Brain Research in Language addresses important neurological issues
involved in reading. The reading process is a highly composite
cognitive task, which relies on brain systems that were originally
devoted to other functions. The majority of studies in this area have
implemented behavioral methodologies, which provide information
concerning the entire cognitive sequence at the conclusion of
processing only, in the readers output. However, these measures cannot
specify all of the covert component operations that contribute to
reading, nor can they determine the relative processing times required
by the individual stages. Furthermore, they cannot determine which
processes occur serially, which occur in parallel and which overlap in
time (Brandeis & Lehmann, 1994; Johnson, 1995). Recent advancements
in the field of neuroscience and cognitive development, however, have
added a new dimension with regard to the research into the universal
and domain specific aspects of reading with the advent of innovative
neurophysiological measurement techniques. The most common are
electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging
(FMRI). These two methods provide researchers with the opportunity to
examine, in-depth, the neural correlates of the reading processing with
precise temporal and spatial resolutions, respectively. This book
presents data obtained from various studies employing behavioral,
electrophysiological and imaging methodologies in different languages
focusing on the regular reading process and the dyslexic population.