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Fedorenko E, Ivanova AA, Regev TI. The language network as a natural kind within the broader landscape of the human brain. Nat Rev Neurosci 2024; 25:289-312. [PMID: 38609551 DOI: 10.1038/s41583-024-00802-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/23/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024]
Abstract
Language behaviour is complex, but neuroscientific evidence disentangles it into distinct components supported by dedicated brain areas or networks. In this Review, we describe the 'core' language network, which includes left-hemisphere frontal and temporal areas, and show that it is strongly interconnected, independent of input and output modalities, causally important for language and language-selective. We discuss evidence that this language network plausibly stores language knowledge and supports core linguistic computations related to accessing words and constructions from memory and combining them to interpret (decode) or generate (encode) linguistic messages. We emphasize that the language network works closely with, but is distinct from, both lower-level - perceptual and motor - mechanisms and higher-level systems of knowledge and reasoning. The perceptual and motor mechanisms process linguistic signals, but, in contrast to the language network, are sensitive only to these signals' surface properties, not their meanings; the systems of knowledge and reasoning (such as the system that supports social reasoning) are sometimes engaged during language use but are not language-selective. This Review lays a foundation both for in-depth investigations of these different components of the language processing pipeline and for probing inter-component interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evelina Fedorenko
- Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- The Program in Speech and Hearing in Bioscience and Technology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | - Anna A Ivanova
- School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Tamar I Regev
- Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
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2
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Simmons RW, Thomas JD, Taggart T, Ward QJ, Ashrafi A, Mattson SN, Riley EP. Spiral drawing deficits in children with prenatal alcohol exposure. ALCOHOL, CLINICAL & EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH 2023; 47:2045-2055. [PMID: 38226753 PMCID: PMC10792250 DOI: 10.1111/acer.15182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2023] [Revised: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 08/24/2023] [Indexed: 01/17/2024]
Abstract
AIMS Empirical investigations reveal that, in comparison to their typically developing peers, children with histories of prenatal alcohol exposure experience deficits in writing but not drawing skills, both of which require fine motor control. This study examines drawing skills in this clinical group by assessing simple free-form spiral drawings with indices of spectral features and structural organization. METHODS Children with (n = 15) and without (n = 24) prenatal alcohol exposure used their dominant and nondominant hands to draw a series of spirals using a wireless pen stylus that either provided concurrent visual feedback in the form of a black ink trace or left no visible ink trace of each drawing. Spirals were drawn on a sheet of paper placed on a digitizing table, which facilitated online data acquisition. The data were assessed by power spectral density function analysis and sample entropy analysis. RESULTS In comparison to their typically developing peers, children with prenatal alcohol exposure produced spirals with a lower mean frequency and less spectral variability. Spirals in the prenatally exposed group were also lower in complexity and structural organization than in the control group. These results occurred independently of hand dominance or the availability of visual feedback. CONCLUSIONS The drawing skills of children with prenatal alcohol exposure have inherent signal characteristics that differ significantly from those produced by typically developing peers. Simple tasks requiring fine motor control may be useful in identifying individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roger W Simmons
- School of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA
| | - Jennifer D Thomas
- Center for Behavioral Teratology, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA
| | - Tenille Taggart
- Center for Behavioral Teratology, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA
- Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program, Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA
| | | | - Ashkan Ashrafi
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA
| | - Sarah N Mattson
- Center for Behavioral Teratology, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA
| | - Edward P Riley
- Center for Behavioral Teratology, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA
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3
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Lopez C, Vaivre-Douret L. Exploratory Investigation of Handwriting Disorders in School-Aged Children from First to Fifth Grade. CHILDREN (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 10:1512. [PMID: 37761473 PMCID: PMC10528446 DOI: 10.3390/children10091512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2023] [Revised: 08/17/2023] [Accepted: 09/04/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023]
Abstract
Handwriting disorders (HDs) are prevalent in school-aged children, with significant interference with academic performances. The current study offers a transdisciplinary approach with the use of normed and standardized clinical assessments of neuropsychomotor, neuropsychological and oculomotor functions. The aim is to provide objective data for a better understanding of the nature and the etiology of HDs. Data from these clinical assessments were analyzed for 27 school-aged children with HD (first to fifth grade). The results underline a high heterogeneity of the children presenting HDs, with many co-occurrences often unknown. However, it was possible to highlight three levels of HDs based on BHK scores: mild HD not detected by the BHK test (26% of children), moderate HD (33%) and dysgraphia (41% of children). The mild nature of the HDs not detected by the BHK test appears to occur at a relatively low frequency of the associated disorders identified during clinical evaluations. On the contrary, dysgraphia appears to be associated with a high frequency of co-occurring disorders identified in the clinical assessment, with a predominance of oculomotor disorders (55% of children), leading to visual-perceptual difficulties and a high level of handwriting deterioration. Finally, children with moderate HD have fewer co-occurrences than children with dysgraphia, but have more difficulties than children with mild HD. This highlights the importance of differentiating between different degrees of HDs that do not respond to the same semiologies. Our findings support the interest in performing a transdisciplinary and standardized clinical examination with developmental standards (neuropsychomotor, neuropsychological and oculomotor) in children with HD. Indeed, HDs can therefore be associated with a multitude of disorders of different natures ranging from poor coordination of the graphomotor gesture to a more general and more complex impairment affecting perceptual-motor, cognitive and/or psycho-affective functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clémence Lopez
- Unit 1018-CESP, PsyDev/NDTA Team, National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), Faculty of Medicine, University of Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, 91190 Villejuif, France;
| | - Laurence Vaivre-Douret
- Unit 1018-CESP, PsyDev/NDTA Team, National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), Faculty of Medicine, University of Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, 91190 Villejuif, France;
- Department of Medicine Paris Descartes, Faculty of Health, Université Paris Cité, 75006 Paris, France
- Clinical Neurodevelopmental Phenotyping, University Institute of France (Institut Universitaire de France, IUF), 75005 Paris, France
