Brain mechanisms for reading

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to test the neurological validity of a dual-route model of reading by asking patients, who were undergoing electrocortical stimulation mapping, to read words with irregular print-to-sound correspondences and pseudowords. Brain activation profiles were also obtained from these patients during an auditory and a visual word recognition task using whole-head magnetic source imaging. We demonstrated that reading is subserved by at least two brain mechanisms that are anatomically dissociable. One mechanism subserves assembled phonology and depends on the activity of the posterior part of the left superior temporal gyrus (STGp), whereas the second is responsible for addressed phonology and does not necessarily involve this region. The contribution of STGp to reading appears to be based on its specialization for phonological analysis operations, involved in the processing of both spoken and written language.