Neural activations measured by fMRI during reading novels at ordinary and rapid speeds

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Neural activations measured by fMRI during reading novels at ordinary and rapid speeds Norio FujiMaki1*, Shinji Munetsuna2, Toyofumi Sasaki3, Tomoe Hayakawa4, Aya Ihara1, Qiang Wei1, Yasushi Terazono1 and Tsutomu Murata1 1 National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Japan 2 Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan 3 OMOIGANE Co. Ltd, Japan 4 Teikyo University, Japan Human beings can read sentences at high speeds of greater than several words per second. While reading each word, readers access their lexical knowledge and execute syntactic processes to comprehend the meanings of sentences. To understand the neural processes involved in reading, it is important to investigate the dependence of neural activation on reading speed. Unlike previous neuroimaging studies with word-by-word presentation at a low rate (< 120 words per minute (wpm)), we measured neural activations during natural-style reading with multiple-sentence presentation at a high rate (> 300 wpm), using a functional magnetic resonance imaging [1]. Eight experts in a rapid-reading technique and 11 non-experts participated in the experiment. They silently read novels at ordinary and rapid speeds, and pressed a button to turn pages. The interval between turning pages was recorded to evaluate the reading speed. For each subject, we evaluated activations in 14 areas and at the 2 instructed reading speeds. Activations decreased with increasing reading speed in the left middle and posterior superior temporal area, left inferior frontal area, left precentral area, and the anterior temporal areas of both hemispheres, which have been reported to be active for linguistic processes. In contrast, activations increased with increasing reading speed in the right intraparietal sulcus, which is considered to reflect visuo-spatial processes. Despite the considerable reading speed differences (>1 order of magnitude), correlation analysis showed no significant difference in activation dependence on reading speed with respect to the subject groups and instructed reading speeds. The activation reduction with speed increase in language-related areas was opposite to the previous reports for low reading speeds. The present results suggest that subjects reduced some linguistic processes with reading speed increase from ordinary to rapid speed.