Brain activity of young and adult hebrew speakers during Lexical decision task: fNIR application to language

  • Authors:

  • Itamar Sela;Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus;Meltem Izzetoglu;Patricia A. Shewokis;Kurtulus Izzetoglu;Banu Onaral;Zvia Breznitz

  • Affiliations:

  • School of Biomedical Engineering, Science & Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA and The Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities, University ...;The Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel;School of Biomedical Engineering, Science & Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA;School of Biomedical Engineering, Science & Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA;School of Biomedical Engineering, Science & Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA;School of Biomedical Engineering, Science & Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA;The Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel

  • Venue:
  • FAC'11 Proceedings of the 6th international conference on Foundations of augmented cognition: directing the future of adaptive systems
  • Year:
  • 2011

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Abstract

The process of reading activates a large-scale neural network which includes different cortical brain regions. This network is thought to be agedependent and changes throughout the process of reading acquisition. The frontal lobe is considered to be related to higher, executive, functions. We conducted a functional Near InfraRed Spectroscopy (fNIR) study in order to compare frontal lobe performance during a Lexical Decision Task (LDT) among two different age-groups: children and adults. Data indicated significant differences with age in LDT behavioral performance, and brain activity in the upper left frontal lobe. The young group exhibited slower reaction times and lower accuracy in addition to differences both in the level of blood oxygenation as well in the blood oxygenation timeline. The current study's results suggest 1) the involvement of the frontal lobe during the process of reading and that 2) frontal lobe activity is modified with the age of maturity.