How characters are learned leaves its mark on the neural substrates of Chinese reading.

Abstract

Understanding how the brain functions differently as one learns to read may shed light on the controversial nature of the reading ability of human being. Logographic writing system such as Chinese has been found to rely on specialized neural substrates beyond the reading network of alphabetic languages. The ability to read in Chinese has also been proposed to rely on writing skills. However, it was unclear whether the learning-related alteration of neural responses was language-specific or resulted from the more reliance on writing practice during acquisition. This study investigated whether the emergence of typical logographic-specific regions relied on learning by writing. We taught proficient alphabetic language readers Chinese characters and used pre- and post-tests to identify changes in two critical stages of reading, namely orthographic processing and orthographic-to-phonological mapping. Two typical left hemispheric areas for logographic reading showed increased responses to characters in the brains of proficient alphabetic readers after learning, regardless of whether the learning strategy involved writing practice. Moreover, learning strategy modulated the response magnitude or multivoxel patterns in the left superior parietal lobule, left middle frontal gyrus, and right fusiform gyrus, some of which were task-dependent. The findings corroborated a limited role of writing in the emergence of logographic-specific reading network, and suggested the heterogeneous nature of different brain regions in this network.Significance StatementThere has been debate on whether the development of skills for reading logographic characters depends on the skill of writing. We examined the emergence of typical Chinese-reading neural substrates when learners were taught character with and without training on writing. Behavioral and neural functional alterations were identified after proficient alphabetic readers learned to read Chinese with or without training on writing. Altering the responses in the left superior parietal lobule and middle frontal gyrus to Chinese characters did not require a writing-based learning, but writing modulated the responses in these areas.