Abstract

We used quantitative, coordinate‐based meta‐analysis to objectively synthesize age‐related commonalities and differences in brain activation patterns reported in 40 functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of reading in children and adults. Twenty fMRI studies with adults (age means: 23–34 years) were matched to 20 studies with children (age means: 7–12 years). The separate meta‐analyses of these two sets showed a pattern of reading‐related brain activation common to children and adults in left ventral occipito‐temporal (OT), inferior frontal, and posterior parietal regions. The direct statistical comparison between the two meta‐analytic maps of children and adults revealed higher convergence in studies with children in left superior temporal and bilateral supplementary motor regions. In contrast, higher convergence in studies with adults was identified in bilateral posterior OT/cerebellar and left dorsal precentral regions. The results are discussed in relation to current neuroanatomical models of reading and tentative functional interpretations of reading‐related activation clusters in children and adults are provided. Hum Brain Mapp 36:1963–1981, 2015. © 2015 The Authors Human Brain Mapping Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc..

Highlights

  • IntroductionReceived for publication 28 July 2014; Accepted 13 January 2015

  • The meta-analysis identified a large cluster in the left OT cortex with maxima in in a left anterior region (ITG), MTG, and superior temporal gyrus (STG) and extending into FFG and inferior occipital gyri (IOG)

  • Using coordinate-based meta-analysis, this study provides an objective quantification of functional neuroanatomical commonalities and differences between children and adults during reading

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Summary

Introduction

Received for publication 28 July 2014; Accepted 13 January 2015. Published online 27 January 2015 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). (i) A left dorsal temporo-parietal (TP) circuit around the classically termed Wernicke’s area including the posterior superior temporal gyrus (STG) and supramarginal (SMG) and angular gyri (ANG) of the inferior parietal lobule (IPL). According to the classical dorsal/ventral functional neuroanatomical model of visual word recognition [e.g., Pugh et al, 2000], the cortical system underlying skilled reading includes three functionally specialized regions contributing to different aspects of reading.

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