How visual attention underpins reading: Converging evidence from a meta-analysis of fMRI studies

Visual attention is essential for processing not only visual objects and scenes but also written words and continuous text. Yet, its precise contribution to different levels of reading remains unclear. Using a meta-analytic approach across 140 fMRI experiments (n = 1,541), we examined the interplay between bottom-up and top-down attention, word and text reading. Our results reveal a layered functional organization within the middle precentral gyrus: the superior part shows convergence between top-down attention and text reading, the inferior part links top-down attention with word reading, and the central part, which overlaps with area 55b, shows selective engagement in reading. In addition, the fusiform gyrus, including the VWFA, emerges as a region of spatial convergence between visual attention and word reading. These findings extend the neuronal recycling framework by showing that reading builds on visual and attentional circuits, while also revealing language-related regions that are partly distinct from domain-general attentional systems.