Neufeld, NH;
(2008)
Effective connectivity in the neural pathways for reading: A case study.
Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London).
Preview |
Text
Neufeld_thesis.pdf Download (8MB) | Preview |
Abstract
The current study investigates the case of AH, a patient who in 2001 sustained a venous thrombosis leading to secondary haemorrhage and consequent left occipito temporal brain damage. Previous studies implicated the damaged region in reading, yet despite the patient's lesion, some reading ability was preserved. According to the model of reading put forth by Cohen et al. (2003), successful reading is normally dependent upon a left occipito-temporal region called the visual word form area (VWfA). This area allows strings of visual stimuli (letters) to be read in parallel. When the left VWfA is damaged, a putative right VWfA was proposed to preserve reading by functioning with left hemisphere language areas and allowed letters to be read serially. The preserved reading ability in AH did not fit the Cohen model on the basis of neuropsychological investigations. Drawing on previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) results, AH did not activate the putative right VWfA, yet overactivation was observed in other right and left hemisphere regions relative to neurologically normal controls. The current study employed the new technique of Dynamic Causal Modelling (DCM) to model the effective connectivity between regions in which AH showed greater activation during reading when compared with controls. Contrary to the model of Cohen and colleagues, a ventral pathway in the left hemisphere was discovered that did not go through either VWfA. This result provided an alternative model of preserved reading abilities within the left hemisphere. Rehabilitation techniques may benefit from such results insofar as reading strategies can be assigned to preserved pathways in patients.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Title: | Effective connectivity in the neural pathways for reading: A case study |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Thesis digitised by ProQuest. |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1566868 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
