9/17/2016

WeAllSpeedReadScientificAmerican

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We All Speed-Read
The brain doesnt sound out words it already knows, a new study shows
By Roni Jacobson on September 1, 2016

Credit: Thomas Fuchs

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Whenchildrenfirstlearntoread,theypainstakinglysoundouteveryletterCAT
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beforementallystringingthemtogetherandconnectingtheresulttoawordandits
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meaning.Withpractice,however,webegintorecognizewordsonsight.Infact,our
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braincompilesavisualdictionarythatishousedinthereartemporallobe,adjacent
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totheareathatrecognizesfaces,accordingtoanewstudypublishedinNeuroimage.
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Thisdictionaryeventuallysupersedestheresponsibilitiesofthebrain'sphonics
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center,theresearcherssay,andiscriticaltobecominganadvancedreader.
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LaurieGlezer,apostdoctoralresearchfellowatSanDiegoStateUniversity,andher
colleaguesanalyzedthebrainactivityof27participantsallnative,monolingual

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WeAllSpeedReadScientificAmerican

Englishspeakersreadingatanadvancedlevelastheyreadhomophones,wordsthat
soundalikebuthaveadifferentmeaning,suchashairandhare.Theyfoundthat
thehomophonesactivateddifferentgroupsofneuronsinthereartemporallobean
observationthatsuggestsseparatevisualentriesforthewords.Thesamegroupof
neuronswouldhavelitupifthebrainwassoundingthehomophonesout.

Fromthisworkitlooksasifthereareregionsthatareseparatelycomputingthese
visualandphonologicalaspectsthatarebothincrediblyimportantforreading,
Glezersays.

Thestudy'sresultscouldinformnewteachingtechniques.Inthedebateaboutwhat's
thebestwaytolearntoread,there'sthisideathatphonicsisthewaytogo,says
MaximilianRiesenhuber,wholeadstheLaboratoryforComputationalCognitive
NeuroscienceatGeorgetownUniversityMedicalCenterandisacoauthorofthe
paper.Thisstudyrefutesthatidea,headds,becauseitshowsthatskilledreaders
buildupavisualvocabularythattheytapintowhenviewingafamiliarwordasa
whole.

Similarly,theresearchmayofferinsightintodyslexia,notesFumikoHoeft,a
psychologyprofessorattheUniversityofCalifornia,SanFrancisco,whowasnot
involvedinthestudy.Forinstance,perhapspeoplewiththisreadingdisorderhave
problemsdevelopingoraccessingthevisualdictionary.Atthispoint,however,itis
hardtosaywherethebreakdownis,Glezersays.Sheisnowplanningsimilar
studiesinvolvingsubjectswhoaredyslexicandotherswhoaredeafindividualswho
alsotendtohavetroublelearningtoread.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)

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Roni Jacobson

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Roni Jacobson is a science journalist based in New York City who writes about psychology
and mental health.

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WeAllSpeedReadScientificAmerican

Scientic American is part of Springer Nature, which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientic publications
(many of them can be found at www.springernature.com/us). Scientic American maintains a strict policy of editorial
independence in reporting developments in science to our readers.

2 016 S CI E N TI F I CA ME RI CA N , A DI V I S I ON OF N A TU RE A ME RI CA , I N C.
A LLRI GHTS RE S E RV E D.

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