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RESEARCH PRODUCT
Embedded word priming elicits enhanced fMRI responses in the visual word form area.
Lars StrotherCarol WhitneyZhiheng Zhousubject
MaleLexical semanticsgenetic structuresVisionSocial SciencesVocabularyDiagnostic Radiology0302 clinical medicineFunctional Magnetic Resonance ImagingMedicine and Health SciencesPsychologyAttentionVisual word form areaBrain MappingMultidisciplinarymedicine.diagnostic_testRadiology and Imaging05 social sciencesQRBrainConceptual semanticsMiddle AgedMagnetic Resonance ImagingSemanticsCognitive LinguisticsWord RecognitionVisual PerceptionMedicineFemaleSensory PerceptionAnatomyPsychologyPriming (psychology)Research ArticleAdultImaging TechniquesScienceContext (language use)NeuroimagingResearch and Analysis Methods050105 experimental psychologyLateralization of brain function03 medical and health sciencesDiagnostic MedicinemedicineHumans0501 psychology and cognitive sciencesLeft HemisphereCognitive PsychologyBiology and Life SciencesLinguisticsLexical SemanticsWord recognitionCognitive ScienceConceptual SemanticsFunctional magnetic resonance imagingNeuroscienceCerebral Hemispheres030217 neurology & neurosurgeryPhotic StimulationNeurosciencedescription
Lexical embedding is common in all languages and elicits mutual orthographic interference between an embedded word and its carrier. The neural basis of such interference remains unknown. We employed a novel fMRI prime-target embedded word paradigm to test for involvement of a visual word form area (VWFA) in left ventral occipitotemporal cortex in co-activation of embedded words and their carriers. Based on the results of related fMRI studies we predicted either enhancement or suppression of fMRI responses to embedded words initially viewed as primes, and repeated in the context of target carrier words. Our results clearly showed enhancement of fMRI responses in the VWFA to embedded-carrier word pairs as compared to unrelated prime-target pairs. In contrast to non-visual language-related areas (e.g., left inferior frontal gyrus), enhanced fMRI responses did not occur in the VWFA when embedded-carrier word pairs were restricted to the left visual hemifield. Our finding of fMRI enhancement in the VWFA is novel evidence of its involvement in representational rivalry between orthographically similar words, and the co-activation of embedded words and their carriers.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-03-06 | PLoS ONE |