The representation of segmental information: an fMRI investigation of the consonant-vowel distinction

Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USAAvailable online 23 July 2004IntroductionRecent studies suggest that consonants and vowels are repre-sented separately in cognitive/neural space. Much of the evidencecomes from research on dysgraphia (for review, see Miceli & Cap-asso, submitted). In the first place, letter substitution errors preservethe consonant/vowel (CV) status of the target (e.g., cinema fi ciremaor cinoma, but not cintma). Second, there are reports of selectiveimpairment for consonants or vowels. Additional evidence comesfrom disorders of phonology, demonstrating the dissociability be-tween consonants and vowels (Caramazza, Chialant, Capasso, Mthe ISI was variable (mean 6.75 s). Th…