which vary with languages. Using a newly developed meta-analytic approach, aggregated Gaussian-estimated sources (AGES; Chein et al. [2002]: Psychol Behav 77:635-639), we examined the neuroimaging results for word reading within and across writing systems and languages. To find commonalities, we compiled 25 studies in English and other Western European languages that use an alphabetic writing system, 9 studies of native Chinese reading, 5 studies of Japanese Kana (syllabic) reading, and 4 studies of Kanji (morpho-syllabic) reading. Using the AGES approach, we created meta-images within each writing system, isolated reliable foci of activation, and compared findings across writing systems and languages. The results suggest that these writing systems utilize a common network of regions in word processing. Writing systems engage largely the same systems in terms of gross cortical regions, but localization within those regions suggests differences across writing systems. In particular, the region known as the visual word form area (VWFA) shows strikingly consistent localization across tasks and across writing systems. This region in the left mid-fusiform gyrus is critical to word recognition across writing systems and languages.

Figure 1

AGES meta‐image of word reading in English/Western European languages. The results are shown in the sagittal view (x = −43), coronal view (y = −54), and axial plane (z = −12). The views correspond to the crosshairs that mark the coordinates predicted by Cohen et al. [2002] as the word‐form area (x, y, z = −43, −54, −12). The meta‐image is derived from 35 studies in which individual word reading is compared to a stable resting baseline condition. The top row images are results of the meta‐analysis with a threshold level equal to an α level of 0.05; the bottom row images reflect an increase in the α level to 0.01. Red lines indicate right hemisphere regions of inferior occipital and fusiform gyrus.

Figure 2

Meta‐images of English/Western alphabetic (first column, green), Chinese character (middle column, yellow), and Japanese (third column) Kana (blue) and Kanji (red) systems. Row 1 displays the results in the sagittal view (x = −45) revealing four critical regions: (1) the occipitotemporal boundary region (not circled); (2) superior posterior temporal and inferior parietal region (red circles); (3), ventral inferior frontal region (yellow circles); and (4) the dorsal inferior frontal area (blue circles) discussed in Tan et al. [this volume]. Row 2 displays this dorsal lateral frontal region in the axial plane (z = 30) suggesting an anterior–posterior dispersion of foci across languages. The crosshairs localize the region identified by Siok et al. [2004] and Tan et al. [this volume]. Row 3 displays results in the axial plane (z = −11) of the occipitotemporal region with the crosshairs again indicating the putative VWFA [Cohen et al.,2000,2002]. Red lines indicate right hemisphere regions of inferior occipital and fusiform/lingual gyrus in Chinese.