Visual imagery while reading concrete and abstract Japanese kanji words: an fMRI study

Neuroimaging studies have investigated differences in neural correlates between abstract and concrete concepts but this has not been done with Japanese participants. Concrete words have higher imageability than abstract words, such that they elicit more visual imagery. The present study used functio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neuroscience research 2014-02, Vol.79, p.61-66
Main Authors: Hayashi, Atsuko, Okamoto, Yasumasa, Yoshimura, Shinpei, Yoshino, Atsuo, Toki, Shigeru, Yamashita, Hidehisa, Matsuda, Fumio, Yamawaki, Shigeto
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Asian Continental Ancestry Group
Brain - physiology
Brain Mapping
Humans
Imagination - physiology
Japan
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Reading
Semantics
Young Adult
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Summary:Neuroimaging studies have investigated differences in neural correlates between abstract and concrete concepts but this has not been done with Japanese participants. Concrete words have higher imageability than abstract words, such that they elicit more visual imagery. The present study used functional MRI to investigate brain activity of Japanese participants (N=16) during generation of visual images for written concrete or abstract Japanese kanji words. Concrete words elicited significantly more activation than abstract words in the left middle frontal gyrus (LMFG), bilateral superior frontal gyrus, and left fusiform gyrus (LFG). Psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analyses were performed to assess LMFG and LFG functional connections. LMFG activity was accompanied by increased functional interaction with the left superior parietal lobule (LSPL), and LFG activity was accompanied by increased functional interaction with the LMFG. This finding suggests that the LMFG plays an important role in visual imagery, with interactions between this region and both the LSPL and LFG.
ISSN:0168-0102
1872-8111
DOI:10.1016/j.neures.2013.10.007