- Department of Child Psychiatry, AP-HP Centre, Necker-Enfants Malades University Hospital, 75015 Paris, France
- Department of Endocrinology, IMAGINE Institute, Necker-Enfants Malades University Hospital, 75015 Paris, France
- Necker-Enfants Malades University Hospital, “Neuro-Développement et Troubles des Apprentissages (NDTA)”, INSERM UMR 1018-CESP, Carré Necker Porte N4, 149, Rue de Sèvres, 75015 Paris, France
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4
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Fabiani E, Velay JL, Younes C, Anton JL, Nazarian B, Sein J, Habib M, Danna J, Longcamp M. Writing letters in two graphic systems: Behavioral and neural correlates in Latin-Arabic biscripters. Neuropsychologia 2023; 185:108567. [PMID: 37084880 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2022] [Revised: 03/31/2023] [Accepted: 04/18/2023] [Indexed: 04/23/2023]
Abstract
Biscriptuality is the ability to read and write using two scripts. Despite the increasing number of biscripters, this phenomenon remains poorly understood. Here, we focused on investigating graphomotor processing in French-Arabic biscripters. We chose the French and Arabic alphabets because they have comparable visuospatial complexity and linguistic features, but differ dramatically in their graphomotor characteristics. In a first experiment we describe the graphomotor features of the two alphabets and showed that while Arabic and Latin letters are produced with the same velocity and fluency, Arabic letters require more pen lifts, contain more right-to-left strokes and clockwise curves, and take longer to write than Latin letters. These results suggest that Arabic and Latin letters are produced via different motor patterns. In a second experiment we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to ask whether writing the two scripts relies upon partially distinct or fully overlapping neural networks, and whether the elements of the previously described handwriting network are recruited to the same extent by the two scripts. We found that both scripts engaged the so-called "writing network", but that within the network, Arabic letters recruited the left superior parietal lobule (SPL) and the left primary motor cortex (M1) more strongly than Latin letters. Both regions have previously been identified as holding scale-invariant representations of letter trajectories. Arabic and Latin letters also activated distinct regions that do not belong to the writing network. Complementary analyses indicate that the differences observed between scripts at the neural level could be driven by the specific graphomotor features of each script. Overall, our results indicate that particular features of the practiced scripts can lead to different motor organization at both the behavioral and brain levels in biscripters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elie Fabiani
- Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, LNC, Marseille, France
| | | | - Céleste Younes
- Institut Psychomotricité, Université St Joseph de Beyrouth, Beirut, Lebanon
| | - Jean-Luc Anton
- Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, Centre IRM-INT@CERIMED (Institut des Neurosciences de la Timone - UMR 7289), Marseille, France
| | - Bruno Nazarian
- Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, Centre IRM-INT@CERIMED (Institut des Neurosciences de la Timone - UMR 7289), Marseille, France
| | - Julien Sein
- Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, Centre IRM-INT@CERIMED (Institut des Neurosciences de la Timone - UMR 7289), Marseille, France
| | - Michel Habib
- Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, LNC, Marseille, France
| | - Jeremy Danna
- Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, LNC, Marseille, France
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Hu J, Small H, Kean H, Takahashi A, Zekelman L, Kleinman D, Ryan E, Nieto-Castañón A, Ferreira V, Fedorenko E. Precision fMRI reveals that the language-selective network supports both phrase-structure building and lexical access during language production. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:4384-4404. [PMID: 36130104 PMCID: PMC10110436 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Revised: 08/01/2022] [Accepted: 08/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
A fronto-temporal brain network has long been implicated in language comprehension. However, this network's role in language production remains debated. In particular, it remains unclear whether all or only some language regions contribute to production, and which aspects of production these regions support. Across 3 functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments that rely on robust individual-subject analyses, we characterize the language network's response to high-level production demands. We report 3 novel results. First, sentence production, spoken or typed, elicits a strong response throughout the language network. Second, the language network responds to both phrase-structure building and lexical access demands, although the response to phrase-structure building is stronger and more spatially extensive, present in every language region. Finally, contra some proposals, we find no evidence of brain regions-within or outside the language network-that selectively support phrase-structure building in production relative to comprehension. Instead, all language regions respond more strongly during production than comprehension, suggesting that production incurs a greater cost for the language network. Together, these results align with the idea that language comprehension and production draw on the same knowledge representations, which are stored in a distributed manner within the language-selective network and are used to both interpret and generate linguistic utterances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Hu
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
| | - Hannah Small
- Department of Cognitive Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States
| | - Hope Kean
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
| | - Atsushi Takahashi
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
| | - Leo Zekelman
- Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States
| | | | - Elizabeth Ryan
- St. George’s Medical School, St. George’s University, Grenada, West Indies
| | - Alfonso Nieto-Castañón
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, United States
| | - Victor Ferreira
- Department of Psychology, UCSD, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States
| | - Evelina Fedorenko
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States
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Hervais-Adelman A, Kumar U, Mishra RK, Tripathi VA, Guleria A, Singh JP, Huettig F. How Does Literacy Affect Speech Processing? Not by Enhancing Cortical Responses to Speech, But by Promoting Connectivity of Acoustic-Phonetic and Graphomotor Cortices. J Neurosci 2022; 42:8826-8841. [PMID: 36253084 PMCID: PMC9698677 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1125-21.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2021] [Revised: 09/01/2022] [Accepted: 09/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous research suggests that literacy, specifically learning alphabetic letter-to-phoneme mappings, modifies online speech processing and enhances brain responses, as indexed by the BOLD, to speech in auditory areas associated with phonological processing (Dehaene et al., 2010). However, alphabets are not the only orthographic systems in use in the world, and hundreds of millions of individuals speak languages that are not written using alphabets. In order to make claims that literacy per se has broad and general consequences for brain responses to speech, one must seek confirmatory evidence from nonalphabetic literacy. To this end, we conducted a longitudinal fMRI study in India probing the effect of literacy in Devanagari, an abubgida, on functional connectivity and cerebral responses to speech in 91 variously literate Hindi-speaking male and female human participants. Twenty-two completely illiterate participants underwent 6 months of reading and writing training. Devanagari literacy increases functional connectivity between acoustic-phonetic and graphomotor brain areas, but we find no evidence that literacy changes brain responses to speech, either in cross-sectional or longitudinal analyses. These findings shows that a dramatic reconfiguration of the neurofunctional substrates of online speech processing may not be a universal result of learning to read, and suggest that the influence of writing on speech processing should also be investigated.