RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Reading Modality Shapes Reading Network in Proficient Blind Readers of Braille
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2021.08.24.457544
DO 10.1101/2021.08.24.457544
A1 Mengyu Tian
A1 Elizabeth J. Saccone
A1 Judy S. Kim
A1 Shipra Kanjlia
A1 Marina Bedny
YR 2021
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/10/04/2021.08.24.457544.abstract
AB The neural basis of reading is highly consistent across a wide range of languages and scripts. Are there alternative neural routes to reading? How does the sensory modality of symbols (tactile vs. visual) influence their neural representations? We examined these questions by comparing reading of visual print by sighted people (n=15) and reading of tactile Braille by people born blind (n=19). Blind and sighted proficient readers were presented with written and spoken stimuli that varied in word-likeness. Written stimuli consisted of real words, consonant strings and non-letter shapes. Auditory stimuli consisted of words and backward speech sounds. Consistent with prior work, vOTC was active during Braille and visual reading. A posterior/anterior vOTC word-form gradient was observed only in sighted readers with more anterior regions preferring larger orthographic units (words). No such gradient was observed in blind readers of Braille. Consistent with connectivity predictions, in blind Braille readers, posterior parietal cortices (PPC) and parieto-occipital areas were recruited to a greater degree and PPC contained word-preferring patches. Lateralization of Braille in blind readers was predicted by laterality of spoken language, as well as by reading hand. These results suggested that the neural basis of reading is influenced by symbol modality and support connectivity-based views of cortical function.Significance Statement Is there a universal neural basis for reading among different language and writing systems? The study of tactile Braille reading offers a unique insight into this question. Unlike visual reading, tactile information in Braille reading enters the brain from the somatosensory-motor cortex rather than the visual cortex. Our study found that tactile Braille reading does not show the posterior-to-anterior functional word-form gradient in the ventral occipito-temporal cortex that is observed in sighted readers of visual print. Importantly, we found posterior parietal cortices contain a word-preferring patches, and its lateralization was predicted by laterality of spoken language, suggesting the PPC was recruited to a greater degree in Braille reading. These results provide the first evidence that the neural basis of reading is influenced by symbol modality.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.