General associative learning shapes the plasticity of the visual word form area

Earlier studies identify a region in the left fusiform gyrus that responds selectively to visual words, termed the visual word form area (VWFA). Converging evidence suggests that the VWFA is wired up largely by language experience. Here we asked whether general associative experience without explicit language learning accounts for the selectivity of the VWFA. Specifically, we trained individuals to associate novel stimuli with objects. We found that the blood oxygen level-dependent response of the VWFA to the trained stimuli was significantly higher than that of visually similar but untrained stimuli. No learning effects were found in the face-selective and object-selective regions. Our study illuminates that the plasticity of the VWFA can be shaped by associative learning without language experience.