Hemispheric specialization for visual words is shaped by attention to sublexical units during initial learning.
Selective attention to grapheme-phoneme mappings during learning can impact the circuitry subsequently recruited during reading. Here we trained literate adults to read two novel scripts of glyph words containing embedded letters under different instructions. For one script, learners linked each embedded letter to its corresponding sound within the word (grapheme-phoneme focus); for the other, decoding was prevented so entire words had to be memorized. Post-training, ERPs were recorded during a reading task on the trained words within each condition and on untrained but decodable (transfer) words. Within this condition, reaction-time patterns suggested both trained and transfer words were accessed via sublexical units, yet a left-lateralized, late ERP response showed an enhanced left lateralization for transfer words relative to trained words, potentially reflecting effortful decoding. Collectively, these findings show that selective attention to grapheme-phoneme mappings during learning drives the lateralization of circuitry that supports later word recognition. This study thus provides a model example of how different instructional approaches to the same material may impact changes in brain circuitry.
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Child Study Center, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, United States.
Yuliya N
YN
Yoncheva
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States.
Jessica
J
Wise
Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States. Electronic address: brucemc@stanford.edu.
Bruce
B
McCandliss
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology*; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D011932:Reading; D014936:Word Association Tests; D055815:Young Adult
Artificial orthography; Attention; Decoding; Grapheme–phoneme; N170; Phonology; Reading expertise; Visual word form