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Meaning for reading pseudowords: errors reveal semantic influences on pseudoword reading after stroke
Ryan Staples1,2, Elizabeth J Anderson1,2, Sara M Dyslin1,2
1Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery, Departments of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA 20057.
Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
|May 25, 2026
Summary
This study shows semantic deficits, not just phonological ones, impair pseudoword reading after stroke. Both naming and repetition abilities influence reading accuracy and error types in alexia.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Linguistics
Background:
- Alexia, or impaired reading, is common after left hemisphere stroke.
- Pseudoword reading deficits are typically attributed solely to phonological impairments.
- Alternative theories propose semantic contributions to pseudoword reading.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the cognitive and neural factors influencing pseudoword reading accuracy in stroke survivors.
- To differentiate the roles of phonological and semantic processing in specific reading error types (lexicalization and nonword errors).
- To map the neural substrates associated with these reading errors.
Main Methods:
- Studied 76 left-hemisphere stroke survivors reading pseudowords aloud.
- Assessed phonological processing via pseudoword repetition tasks.
- Evaluated semantic-phonological mapping using picture naming tasks.
- Employed regression models and lesion-symptom mapping (voxel-based and connectome) to analyze data.
Main Results:
- Both phonological (pseudoword repetition) and semantic (naming) abilities independently predicted pseudoword reading accuracy.
- Deficits in pseudoword repetition predicted more lexicalization errors (reading pseudowords as real words).
- Deficits in naming predicted more nonword errors (reading pseudowords as incorrect nonwords).
- Nonword errors correlated with reduced imageability effects in real word reading.
- Lexicalization errors localized to the left putamen/basal ganglia; nonword errors linked to temporal/parietal regions.
Conclusions:
- Semantic processes contribute to pseudoword reading, challenging the view of it as a pure phonological task.
- Lexicalization errors may stem from impaired motor planning, leading to reliance on lexical knowledge.
- Nonword errors suggest impaired semantic contributions to reading.
- Findings support connectionist models where damaged direct routes lead to semantic system reliance, even for novel words.
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