Scientific Reports : The human brain is born to see words.

A new study shows that a region of the human brain is born with the ability to receive words and letters, laying the foundation for learning to read at birth.
analyzing brain scans of newborns, the researchers found that this part of the brain , known as the "visual word formation zone" (VWFA), is connected to the brain's language network.
Saygin, an assistant professor of psychology at Ohio State University and senior author of the study, said: "This provides fertile ground for research into sensitivity to visual language -- even before exposure to any language."
some researchers hypothesical that VWFA before learning to read is no different from other parts of the visual cortical cortivity that are sensitive to faces, scenes, or other objects, and that words and letters are selective only when children learn to read or at least learn a language.
later discovered that this was not the case.
even at birth, VWFA is more closely linked to the brain's language network than to other regions.
's an exciting discovery.
researchers analyzed functional MRI scans of the brains of 40 newborns, all less than a week old, as part of a project to develop human connections.
compared the scan results with similar scans of 40 adults involved in a separate human connectivity project.
connection between the language area (seed) and the advanced visual area (target).
language (yellow); VWFA (purple), face (blue), scene (olive), object (light green).
VWFA is adjacent to the visual cortical layer that processes faces, so there's reason to believe that these parts of the newborn brain are no different, and as visuals, faces have some of the same attributes as text, such as the need for high spatial resolution for humans to see them correctly.
but the researchers found that even in newborns, VWFA is different from the part of the visual cortical cortical that recognizes faces, mainly because it is functionally linked to the part of the brain that processes language.
"Our findings suggest that VWFA may need to be further refined as the baby matures," Saygin said.
"When a person is able to read and write, having oral and written language experiences may strengthen their connection to certain aspects of the language loop and further distinguish the functionality of the region from the adjacent region."
" Saygin Lab at Ohio State University is currently scanning the brains of children ages 3-4 to learn more about the role of VWFA and what visual characteristics the region responds to before children learn to read.
, "Our goal is to understand how the brain becomes the reading brain.
learn more about individual differences can help researchers understand differences in reading behavior, as well as studies of dysleth reading and other developmental disorders.
understanding what this region was doing at such a young time could give us a better understanding of how the human brain develops reading ability and possible problems," Saygin said.
" is important to make this area of the tracking brain more specialized.
" References: Jin Li, David E. Osher, Heather A. Hansen, Zeynep M. Saygin. Innate connectivity patterns drive the development of of the visual word form area. Scientific Reports, 2020; 10 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-75015-7MedSci Original Source: MedSci Original Copyright Notice: All noted on this website "Source" : The text, images and audio and video materials of Mets Medicine or Source: MedSci Originals are owned by Metz Medicine and may not be reproduced by any media, website or individual without authorization, and shall be reproduced with the words "Source: Mets Medicine".
all reprinted articles on this website are for the purpose of transmitting more information and clearly indicate the source and author, and media or individuals who do not wish to be reproduced may contact us and we will delete them immediately.
at the same time reproduced content does not represent the position of this site.
leave a message here.