Category-related activation for written words in the posterior fusiform is task specific.
Category-related brain activations have been reported in the posterior fusiform gyri when people view pictures of tools and animals, but only a single study has observed this pattern when the stimuli were words, rather than pictures. Here we replicate these category effects with words and provide evidence that distinctive patterns of activation are task specific. The results suggest that category-related activation in the posterior fusiform gyri can be driven either "bottom-up" by visual processing of images or "top-down" by word processing.
Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain, Department of Clinical Neurology, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Headley Way, Headington, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK. devlin@fmrib.ox.ac.uk
Joseph T
JT
Devlin
Matthew F S
MF
Rushworth
Paul M
PM
Matthews
D000328:Adult; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011932:Reading; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*