An fMRI Study of Words Processing in Chinese Language

Abstract

Using the blood oxygen levels dependent technology of magnetic resonance imaging (BLOD-fMRI), we aimed to explore the brain activation after visual stimulation by Chinese words. In the current study, 24 healthy volunteers (12 males, 12 females, right-handed, mean age 26 ± 2 years) were prospectively included. The event related design was used in the current fMRI study when participants silently read all words appearing in the middle of the screen. Images were processed with Statistical Parametric Mapping 8 (SPM8) software, by using a general linear model (GLM). Group activations were extracted from the 2nd level group analysis with a threshold of p < 0.001, and it was shown that the main activated areas by silent reading tasks were regions involved in brain semantic processing, including middle temporal gyrus, fusiform gyrus, supplementary motor area, inferior frontal gyrus, cingulate gyrus, superior parietal lobule and inferior parietal lobule. It was also learnt that superior parietal lobule and middle temporal gyrus are related with semantic understanding, lenticular nucleus are related with semantic processing. This means, in addition to the cerebral cortex, subcortical nuclei is also very important to the processing of words in Chinese language.