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT It is widely claimed that a consequence of being able to read is enhanced auditory processing of speech, reflected by increased cortical responses in areas associated with phonological processing. Here we find no relationship between literacy and the magnitude of brain response to speech stimuli in individuals who speak Hindi, which is written using a nonalphabetic script, Devanagari, an abugida. We propose that the exact nature of the script under examination must be considered before making sweeping claims about the consequences of literacy for the brain. Further, we find evidence that literacy enhances functional connectivity between auditory processing areas and graphomotor areas, suggesting a mechanism whereby learning to write might influence speech perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexis Hervais-Adelman
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, 6525 XD, The Netherlands
- Neurolinguistics and Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, 8050, Zurich, Switzerland
- Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zurich, Zurich, 8057, Switzerland
| | - Uttam Kumar
- Centre of Biomedical Research, Lucknow 226014, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Ramesh K Mishra
- University of Hyderabad, Gachibowli 500046, Telangana, India
| | - Vivek A Tripathi
- Centre for Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Allahabad, Old Katra 211002, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Anupam Guleria
- Centre of Biomedical Research, Lucknow 226014, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Jay P Singh
- Centre for Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Allahabad, Old Katra 211002, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Falk Huettig
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, 6525 XD, The Netherlands
- Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University, 6525 HT Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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7
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Yang Y, Li J, Zhang J, Zhou K, Kao HSR, Bi H, Xu M. Personality traits modulate the neural responses to handwriting processing. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2022; 1516:222-233. [PMID: 35899373 PMCID: PMC9796404 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.14871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Handwriting is a vital skill for everyday human activities. It has a wealth of information about writers' characteristics and can hint toward underlying neurological conditions, such as Parkinson's disease, autism, dyslexia, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Many previous studies have reported a link between personality and individual differences in handwriting, but the evidence for the relationship tends to be anecdotal in nature. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we examined whether the association between personality traits and handwriting was instantiated at the neural level. Results showed that the personality trait of conscientiousness modulated brain activation in the left premotor cortex and right inferior/middle frontal gyrus, which may reflect the impact of personality on orthography-to-grapheme transformation and executive control involved in handwriting. Such correlations were not observed in symbol-drawing or word-reading tasks, suggesting the specificity of the link between conscientiousness and handwriting in these regions. Moreover, using a connectome-based predictive modeling approach, we found that individuals' conscientiousness scores could be predicted based on handwriting-related functional brain networks, suggesting that the influence of personality on handwriting may occur within a broader network. Our findings provide neural evidence for the link between personality and handwriting processing, extending our understanding of the nature of individual differences in handwriting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Yang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Center for Brain Science and Learning DifficultiesInstitute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina,Department of PsychologyUniversity of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Junjun Li
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Center for Brain Science and Learning DifficultiesInstitute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina,Department of PsychologyUniversity of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Jun Zhang
- College of EducationCapital Normal UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Ke Zhou
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, School of PsychologyBeijing Normal UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Henry S. R. Kao
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of Hong KongHong KongChina
| | - Hong‐Yan Bi
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Center for Brain Science and Learning DifficultiesInstitute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina,Department of PsychologyUniversity of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Min Xu
- Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Sciences, School of PsychologyShenzhen UniversityShenzhenChina
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8
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Guida P, Michiels M, Redgrave P, Luque D, Obeso I. An fMRI meta-analysis of the role of the striatum in everyday-life vs laboratory-developed habits. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 141:104826. [PMID: 35963543 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2022] [Revised: 07/17/2022] [Accepted: 08/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The dorsolateral striatum plays a critical role in the acquisition and expression of stimulus-response habits that are learned in experimental laboratories. Here, we use meta-analytic procedures to contrast the neural circuits activated by laboratory-acquired habits with those activated by stimulus-response behaviours acquired in everyday-life. We confirmed that newly learned habits rely more on the anterior putamen with activation extending into caudate and nucleus accumbens. Motor and associative components of everyday-life habits were identified. We found that motor-dominant stimulus-response associations developed outside the laboratory primarily engaged posterior dorsal putamen, supplementary motor area (SMA) and cerebellum. Importantly, associative components were also represented in the posterior putamen. Thus, common neural representations for both naturalistic and laboratory-based habits were found in the left posterior and right anterior putamen. These findings suggest a partial common striatal substrate for habitual actions that are performed predominantly by stimulus-response associations represented in the posterior striatum. The overlapping neural substrates for laboratory and everyday-life habits supports the use of both methods for the analysis of habitual behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pasqualina Guida
- HM CINAC, Centro Integral de Neurociencias AC. Hospital Universitario HM Puerta del Sur, HM Hospitales, Madrid, Spain; CIBERNED, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain; Ph.D. Program in Neuroscience, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Cajal Institute, Madrid 28029, Spain
| | - Mario Michiels
- HM CINAC, Centro Integral de Neurociencias AC. Hospital Universitario HM Puerta del Sur, HM Hospitales, Madrid, Spain; CIBERNED, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain; Ph.D. Program in Neuroscience, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Cajal Institute, Madrid 28029, Spain
| | - Peter Redgrave
- Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
| | - David Luque
