Wanwan Guo1,2 • Shujie Geng1,2 • Miao Cao1,2 • Jianfeng Feng1,21 Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
2 Key Laboratory of Computational Neuroscience and Brain-Inspired Intelligence (Ministry of Education), Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
Abstract
Chinese, as a logographic language, fundamentally differs from alphabetic languages like English. Previous neuroimaging studies have mainly focused on alphabetic languages, while the exploration of Chinese reading is still an emerging and fast-growing research field. Recently, a growing number of neuroimaging studies have explored the neural circuit of Chinese reading. Here, we summarize previous research on Chinese reading from a connectomic perspective. Converging evidence indicates that the left middle frontal gyrus is a specialized hub region that connects the ventral with dorsal pathways for Chinese reading. Notably, the orthography-to-phonology and orthography-to-semantics mapping, mainly processed in the ventral pathway, are more specific during Chinese reading. Besides, in addition to the left-lateralized language-related regions, reading pathways in the right hemisphere also play an important role in Chinese reading. Throughout, we comprehensively review prior findings and emphasize several challenging issues to be explored in future work.
Keywords
Brain connectome; Chinese reading; Word recognition; Reading comprehension; Structural connectivity; Functional connectivity
