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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 22, 2026

Exploring Infant Sensitivity to Visual Language using Eye Tracking and the Preferential Looking Paradigm

Exploring Infant Sensitivity to Visual Language using Eye Tracking and the Preferential Looking Paradigm

Published on: May 15, 2019

Position sensitivity in the visual word form area.

Andreas M Rauschecker¹, Reno F Bowen, Josef Parvizi

¹Neurosciences Program and Medical Scientist Training Program, and Laboratory of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. andreasr@stanford.edu

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

|May 10, 2012

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The visual word form area (VWFA) in the brain does not process words in a position-invariant way. New research shows that the VWFA encodes visual word position, impacting reading circuitry theories.

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Last Updated: May 22, 2026

Exploring Infant Sensitivity to Visual Language using Eye Tracking and the Preferential Looking Paradigm

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Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity

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Published on: March 18, 2019

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Science
Psychology

Background:

Skilled reading relies on the visual word form area (VWFA) in the ventral temporal cortex.
The prevailing hypothesis suggests VWFA responses are position-invariant, enabling abstract word form analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether the VWFA exhibits position-invariant responses during word recognition.
To explore the role of visual field position in VWFA activity and its implications for reading circuitry.

Main Methods:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) pattern-classification techniques were employed to analyze VWFA responses.
Electrophysiological recordings were used to assess response latencies in the VWFA.

Main Results:

fMRI data revealed that spatial patterns in the VWFA encode visual word position.
The right-hemisphere homolog (rVWFA) also demonstrated position-sensitive responses.
Electrophysiology confirmed position-sensitive response latencies in the VWFA.

Conclusions:

The VWFA is not strictly position-invariant; it encodes information about the visual field position of words.
This position sensitivity has significant implications for understanding how word forms are learned and stored in the brain's reading network.