- Departamento de Psicología Básica, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain; Departamento de Psicología Básica, Universidad de Málaga, Madrid, Spain
| | - Ignacio Obeso
- HM CINAC, Centro Integral de Neurociencias AC. Hospital Universitario HM Puerta del Sur, HM Hospitales, Madrid, Spain; CIBERNED, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain; Psychobiology department, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
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Pei L, Longcamp M, Leung FKS, Ouyang G. Temporally resolved neural dynamics underlying handwriting. Neuroimage 2021; 244:118578. [PMID: 34534659 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2021] [Revised: 08/31/2021] [Accepted: 09/14/2021] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
How do the temporal dynamics of neural activity encode highly coordinated visual-motor behaviour? To capture the millisecond-resolved neural activations associated with fine visual-motor skills, we devised a co-registration system to simultaneously record electroencephalogram and handwriting kinematics while participants were performing four handwriting tasks (writing in Chinese/English scripts with their dominant/non-dominant hand). The neural activation associated with each stroke was clearly identified with a well-structured and reliable pattern. The functional significance of this pattern was validated by its significant associations with language, hand and the cognitive stages and kinematics of handwriting. Furthermore, the handwriting rhythmicity was found to be synchronised to the brain's ongoing theta oscillation, and the synchronisation was associated with the factor of language and hand. These major findings imply an implication between motor skill formation and the interplay between the rhythms in the brain and the peripheral systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leisi Pei
- Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | | | | | - Guang Ouyang
- Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
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Vinci-Booher S, James KH. Protracted Neural Development of Dorsal Motor Systems During Handwriting and the Relation to Early Literacy Skills. Front Psychol 2021; 12:750559. [PMID: 34867637 PMCID: PMC8639586 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.750559] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2021] [Accepted: 10/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Handwriting is a complex visual-motor skill that affects early reading development. A large body of work has demonstrated that handwriting is supported by a widespread neural system comprising ventral-temporal, parietal, and frontal motor regions in adults. Recent work has demonstrated that this neural system is largely established by 8 years of age, suggesting that the development of this system occurs in young children who are still learning to read and write. We made use of a novel MRI-compatible writing tablet that allowed us to measure brain activation in 5-8-year-old children during handwriting. We compared activation during handwriting in children and adults to provide information concerning the developmental trajectory of the neural system that supports handwriting. We found that parietal and frontal motor involvement during handwriting in children is different from adults, suggesting that the neural system that supports handwriting changes over the course of development. Furthermore, we found that parietal and frontal motor activation correlated with a literacy composite score in our child sample, suggesting that the individual differences in the dorsal response during handwriting are related to individual differences in emerging literacy skills. Our results suggest that components of the widespread neural system supporting handwriting develop at different rates and provide insight into the mechanisms underlying the contributions of handwriting to early literacy development.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Karin H. James
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, United States
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11
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Li J, Hong L, Bi HY, Yang Y. Functional brain networks underlying automatic and controlled handwriting in Chinese. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2021; 219:104962. [PMID: 33984629 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2021.104962] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2020] [Revised: 04/14/2021] [Accepted: 04/15/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
This study aimed to identify the functional brain networks underlying the distinctions between automatic and controlled handwriting in Chinese. Network-based analysis was applied to functional magnetic resonance imaging data collected while adult participants performed a copying task under automatic and speed-controlled conditions. We found significant differences between automatic and speed-controlled handwriting in functional connectivity within and between the frontoparietal network, default mode network, dorsal attention network, somatomotor network and visual network; these differences reflect the variations in general attentional control and task-relevant visuomotor operations. However, no differences in brain activation were detected between the two handwriting conditions, suggesting that the reorganization of functional networks, rather than the modulation of local brain activation, underlies the dissociations between automatic and controlled handwriting in Chinese. Our findings illustrate the brain basis of handwriting automaticity, shedding new light on how handwriting automaticity may be disrupted in individuals with neurological disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junjun Li
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Center for Brain Science and Learning Difficulties, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Lei Hong
- Department of Foreign Languages, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Hong-Yan Bi
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Center for Brain Science and Learning Difficulties, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yang Yang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Center for Brain Science and Learning Difficulties, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
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12
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Lin Z, Tam F, Churchill NW, Schweizer TA, Graham SJ. Tablet Technology for Writing and Drawing during Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Review. SENSORS 2021; 21:s21020401. [PMID: 33430023 PMCID: PMC7826671 DOI: 10.3390/s21020401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2020] [Revised: 12/31/2020] [Accepted: 01/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a powerful modality to study brain activity. To approximate naturalistic writing and drawing behaviours inside the scanner, many fMRI-compatible tablet technologies have been developed. The digitizing feature of the tablets also allows examination of behavioural kinematics with greater detail than using paper. With enhanced ecological validity, tablet devices have advanced the fields of neuropsychological tests, neurosurgery, and neurolinguistics. Specifically, tablet devices have been used to adopt many traditional paper-based writing and drawing neuropsychological tests for fMRI. In functional neurosurgery, tablet technologies have enabled intra-operative brain mapping during awake craniotomy in brain tumour patients, as well as quantitative tremor assessment for treatment outcome monitoring. Tablet devices also play an important role in identifying the neural correlates of writing in the healthy and diseased brain. The fMRI-compatible tablets provide an excellent platform to support naturalistic motor responses and examine detailed behavioural kinematics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhongmin Lin
- Department of Medical Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5G 1L7, Canada;
| | - Fred Tam
- Physical Sciences, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, ON M4N 3M5, Canada;
| | - Nathan W. Churchill
- Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, ON M5B 1T8, Canada; (N.W.C.); (T.A.S.)
