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The Dig Task: A Simple Scent Discrimination Reveals Deficits Following Frontal Brain Damage
Published on: January 4, 2013
Specific reading and phonological processing deficits are associated with damage to the left frontal operculum
Julie A Fiez1, Daniel Tranel, Daunye Seager-Frerichs
1Department of Psychology, Centers for Learning Research and Development and for the Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.
Summary
Damage to the left frontal operculum (FO) impairs reading of nonwords, confirming its role in phonological processing. This finding supports the link between the left FO and reading, particularly for phonological dyslexia.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Linguistics
Background:
- Functional neuroimaging reveals left frontal operculum (FO) activation during nonword reading.
- The precise role of the left FO in reading remains to be fully elucidated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the causal role of the left frontal operculum (FO) in reading using the lesion method.
- To test if left FO damage impairs nonword reading while sparing word reading.
Main Methods:
- Eleven subjects with left FO lesions were compared to control groups on reading tasks.
- Tasks were designed based on previous functional neuroimaging studies of reading.
Main Results:
- Subjects with left FO damage were significantly impaired in reading pronounceable nonwords.
- FO group showed relatively intact word reading, consistent with phonological dyslexia.
- Difficulty was noted with low-frequency words having inconsistent grapheme-to-phoneme correspondences.
Conclusions:
- Left frontal operculum (FO) damage selectively impairs phonological processing crucial for reading nonwords.
- Findings support the FO's role in the phonological system supporting reading.
- Convergent evidence from lesion and imaging studies strengthens the FO's link to reading processes.
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