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Word recognition in the human inferior temporal lobe

Nature volume 372, pages 260–263 (1994)Cite this article

Abstract

STUDIES of primates1 and of patients with brain lesions2 have shown that the visual system represents the external world in regions and pathways specialized to compute visual features and attributes. For example, object recognition is performed by a ventral pathway located in the inferior portion of the temporal lobe3. We studied visual processing of words and word-like stimuli (letter-strings) by recording field potentials directly from the human inferior temporal lobe. Our results showed that two discrete portions of the fusiform gyrus responded preferentially to letter-strings. A region of the posterior fusiform gyrus responded equally to words and non-words, and was unaffected by the semantic context in which words were presented. In contrast, a region of the anterior fusiform gyrus was sensitive to these stimulus dimensions. These regions were distinct from areas that responded to other types of complex visual stimuli, including faces and coloured patterns, and thus form a functionally specialized stream within the ventral visual pathway.

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Author notes

  1. Anna C. Nobre

    Present address: Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University, South Parks Road, Oxford, 0X1 3UD, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuropsychology Laboratory, Veterans Administration Medical Center, West Haven, Connecticut, 06516, USA

    Anna C. Nobre, Truett Allison & Gregory McCarthy

  2. Section of Neurosurgery and Department of Neurology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, 06510, USA

    Anna C. Nobre, Truett Allison & Gregory McCarthy

Authors
  1. Anna C. Nobre
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  2. Truett Allison
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  3. Gregory McCarthy
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Nobre, A., Allison, T. & McCarthy, G. Word recognition in the human inferior temporal lobe. Nature 372, 260–263 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1038/372260a0

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