| | - Tom A. Schweizer
- Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, ON M5B 1T8, Canada; (N.W.C.); (T.A.S.)
- Division of Neurosurgery, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, ON M5B 1W8, Canada
| | - Simon J. Graham
- Department of Medical Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5G 1L7, Canada;
- Physical Sciences, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, ON M4N 3M5, Canada;
- Correspondence:
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13
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Palmis S, Velay JL, Habib M, Anton JL, Nazarian B, Sein J, Longcamp M. The handwriting brain in middle childhood. Dev Sci 2020; 24:e13046. [PMID: 33035404 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2019] [Revised: 07/22/2020] [Accepted: 09/03/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
While the brain network supporting handwriting has previously been defined in adults, its organization in children has never been investigated. We compared the handwriting network of 23 adults and 42 children (8- to 11-year-old). Participants were instructed to write the alphabet, the days of the week, and to draw loops while being scanned. The handwriting network previously described in adults (five key regions: left dorsal premotor cortex, superior parietal lobule (SPL), fusiform and inferior frontal gyri, and right cerebellum) was also strongly activated in children. The right precentral gyrus and the right anterior cerebellum were more strongly activated in adults than in children, while the left fusiform gyrus (FuG) was more strongly activated in children than in adults. Finally, we found that, contrary to adults, children recruited prefrontal regions to complete the writing task. This constitutes the first comparative investigation of the neural correlates of writing in children and adults. Our results suggest that the network supporting handwriting is already established in middle childhood. They also highlight the major role of prefrontal regions in learning this complex skill and the importance of right precentral regions and cerebellum in the performance of automated handwriting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Palmis
- Aix-Marseille Univ, CNRS, LNC, Marseille, France
| | | | - Michel Habib
- Aix-Marseille Univ, CNRS, LNC, Marseille, France
| | - Jean-Luc Anton
- Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, INT, Inst Neurosci Timone, Marseille, France
| | - Bruno Nazarian
- Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, INT, Inst Neurosci Timone, Marseille, France
| | - Julien Sein
- Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, INT, Inst Neurosci Timone, Marseille, France
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14
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Vinci-Booher S, James KH. Visual experiences during letter production contribute to the development of the neural systems supporting letter perception. Dev Sci 2020; 23:e12965. [PMID: 32176426 PMCID: PMC7901804 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2018] [Revised: 09/12/2019] [Accepted: 10/29/2019] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Letter production through handwriting creates visual experiences that may be important for the development of visual letter perception. We sought to better understand the neural responses to different visual percepts created during handwriting at different levels of experience. Three groups of participants, younger children, older children, and adults, ranging in age from 4.5 to 22 years old, were presented with dynamic and static presentations of their own handwritten letters, static presentations of an age-matched control's handwritten letters, and typeface letters during fMRI. First, data from each group were analyzed through a series of contrasts designed to highlight neural systems that were most sensitive to each visual experience in each age group. We found that younger children recruited ventral-temporal cortex during perception and this response was associated with the variability present in handwritten forms. Older children and adults also recruited ventral-temporal cortex; this response, however, was significant for typed letter forms but not variability. The adult response to typed letters was more distributed than in the children, including ventral-temporal, parietal, and frontal motor cortices. The adult response was also significant for one's own handwritten letters in left parietal cortex. Second, we compared responses among age groups. Compared to older children, younger children demonstrated a greater fusiform response associated with handwritten form variability. When compared to adults, younger children demonstrated a greater response to this variability in left parietal cortex. Our results suggest that the visual perception of the variability present in handwritten forms that occurs during handwriting may contribute to developmental changes in the neural systems that support letter perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophia Vinci-Booher
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Karin H James
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
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15
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Vinci-Booher S, James KH. Ecological validity of experimental set-up affects parietal involvement during letter production. Neurosci Lett 2020; 731:134920. [PMID: 32272143 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2020.134920] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2019] [Revised: 03/08/2020] [Accepted: 03/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Studies of symbol production using fMRI often use techniques that introduce an artificial pairing between motor production and visual perception. These techniques allow participants to see their own output by recording their pen trajectories using a touchscreen-only tablet and displaying these productions on a mirror placed above their head. We recently developed an MR-safe writing tablet with video display that allows participants to see their own hand and their own productions while producing symbols in real time on the surface where they are producing them-allowing for more ecologically valid fMRI studies of production. We conducted a study to determine whether the participation of posterior parietal cortex during symbol production was affected by the pairing of motor production and visual feedback associated with the two types of tablets. We performed ROI analyses in intraparietal sulcus while adult participants produced letters to dictation using either a touchscreen-only tablet (no visual guidance of the hand) (n = 14) or using a touchscreen-and-video-display tablet (visual guidance of the hand) (n = 14). We found that left posterior intraparietal sulcus was more active during production with the touchscreen-only tablet than during production with the touchscreen-and-video-display tablet. These results suggest that posterior parietal involvement during production tasks is associated with the somewhat artificial visual-motor pairing that is introduced by the techniques used in some studies of symbol production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophia Vinci-Booher
- 1101 E. 10th Street, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, United States.
| | - Karin H James
- 1101 E. 10th Street, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, United States.
