TY - JOUR
T1 - Beyond the visual word form area
T2 - The orthography-semantics interface in spelling and reading
AU - Purcell, Jeremy J.
AU - Shea, Jennifer
AU - Rapp, Brenda
N1 - Funding Information:
Correspondence should be addressed to Jeremy Purcell, Department of Cognitive Science, Johns Hopkins University, 133 Krieger Hall, 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218–2685, USA (E-mail: jpurcel8@jhu.edu). We would like to thank D.P.T., D.S.N., and L.H.D. for their dedication and good humour through many hours of testing. We are grateful to Michael McCloskey and Teresa Schubert for providing information and data regarding L.H.D. and to Kyrana Tsapkini for her contributions to data collection and analysis for D.P.T. and control participants. This research was made possible through the support of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) [grant number DC006740], [grant number 1-P50-DC012283-01A1].
PY - 2014/8
Y1 - 2014/8
N2 - Lexical orthographic information provides the basis for recovering the meanings of words in reading and for generating correct word spellings in writing. Research has provided evidence that an area of the left ventral temporal cortex, a subregion of what is often referred to as the visual word form area (VWFA), plays a significant role specifically in lexical orthographic processing. The current investigation goes beyond this previous work by examining the neurotopography of the interface of lexical orthography with semantics. We apply a novel lesion mapping approach with three individuals with acquired dysgraphia and dyslexia who suffered lesions to left ventral temporal cortex. To map cognitive processes to their neural substrates, this lesion mapping approach applies similar logical constraints to those used in cognitive neuropsychological research. Using this approach, this investigation: (a) identifies a region anterior to the VWFA that is important in the interface of orthographic information with semantics for reading and spelling; (b) determines that, within this orthography-semantics interface region (OSIR), access to orthography from semantics (spelling) is topographically distinct from access to semantics from orthography (reading); (c) provides evidence that, within this region, there is modality-specific access to and from lexical semantics for both spoken and written modalities, in both word production and comprehension. Overall, this study contributes to our understanding of the neural architecture at the lexical orthography-semantic-phonological interface within left ventral temporal cortex.
AB - Lexical orthographic information provides the basis for recovering the meanings of words in reading and for generating correct word spellings in writing. Research has provided evidence that an area of the left ventral temporal cortex, a subregion of what is often referred to as the visual word form area (VWFA), plays a significant role specifically in lexical orthographic processing. The current investigation goes beyond this previous work by examining the neurotopography of the interface of lexical orthography with semantics. We apply a novel lesion mapping approach with three individuals with acquired dysgraphia and dyslexia who suffered lesions to left ventral temporal cortex. To map cognitive processes to their neural substrates, this lesion mapping approach applies similar logical constraints to those used in cognitive neuropsychological research. Using this approach, this investigation: (a) identifies a region anterior to the VWFA that is important in the interface of orthographic information with semantics for reading and spelling; (b) determines that, within this orthography-semantics interface region (OSIR), access to orthography from semantics (spelling) is topographically distinct from access to semantics from orthography (reading); (c) provides evidence that, within this region, there is modality-specific access to and from lexical semantics for both spoken and written modalities, in both word production and comprehension. Overall, this study contributes to our understanding of the neural architecture at the lexical orthography-semantic-phonological interface within left ventral temporal cortex.
KW - Orthography
KW - Reading
KW - Semantics
KW - Spelling
KW - Visual word form area
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U2 - 10.1080/02643294.2014.909399
DO - 10.1080/02643294.2014.909399
M3 - Article
C2 - 24833190
AN - SCOPUS:84904563190
SN - 0264-3294
VL - 31
SP - 482
EP - 510
JO - Cognitive neuropsychology
JF - Cognitive neuropsychology
IS - 5-6
ER -