The acquisition of literacy transforms the human brain. By reviewing studies of illiterate subjects, we propose specific hypotheses on how the functions of core brain systems are partially reoriented or 'recycled' when learning to read. Literacy acquisition improves early visual processing and reorganizes the ventral occipito-temporal pathway: responses to written characters are increased in the left occipito-temporal sulcus, whereas responses to faces shift towards the right hemisphere. Literacy also modifies phonological coding and strengthens the functional and anatomical link between phonemic and graphemic representations. Literacy acquisition therefore provides a remarkable example of how the brain reorganizes to accommodate a novel cultural skill.

/pdf/illiterate-to-literate-behavioural-and-cerebral-changes-4pj2xuqkau.pdf

Illiterate to literate: behavioural and cerebral changes induced by reading acquisition

Writing is a complex cognitive process relying on intricate perceptual-sensorimotor combinations. The process and skill of writing is studied on several levels and in many disciplines, from neurophysiological research on the shaping of each letter to studies on stylistic and compositional features of authors and poets. In studies of writing and literacy overall, the role of the physically tangible writing device (pen on paper; computer mouse and keyboard; digital stylus pen and writing tablet; etc.) is rarely addressed. By and large, the (relatively young) field of writing research is dominated by cognitive approaches predominantly focusing on the visual component of the writing process, hence maintaining a separation between (visual) perception and motor action (e.g., haptics1). However, recent theoretical currents in psychology, phenomenology & philosophy of mind, and neuroscience – commonly referred to as “embodied cognition” – indicate that perception and motor action are closely connected and, indeed, reciprocally dependent. Today, most of our writing is done with digital writing devices (the computer, the mobile phone, the PDA [i.e., Personal Digital Assistant]), rather than writing by hand. The switch from pen and paper to mouse, keyboard and screen entails major differences in the haptics of writing, at several distinct but intersecting levels. Handwriting is by essence a unimanual activity, whereas typewriting is bimanual. Typically, handwriting is also a slower process than typewriting. Moreover, the visual attention of the writer is strongly concentrated during handwriting; the attentional focus of the writer is dedicated to the tip of the pen, while during typewriting the visual attention is detached from the haptic input, namely the

/pdf/digitizing-literacy-reflections-on-the-haptics-of-writing-30mrnld7rs.pdf

Digitizing Literacy: Reflections on the Haptics of Writing

Cortical networks for vision and language in dyslexic and normal children of variable socio-economic status.

Learning to write words may strengthen orthographic representations and thus support word-specific recognition processes. This hypothesis applies especially to Chinese because its writing system encourages character-specific recognition that depends on accurate representation of orthographic form. We report 2 studies that test this hypothesis in adult learners of Chinese. In those studies, the researchers 1st compared the effects of an online writing tutor that included character handwriting with an instructional tutor that included reading only. The writing condition led to better performance on word recognition and on character-meaning links but not on the character-phonology link. In the 2nd experiment, we added an alphabetic (Pinyin) typing tutor to strengthen the phonology link and to control for manual motor activity during instruction. This experiment replicated the effects of writing on word recognition and character-meaning links, whereas alphabetic (Pinyin) typing supported only phonological representations and the character-phonology link. Theoretically, the studies suggest constituent-specific effects: writing on orthography and alphabetic coding on phonology. We suggest the mechanism for the writing effect is the refinement of visual-spatial information needed for character recognition and the addition of a sensory-motor memory that accompanies writing. The practical implication is that an integration of character handwriting and Pinyin typing promotes learning to read Chinese in a second language learning context.

Writing strengthens orthography and alphabetic-coding strengthens phonology in learning to read Chinese

Fourth graders with learning disabilities in transcription (handwriting and spelling), LD-TD, and without LD-TD (non-LD), were compared on three writing tasks (letters, sentences, and essays), whic...

Comparison of pen and keyboard transcription modes in children with and without learning disabilities

Fast and accurate visual recognition of single characters is crucial for efficient reading. We explored the possible contribution of writing memory to character recognition processes. We evaluated the ability of adults to discriminate new characters from their mirror images after being taught how to produce the characters either by traditional pen-and-paper writing or with a computer keyboard. After training, we found stronger and longer lasting (several weeks) facilitation in recognizing the orientation of characters that had been written by hand compared to those typed. Functional magnetic resonance imaging recordings indicated that the response mode during learning is associated with distinct pathways during recognition of graphic shapes. Greater activity related to handwriting learning and normal letter identification was observed in several brain regions known to be involved in the execution, imagery, and observation of actions, in particular, the left Broca's area and bilateral inferior parietal lobules. Taken together, these results provide strong arguments in favor of the view that the specific movements memorized when learning how to write participate in the visual recognition of graphic shapes and letters.

Cline Boucard

Papers

Learning through hand-or typewriting influences visual recognition of new graphic shapes: Behavioral and functional imaging evidence