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Bilateral Word Selectivity Gradients in the Visual Word Form System in Skilled Deaf Readers.

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Summary

Deaf readers utilize both left and right brain hemispheres for visual word recognition, unlike hearing individuals. This bilateral organization in the visual word form system (VWFS) is a unique neural signature for successful reading in deaf adults.

Keywords:
deaf readersfMRIventral occipitotemporal cortexvisual word form system

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Science
  • Linguistics

Background:

  • Visual word recognition in hearing individuals relies on a left-lateralized ventral occipitotemporal (vOT) cortex hierarchy.
  • Right hemisphere involvement in reading is often linked to poor reading skills (dyslexia) in hearing individuals.
  • The neural organization of word recognition in deaf readers, particularly the role of the right vOT, remains largely unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the hierarchical organization of written word processing in the vOT bilaterally for deaf and hearing readers.
  • To determine if deafness and phonological ability influence the laterality of word-selectivity gradients in the vOT.
  • To compare the neural signatures of successful reading in deaf versus hearing individuals.

Main Methods:

  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to study brain activity.
  • Participants included skill-matched deaf and hearing adults.
  • Stimuli varied in orthographic regularity: consonant strings, pseudowords, and real words.

Main Results:

  • Hearing readers showed a hierarchical structure exclusively in the left visual word form system (VWFS), replicating previous findings.
  • Deaf readers exhibited a similar hierarchical structure in the left VWFS.
  • Deaf readers also demonstrated a comparable hierarchical structure in the right VWFS, indicating bilateral engagement.

Conclusions:

  • The bilateral hierarchical organization of the VWFS in deaf readers is a unique neural signature for successful reading.
  • Unlike maladaptive right hemisphere activation in dyslexia, this bilateral activation is not detrimental for skilled deaf readers.
  • Successful reading in deaf adults does not necessitate the typical developmental shift towards predominantly left-lateralized processing.