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16
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Yang Y, Tam F, Graham SJ, Sun G, Li J, Gu C, Tao R, Wang N, Bi HY, Zuo Z. Men and women differ in the neural basis of handwriting. Hum Brain Mapp 2020; 41:2642-2655. [PMID: 32090433 PMCID: PMC7294055 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2019] [Revised: 02/12/2020] [Accepted: 02/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
There is an ongoing debate about whether, and to what extent, males differ from females in their language skills. In the case of handwriting, a composite language skill involving language and motor processes, behavioral observations consistently show robust sex differences but the mechanisms underlying the effect are unclear. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a copying task, the present study examined the neural basis of sex differences in handwriting in 53 healthy adults (ages 19–28, 27 males). Compared to females, males showed increased activation in the left posterior middle frontal gyrus (Exner's area), a region thought to support the conversion between orthographic and graphomotor codes. Functional connectivity between Exner's area and the right cerebellum was greater in males than in females. Furthermore, sex differences in brain activity related to handwriting were independent of language material. This study identifies a novel neural signature of sex differences in a hallmark of human behavior, and highlights the importance of considering sex as a factor in scientific research and clinical applications involving handwriting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Yang
- Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Center for Brain Science and Learning Difficulties, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Center for Language and Brain, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen, China
| | - Fred Tam
- Physical Sciences Platform, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, Canada
| | - Simon J Graham
- Physical Sciences Platform, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, Canada.,Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Guochen Sun
- Department of Neurosurgery, First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Junjun Li
- Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Center for Brain Science and Learning Difficulties, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Chanyuan Gu
- Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Center for Brain Science and Learning Difficulties, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Ran Tao
- Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
| | - Nizhuan Wang
- Artificial Intelligence and Neuro-informatics Engineering (ARINE) Laboratory, School of Computer Engineering, Jiangsu Ocean University, Lianyungang, China
| | - Hong-Yan Bi
- Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Center for Brain Science and Learning Difficulties, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Zhentao Zuo
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,The Innovation Center of Excellence on Brain Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Sino-Danish College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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17
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Longcamp M, Hupé JM, Ruiz M, Vayssière N, Sato M. Shared premotor activity in spoken and written communication. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2019; 199:104694. [PMID: 31586790 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2019.104694] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2018] [Revised: 09/12/2019] [Accepted: 09/15/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to uncover a possible common neural organizing principle in spoken and written communication, through the coupling of perceptual and motor representations. In order to identify possible shared neural substrates for processing the basic units of spoken and written language, a sparse sampling fMRI acquisition protocol was performed on the same subjects in two experimental sessions with similar sets of letters being read and written and of phonemes being heard and orally produced. We found evidence of common premotor regions activated in spoken and written language, both in perception and in production. The location of those brain regions was confined to the left lateral and medial frontal cortices, at locations corresponding to the premotor cortex, inferior frontal cortex and supplementary motor area. Interestingly, the speaking and writing tasks also appeared to be controlled by largely overlapping networks, possibly indicating some domain general cognitive processing. Finally, the spatial distribution of individual activation peaks further showed more dorsal and more left-lateralized premotor activations in written than in spoken language.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jean-Michel Hupé
- CNRS, Université de Toulouse Paul Sabatier, CerCo, Toulouse, France
| | - Mathieu Ruiz
- CNRS, Université de Toulouse Paul Sabatier, CerCo, Toulouse, France
| | - Nathalie Vayssière
- CNRS, Université de Toulouse Paul Sabatier, CerCo, Toulouse, France; Toulouse Mind and Brain Institute, France
| | - Marc Sato
- CNRS, Aix-Marseille Univ, LPL, Aix-en-Provence, France
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18
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Hervais-Adelman A, Kumar U, Mishra RK, Tripathi VN, Guleria A, Singh JP, Eisner F, Huettig F. Learning to read recycles visual cortical networks without destruction. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2019; 5:eaax0262. [PMID: 31555732 PMCID: PMC6750915 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aax0262] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2019] [Accepted: 08/19/2019] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Learning to read is associated with the appearance of an orthographically sensitive brain region known as the visual word form area. It has been claimed that development of this area proceeds by impinging upon territory otherwise available for the processing of culturally relevant stimuli such as faces and houses. In a large-scale functional magnetic resonance imaging study of a group of individuals of varying degrees of literacy (from completely illiterate to highly literate), we examined cortical responses to orthographic and nonorthographic visual stimuli. We found that literacy enhances responses to other visual input in early visual areas and enhances representational similarity between text and faces, without reducing the extent of response to nonorthographic input. Thus, acquisition of literacy in childhood recycles existing object representation mechanisms but without destructive competition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexis Hervais-Adelman
- Neurobiology of Language Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Wundtlaan 1, 6525 XD Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Neurolinguistics, University of Zürich, Department of Psychology, Binzmühlerstrasse 14, 8050, Zürich, Switzerland
- Corresponding author.
