The neurobiological basis of reading

The results from studies using positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in adults have largely revealed the involvement of left-hemisphere perisylvian areas in the reading process, including extrastriate visual cortex, inferior parietal regions, superior temporal gyrus, and inferior frontal cortex. Although the recruitment of these regions varies with the particular reading-related task, general networks of regions seem to be uniquely associated with different components of the reading process. For example, visual word form processing is associated with occipital and occipitotemporal sites, whereas reading-relevant phonological processing has been associated with superior temporal, occipitotemporal and inferior frontal sites of the left hemisphere. Such findings are evaluated in light of the technical and experimental limitations encountered in functional brain imaging studies, and the implications for pediatric studies are discussed.