Early reading skills and the ventral occipito-temporal cortex organization

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Learning to read significantly reorganizes the ventral occipitotemporal cortex (VOT).
• The neuronal recycling hypothesis suggests visual areas adapt to reading by retaining initial functions while processing words.
• Previous neuroimaging studies indicated that visual processing voxels gain word responsivity without losing their original category selectivity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how the ventral occipitotemporal cortex (VOT) reorganizes in response to learning to read.
• To examine the neuronal recycling hypothesis in young children before formal literacy instruction.
• To explore the adaptation of the VOT to the novel skill of reading using diverse stimuli and analysis techniques.

Main Methods:

• Studied 72 six-year-olds prior to literacy training.
• Employed univariate, multivariate, and rapid adaptation neuroimaging techniques.
• Presented stimuli including print, false fonts, houses, and faces to assess VOT responses.

Main Results:

• Print activated a widespread language network beyond the visual cortex, with activation strength correlating with reading skill.
• Rapid adaptation revealed the emergence of a reading network in children who could read.
• VOT reorganization involved voxels previously responsive to faces also responding to print, while retaining face-processing capabilities.

Conclusions:

• The findings support the revised neuronal recycling hypothesis, demonstrating that VOT adapts to reading without losing prior functions.
• Reading acquisition leads to the development of a specific reading circuit involving language-related areas.
• The study provides evidence that brain areas can acquire new functions, like reading, while maintaining existing ones.