| | - Uttam Kumar
- Centre of Biomedical Research, Raibareli Road, Lucknow, 226014 Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Ramesh K. Mishra
- University of Hyderabad, Prof. C.R. Rao Road, Gachibowli, Hyderabad 500046, Telangana, India
| | - Viveka N. Tripathi
- Centre for Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Allahabad, University Road, Old Katra, Prayagraj, 211002 Uttar Pradesh, India
- Department of Psychology, Iswar Saran Degree College, Prayagraj, 211002 Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Anupam Guleria
- Centre of Biomedical Research, Raibareli Road, Lucknow, 226014 Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Jay P. Singh
- Centre for Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Allahabad, University Road, Old Katra, Prayagraj, 211002 Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Frank Eisner
- Donders Institute, Radboud University, Montessorilaan 3, 6525 HR Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Falk Huettig
- Psychology of Language Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Wundtlaan 1, 6525 XD Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University, Houtlaan 4, 6525 XZ Nijmegen, Netherlands
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19
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The impact of spelling regularity on handwriting production: A coupled fMRI and kinematics study. Cortex 2019; 113:111-127. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2018.11.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2018] [Revised: 07/13/2018] [Accepted: 11/27/2018] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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20
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Vinci-Booher S, Cheng H, James KH. An Analysis of the Brain Systems Involved with Producing Letters by Hand. J Cogn Neurosci 2018; 31:138-154. [PMID: 30240307 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Complex visual-motor behaviors dominate human-environment interactions. Letter production, writing individual letters by hand, is an example of a complex visual-motor behavior composed of numerous behavioral components, including the required motor movements and the percepts that those motor movements create. By manipulating and isolating components of letter production, we provide experimental evidence that this complex visual-motor behavior is supported by a widespread neural system that is composed of smaller subsystems related to different sensorimotor components. Adult participants hand-printed letters with and without "ink" on an MR-safe digital writing tablet, perceived static and dynamic representations of their own handwritten letters, and perceived typeface letters during fMRI scanning. Our results can be summarized by three main findings: (1) Frontoparietal systems were associated with the motor component of letter production, whereas temporo-parietal systems were more associated with the visual component. (2) The more anterior regions of the left intraparietal sulcus were more associated with the motor component, whereas the more posterior regions were more associated with the visual component, with an area of visual-motor overlap in the posterior intraparietal sulcus. (3) The left posterior intraparietal sulcus and right fusiform gyrus responded similarly to both visual and motor components, and both regions also responded more during the perception of one's own handwritten letters compared with perceiving typed letters. These findings suggest that the neural systems recruited during complex visual-motor behaviors are composed of a set of interrelated sensorimotor subsystems that support the full behavior in different ways and, furthermore, that some of these subsystems can be rerecruited during passive perception in the absence of the full visual-motor behavior.
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21
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Wallis P, Richards T, Boord P, Abbott R, Berninger V. Relationships between Translation and Transcription Processes during fMRI Connectivity Scanning and Coded Translation and Transcription in Writing Products after Scanning in Children with and without Transcription Disabilities. CREATIVE EDUCATION 2018; 8:716-748. [PMID: 29600113 PMCID: PMC5868987 DOI: 10.4236/ce.2017.85055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Students with transcription disabilities (dysgraphia/impaired handwriting, n = 13 or dyslexia/impaired word spelling, n = 16) or without transcription disabilities (controls) completed transcription and translation (idea generating, planning, and creating) writing tasks during fMRI connectivity scanning and compositions after scanning, which were coded for transcription and translation variables. Compositions in both groups showed diversity in genre beyond usual narrative-expository distinction; groups differed in coded transcription but not translation variables. For the control group specific transcription or translation tasks during scanning correlated with corresponding coded transcription or translation skills in composition, but connectivity during scanning was not correlated with coded handwriting during composing in dysgraphia group and connectivity during translating was not correlated with any coded variable during composing in dyslexia group. Results are discussed in reference to the trend in neuroscience to use connectivity from relevant seed points while performing tasks and trends in education to recognize the generativity (creativity) of composing at both the genre and syntax levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Wallis
- Educational Psychology-Learning Sciences and Human Development, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
| | - Todd Richards
- Integrated Brain Imaging Center, Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
| | - Peter Boord
- Integrated Brain Imaging Center, Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
| | - Robert Abbott
- Educational Psychology-Quantitative Studies, Statistics and Measurement, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
| | - Virginia Berninger
- Educational Psychology-Learning Sciences and Human Development, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
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22
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Karimpoor M, Churchill NW, Tam F, Fischer CE, Schweizer TA, Graham SJ. Functional MRI of Handwriting Tasks: A Study of Healthy Young Adults Interacting with a Novel Touch-Sensitive Tablet. Front Hum Neurosci 2018; 12:30. [PMID: 29487511 PMCID: PMC5816817 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2017] [Accepted: 01/19/2018] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Handwriting is a complex human activity that engages a blend of cognitive and visual motor skills. Current understanding of the neural correlates of handwriting has largely come from lesion studies of patients with impaired handwriting. Task-based fMRI studies would be useful to supplement this work. To address concerns over ecological validity, previously we developed a fMRI-compatible, computerized tablet system for writing and drawing including visual feedback of hand position and an augmented reality display. The purpose of the present work is to use the tablet system in proof-of-concept to characterize brain activity associated with clinically relevant handwriting tasks, originally developed to characterize handwriting impairments in Alzheimer’s disease patients. As a prelude to undertaking fMRI studies of patients, imaging was performed of twelve young healthy subjects who copied sentences, phone numbers, and grocery lists using the fMRI-compatible tablet. Activation maps for all handwriting tasks consisted of a distributed network of regions in reasonable agreement with previous studies of handwriting performance. In addition, differences in brain activity were observed between the test subcomponents consistent with different demands of neural processing for successful task performance, as identified by investigating three quantitative behavioral metrics (writing speed, stylus contact force and stylus in air time). This study provides baseline behavioral and brain activity results for fMRI studies that adopt this handwriting test to characterize patients with brain impairments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mahta Karimpoor
