Interhemispheric functional connectivity of the ventral occipitotemporal cortex supports Chinese reading

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Psycholinguistics

Background:

• The bilateral ventral occipitotemporal cortex (vOT) is implicated in word reading, particularly for Chinese characters.
• Interhemispheric communication within the vOT during Chinese reading remains underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the interhemispheric communication mechanisms of the bilateral vOT in Chinese character reading.
• To elucidate the role of vOT connectivity in reading efficiency and semantic processing.

Main Methods:

• Resting-state and task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were employed.
• Dynamic causal modeling (DCM) analyzed effective connectivity during rhythm and semantic judgment tasks.

Main Results:

• Stronger posterior vOT interhemispheric resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) correlated with Chinese reading efficiency.
• Posterior vOT showed intrinsic interhemispheric connections, while middle and anterior subregions exhibited right-to-left modulatory connections.
• Enhanced right-to-left connectivity in the anterior vOT was linked to superior semantic judgment performance.

Conclusions:

• Interhemispheric communication within the bilateral vOT is vital for effective Chinese character reading.
• Specific connectivity patterns in posterior, middle, and anterior vOT subregions support different aspects of reading.
• Findings underscore the importance of neural communication across hemispheres for complex cognitive tasks like reading.