tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3781583459328436525.post4708478133500862452..comments2014-08-26T04:11:42.305-07:00Comments on Reading and Word Recognition Research: Evidence Suggesting that Specialized Visual Regions Are Formed by Pruning in Early ChildhoodLivia Blackburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15805379309049803903noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3781583459328436525.post-56737335036745349192010-05-27T12:06:47.847-07:002010-05-27T12:06:47.847-07:00Jason -- the lines and edges are generally in lowe...Jason -- the lines and edges are generally in lower level regions, but the word region is close to the face region, and there are some similarities between how the two are processed (foveally). <br />So to some extent, symbol-processing regions can't have evolved -- there just wasn't enough time evolutionarily for that to happen. The only way evolution could have come in is to create an area the was suited to processing word-like stimuli, which then got coopted for reading. I believe Stanislas Dehaene has a book out on reading which covers this.Livia Blackburnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15805379309049803903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3781583459328436525.post-25518620026940590672010-05-25T10:03:47.078-07:002010-05-25T10:03:47.078-07:00That's a good question too. Do you know if th...That's a good question too. Do you know if this symbol-specific region is near or co-located with regions that process lines, edges, and other high-contrast parts of the visual input space?<br /><br />I remember reading a description in Lise Eliot's wonderfully layman-friendly "What's Going on in There" that the visual cortex of kids from western culture was more highly adapted to detect horizontal and vertical lines, while kids from some other cultures were better at diagonals.<br /><br />The hypothesis was that western architecture makes a pretty big deal about horizontal and vertical lines (our floors are flat and our walls are at right angles to them) while cultures that make more use of tents, teepees, and other pole-and-cloth type structures naturally have a lot more diagonals in them.<br /><br />This, to me, seems at least vaguely related to the question of symbol processing: could a symbol-processing region have emerged culturally (rather than evolutionarily) as the result of hyper-specialization of some sub-portion of the visual cortex which really did evolve to detect edges?Jason Blackhttp://www.plottopunctuation.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3781583459328436525.post-28992998407913477792010-05-24T14:54:34.347-07:002010-05-24T14:54:34.347-07:00Although if that were true, we still have the ques...Although if that were true, we still have the quesiton of why is it this specific region, rather than another region, that ends up being specialized in words and symbols.Livia Blackburnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15805379309049803903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3781583459328436525.post-58268624631223660952010-05-24T14:53:16.829-07:002010-05-24T14:53:16.829-07:00Jason - Yes, that's also a definite possibilit...Jason - Yes, that's also a definite possibility. Scanning younger or, as you suggested, getting children from an illiterate culture would speak to that.Livia Blackburnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15805379309049803903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3781583459328436525.post-11012380285100750832010-05-24T14:51:33.682-07:002010-05-24T14:51:33.682-07:00> So perhaps there’s something hardwired in the...> So perhaps there’s something hardwired in the left fusiform that prefers symbol-like, high contrast, visual stimuli.<br /><br />Perhaps. Or perhaps the children in the study all grew up in places where symbol-like, high contrast visual stimuli were a normal part of the environment.<br /><br />Perhaps they need to do the study with some pre-reading children from the middle of the Amazon rain forest, or from the Congo--someplace where words and numbers aren't a part of the general environment.<br /><br />Western kids are exposed to a myriad of symbols before they even leave the hospital: from labels on the maternity ward doors, to street signs and business names on buildings, to the brand names on their toys, magazines and newspapers lying around the house, all manner of stuff on TV, et cetera. Is it any surprise their brains have begun to specialize for this stuff, even before they fully understand what it means?Jason Blackhttp://www.plottopunctuation.comnoreply@blogger.com