- Department of Medical Biophysics, Sunnybrook Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Nathan W Churchill
- Department of Neurosurgery, Keenan Research Centre of the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Fred Tam
- Department of Medical Biophysics, Sunnybrook Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Corinne E Fischer
- Geriatric Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Tom A Schweizer
- Department of Neurosurgery, Keenan Research Centre of the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Simon J Graham
- Department of Medical Biophysics, Sunnybrook Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
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23
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Palmis S, Danna J, Velay JL, Longcamp M. Motor control of handwriting in the developing brain: A review. Cogn Neuropsychol 2017; 34:187-204. [PMID: 28891745 DOI: 10.1080/02643294.2017.1367654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
This review focuses on the acquisition of writing motor aspects in adults, and in 5-to 12-year-old children without learning disabilities. We first describe the behavioural aspects of adult writing and dominant models based on the notion of motor programs. We show that handwriting acquisition is characterized by the transition from reactive movements programmed stroke-by-stroke in younger children, to an automatic control of the whole trajectory when the motor programs are memorized at about 10 years old. Then, we describe the neural correlates of adult writing, and the changes that could occur with learning during childhood. The acquisition of a new skill is characterized by the involvement of a network more restricted in space and where neural specificity is increased in key regions. The cerebellum and the left dorsal premotor cortex are of fundamental importance in motor learning, and could be at the core of the acquisition of handwriting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Palmis
- a CNRS, Aix Marseille University LNC, , Marseille , France
| | - Jeremy Danna
- a CNRS, Aix Marseille University LNC, , Marseille , France
| | - Jean-Luc Velay
- a CNRS, Aix Marseille University LNC, , Marseille , France
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24
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How specialized are writing-specific brain regions? An fMRI study of writing, drawing and oral spelling. Cortex 2017; 88:66-80. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2016.11.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2015] [Revised: 05/21/2016] [Accepted: 11/28/2016] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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25
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Lagarrigue A, Longcamp M, Anton JL, Nazarian B, Prévot L, Velay JL, Cao F, Frenck-Mestre C. Activation of writing-specific brain regions when reading Chinese as a second language. Effects of training modality and transfer to novel characters. Neuropsychologia 2017; 97:83-97. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.01.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2016] [Revised: 11/29/2016] [Accepted: 01/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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26
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Longcamp M, Richards TL, Velay JL, Berninger VW. Neuroanatomy of Handwriting and Related Reading and Writing Skills in Adults and Children with and without Learning Disabilities: French-American Connections. PRATIQUES 2016; 171-172:3175. [PMID: 28190914 PMCID: PMC5297261 DOI: 10.4000/pratiques.3175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
In this article, we present recent neuroimaging studies performed to identify the neural network involved in handwriting. These studies, carried out in adults and in children, suggest that the mastery of handwriting is based on the involvement of a network of brain structures whose involvement and inter-connection are specific to writing alphabet characters. This network is built upon the joint learning of writing and reading and depends on the level of expertise of the writer. In addition, a part of this graphomotor network is also brought into play during the identification letters during visual reading. These skills are also the basis for the development of more complex language activities involving orthographic knowledge and composition of texts. The studies presented cover two perspectives: that of neuroscience and that of cognitive psychology, as both are necessary to understand a complex process of writing and both depend on natural interactions and the influence of educational exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marieke Longcamp
- Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives, UMR 7291 CNRS, CNRS - Aix-Marseille Université France
| | | | - Jean-Luc Velay
- Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives, UMR 7291 CNRS, CNRS - Aix-Marseille Université France
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27
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Vinci-Booher S, James TW, James KH. Visual-motor functional connectivity in preschool children emerges after handwriting experience. Trends Neurosci Educ 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tine.2016.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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28
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Fedorenko E, Varley R. Language and thought are not the same thing: evidence from neuroimaging and neurological patients. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2016; 1369:132-53. [PMID: 27096882 PMCID: PMC4874898 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.13046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2015] [Revised: 02/18/2016] [Accepted: 02/25/2016] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Is thought possible without language? Individuals with global aphasia, who have almost no ability to understand or produce language, provide a powerful opportunity to find out. Surprisingly, despite their near-total loss of language, these individuals are nonetheless able to add and subtract, solve logic problems, think about another person's thoughts, appreciate music, and successfully navigate their environments. Further, neuroimaging studies show that healthy adults strongly engage the brain's language areas when they understand a sentence, but not when they perform other nonlinguistic tasks such as arithmetic, storing information in working memory, inhibiting prepotent responses, or listening to music. Together, these two complementary lines of evidence provide a clear answer: many aspects of thought engage distinct brain regions from, and do not depend on, language.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evelina Fedorenko
- Psychiatry Department, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
- Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (CARTA), University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
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Vinci-Booher SA, James KH. Neural substrates of sensorimotor processes: letter writing and letter perception. J Neurophysiol 2016. [PMID: 26203115 DOI: 10.1152/jn.01042.2014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Writing and perceiving letters are thought to share similar neural substrates; however, what constitutes a neural representation for letters is currently debated. One hypothesis is that letter representation develops from sensorimotor experience resulting in an integrated set of modality-specific regions, whereas an alternative account suggests that letter representations may be abstract, independent of modality. Studies reviewed suggest that letter representation consists of a network of modality-responsive brain regions that may include an abstract component.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophia A Vinci-Booher
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
| | - Karin H James
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
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