Intrinsically organized network for word processing during the resting state

Neural mechanisms underlying word processing have been extensively studied. It has been revealed that when individuals are engaged in active word processing, a complex network of cortical regions is activated. However, it is entirely unknown whether the word-processing regions are intrinsically organized without any explicit processing tasks during the resting state. The present study investigated the intrinsic functional connectivity between word-processing regions during the resting state with the use of fMRI methodology. The low-frequency fluctuations were observed between the left middle fusiform gyrus and a number of cortical regions. They included the left angular gyrus, left supramarginal gyrus, bilateral pars opercularis, and left pars triangularis of the inferior frontal gyrus, which have been implicated in phonological and semantic processing. Additionally, the activations were also observed in the bilateral superior parietal lobule and dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex, which have been suggested to provide top-down monitoring on the visual–spatial processing of words. The findings of our study indicate an intrinsically organized network during the resting state that likely prepares the visual system to anticipate the highly probable word input for ready and effective processing.

Research highlights▶ Intrinsic connectivity was detected between Wernicke's areas and VWFA. ▶ Broca's areas and VWFA intrinsically correlated during the resting state. ▶ Left DLPFC, SPL and VWFA intrinsically correlated for the visual processing of word.