Dissociated roles of the middle frontal gyri in the processing of Chinese characters.
The present study examined a hypothesis that the right middle frontal gyrus participates in processing orthography of Chinese characters, while the left middle frontal gyrus mediates access to phonology and semantics. Brain activation during three character tasks, which required processing orthography, phonology, or semantics of Chinese characters, respectively, was measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging. Comparable neural activity in the right middle frontal gyrus was observed in all three character tasks that always demand orthographical processing. In contrast, the left middle frontal gyrus showed greater activation in the phonological and semantic tasks than in the orthographic task. These results suggest that the right and left middle frontal gyrus have dissociable functions in achieving Chinese character recognition.
Liu
Chia-Li
CL
Department of Psychology, Interdisciplinary MRI Laboratory, National Taiwan University, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Hue
Chih-Wei
CW
Chen
Chien-Chung
CC
Chuang
Kai-Hsiang
KH
Liang
Keng-Chen
KC
Wang
Yao-Hung
YH
Wu
Chang-Wei
CW
Chen
Jyh-Horng
JH
D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010700:Phonetics; D012660:Semantics
D010100:Oxygen