Demystifying visual word form area visual and nonvisual response properties with precision fMRI

Summary: The visual word form area (VWFA) is a region in the left ventrotemporal cortex (VTC) whose specificity remains contentious. Using precision fMRI, we examine the VWFA’s responses to numerous visual and nonvisual stimuli, comparing them to adjacent category-selective visual regions and region...

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Main Authors: Jin Li, Kelly J. Hiersche, Zeynep M. Saygin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-12-01
Series:iScience
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004224027081
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author Jin Li
Kelly J. Hiersche
Zeynep M. Saygin
author_facet Jin Li
Kelly J. Hiersche
Zeynep M. Saygin
author_sort Jin Li
collection DOAJ
description Summary: The visual word form area (VWFA) is a region in the left ventrotemporal cortex (VTC) whose specificity remains contentious. Using precision fMRI, we examine the VWFA’s responses to numerous visual and nonvisual stimuli, comparing them to adjacent category-selective visual regions and regions involved in language and attentional demand. We find that VWFA responds moderately to non-word visual stimuli, but is unique within VTC in its pronounced selectivity for visual words. Interestingly, the VWFA is also the only category-selective visual region engaged in auditory language, unlike the ubiquitous attentional demand effect throughout the VTC. However, this language selectivity is dwarfed by its visual responses even to nonpreferred categories, indicating the VWFA is not a core (amodal) language region. We also observed two additional auditory language VTC clusters, but these had no specificity for visual words. Our detailed investigation clarifies longstanding controversies about the landscape of visual and auditory language functionality within VTC.
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spelling doaj-art-bcdcf2fac12543af9a02d9ff5820e3b82024-12-22T05:29:30ZengElsevieriScience2589-00422024-12-012712111481Demystifying visual word form area visual and nonvisual response properties with precision fMRIJin Li0Kelly J. Hiersche1Zeynep M. Saygin2Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Brain Imaging, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA; Corresponding authorDepartment of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Brain Imaging, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USADepartment of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Brain Imaging, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Corresponding authorSummary: The visual word form area (VWFA) is a region in the left ventrotemporal cortex (VTC) whose specificity remains contentious. Using precision fMRI, we examine the VWFA’s responses to numerous visual and nonvisual stimuli, comparing them to adjacent category-selective visual regions and regions involved in language and attentional demand. We find that VWFA responds moderately to non-word visual stimuli, but is unique within VTC in its pronounced selectivity for visual words. Interestingly, the VWFA is also the only category-selective visual region engaged in auditory language, unlike the ubiquitous attentional demand effect throughout the VTC. However, this language selectivity is dwarfed by its visual responses even to nonpreferred categories, indicating the VWFA is not a core (amodal) language region. We also observed two additional auditory language VTC clusters, but these had no specificity for visual words. Our detailed investigation clarifies longstanding controversies about the landscape of visual and auditory language functionality within VTC.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004224027081NeuroscienceSensory neuroscienceCognitive neuroscience
spellingShingle Jin Li
Kelly J. Hiersche
Zeynep M. Saygin
Demystifying visual word form area visual and nonvisual response properties with precision fMRI
iScience
Neuroscience
Sensory neuroscience
Cognitive neuroscience
title Demystifying visual word form area visual and nonvisual response properties with precision fMRI
title_full Demystifying visual word form area visual and nonvisual response properties with precision fMRI
title_fullStr Demystifying visual word form area visual and nonvisual response properties with precision fMRI
title_full_unstemmed Demystifying visual word form area visual and nonvisual response properties with precision fMRI
title_short Demystifying visual word form area visual and nonvisual response properties with precision fMRI
title_sort demystifying visual word form area visual and nonvisual response properties with precision fmri
topic Neuroscience
Sensory neuroscience
Cognitive neuroscience
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004224027081
work_keys_str_mv AT jinli demystifyingvisualwordformareavisualandnonvisualresponsepropertieswithprecisionfmri
AT kellyjhiersche demystifyingvisualwordformareavisualandnonvisualresponsepropertieswithprecisionfmri
AT zeynepmsaygin demystifyingvisualwordformareavisualandnonvisualresponsepropertieswithprecisionfmri