Reading faces: investigating the use of a novel face-based orthography in acquired alexia

Michelle W Moore; Paul C Brendel; Julie A Fiez

doi:10.1016/j.bandl.2013.11.005

Reading faces: investigating the use of a novel face-based orthography in acquired alexia

Brain Lang. 2014 Feb:129:7-13. doi: 10.1016/j.bandl.2013.11.005. Epub 2014 Jan 24.

Authors

Michelle W Moore¹, Paul C Brendel², Julie A Fiez³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, PO Box 6122, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA; Department of Communication Science and Disorders, 4028 Forbes Tower, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA. Electronic address: mimoore@mail.wvu.edu.
² Learning Research and Development Center, 3939 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA; Department of Neuroscience, A215 Langley Hall, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA. Electronic address: pcb10@pitt.edu.
³ Department of Communication Science and Disorders, 4028 Forbes Tower, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA; Learning Research and Development Center, 3939 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA; Department of Neuroscience, A215 Langley Hall, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA; Department of Psychology, 3137 Sennott Square, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA; Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, 115 Mellon Institute, 4400 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. Electronic address: fiez@pitt.edu.

Abstract

Skilled visual word recognition is thought to rely upon a particular region within the left fusiform gyrus, the visual word form area (VWFA). We investigated whether an individual (AA1) with pure alexia resulting from acquired damage to the VWFA territory could learn an alphabetic "FaceFont" orthography, in which faces rather than typical letter-like units are used to represent phonemes. FaceFont was designed to distinguish between perceptual versus phonological influences on the VWFA. AA1 was unable to learn more than five face-phoneme mappings, performing well below that of controls. AA1 succeeded, however, in learning and using a proto-syllabary comprising 15 face-syllable mappings. These results suggest that the VWFA provides a "linguistic bridge" into left hemisphere speech and language regions, irrespective of the perceptual characteristics of a written language. They also suggest that some individuals may be able to acquire a non-alphabetic writing system more readily than an alphabetic writing system.

Keywords: Acquired alexia; Dyslexia; Orthography; Phonology; Reading; VWFA; Word identification.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Adult
Alexia, Pure / physiopathology*
Cerebrum / physiopathology
Dyslexia, Acquired / physiopathology*
Face*
Female
Humans
Language
Learning
Linguistics*
Male
Reading*
Temporal Lobe / physiopathology*
Writing*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding