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Neural Substrates and Functional Connectivity for Chinese Character Processing in Children
Poster Session D, Saturday, October 26, 10:30 am - 12:00 pm, Great Hall 3 and 4
Wen-Wen Zhuang1,2, Yu-Qian Hu2, Li-Hai Tan1,2,3; 1College of Life Science and Technology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China, 2Center for Language and Brain, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience (SION), Shenzhen, China, 3Neuroscience and Neurorehabilitation Institute, University of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong, P.R. China
Introduction: Chinese characters are complex logographs with multiple strokes, demanding specialized visual perception processes for orthographic analyses. It is known that the link between V1 and the left middle frontal cortex plays a crucial role in children’s reading development[1]. However, it remains unclear whether the left middle frontal gyrus is connected to the visual word form area (VWFA) during children’s orthographic judgment. Therefore, it is essential to clarify the role of visual perception in Chinese orthographic processing. Methods: Forty-seven native Chinese children (27 males, 20 females, 6.5-11.58 years) participated in the Chinese and Korean component search tasks to judge whether characters contained the ‘口’ component. Additionally, they fixate on a central crosshair serving as the baseline. Recorded performances indicated comparable task difficulty. Individual activation t-maps were generated using the general linear model based on preprocessed fMRI data. To analyze the main effect of the two tasks, one-sample t-tests were performed by contrasting each task with the baseline. Besides, hierarchical subtraction identified differential orthographic processing (P<0.05, FDR corrected). Regions of interest (ROIs) were extracted by intersecting the activation maps with the Brodmann map. The time series was then extracted to construct connectivity matrices for each task utilizing a correlation analysis approach. Finally, paired t-tests (FDR, P<0.05) were used to identify significant changes in connectivity across different task conditions. Results: Chinese orthographic processing engages a network spanning frontal, temporal, and occipital lobes. Activation areas were selected from the activation map as ROIs, including the bilateral middle frontal gyrus (BAs 9/46)[2], left inferior frontal gyrus (BAs 44/45), bilateral middle temporal gyrus (BA21)[3], bilateral primary visual cortex (V1, BA17)[1], and VWFA (BA37)[4]. Paired t-tests on the functional connectivity revealed that the Chinese component search task showed significantly increased connectivity between the left BA46 and both the left BA17 and BA37, and between the right BA46 and the right BA9. In the Korean component search task, significant increases in connectivity were observed between the left BA37 and both the left BA21 and the left BA37, and between the right BA37 and the right BA21. Conclusion: The connectivity index offers deeper insights into the orthographic networks, highlighting brain connectivity during Chinese orthographic processing. The results revealed the left middle frontal gyrus exhibits crucial connections with V1 and VWFA during Chinese orthography, indicating that the left middle frontal gyrus plays a crucial role in Chinese orthography beyond its traditional visual processing functions. Reference 1. Yang, X., et al., Failure of resting-state frontal-occipital connectivity in linking visual perception with reading fluency in Chinese children with developmental dyslexia. Neuroimage, 2021. 233: p. 117911. 2. Tan, L.H., et al., The neural system underlying Chinese logograph reading. Neuroimage, 2001. 13(5): p. 836-46. 3. Yan, X., et al., Convergent and divergent brain structural and functional abnormalities associated with developmental dyslexia. Elife, 2021. 10. 4. Cohen, L., et al., The visual word form area: spatial and temporal characterization of an initial stage of reading in normal subjects and posterior split-brain patients. Brain, 2000. 123 ( Pt 2): p. 291-307.
Topic Areas: Reading,