Katanoda K, Yoshikawa K, Sugishita M
Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Japan.
Hum Brain Mapp. 2001 May;13(1):34-42. doi: 10.1002/hbm.1023.
Functional neuroanatomy of writing is relatively unknown compared to that of other linguistic processes. This study aimed at identifying brain regions crucial to the process of writing. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), brain hemodynamic activity was examined during three conditions that differentially engaged visual, linguistic, and/or motor functions: (1) writing names of pictures with the right index finger, (2) naming pictures silently, and (3) visually cued finger tapping. A writing minus naming comparison and a writing minus tapping comparison were performed, and brain regions commonly activated in these two contrasts were detected. Our main finding was that such common activation was observed in the anterior part of the left superior parietal lobule, the posterior part of the middle and superior frontal gyri, and the right cerebellum. The parietal and frontal regions were considered to subserve the process of writing as separated from that of naming and finger movements, which is consistent with the classical notion mainly proposed by studies of selective writing deficits called pure agraphia. The right cerebellar activation, on the other hand, was interpreted as the reflection of the execution of complex finger movements required for writing.
与其他语言过程相比，书写的功能神经解剖学相对不为人知。本研究旨在确定对书写过程至关重要的脑区。使用功能磁共振成像（fMRI），在三种不同涉及视觉、语言和/或运动功能的条件下检查脑血流动力学活动：（1）用右手食指书写图片名称，（2）默读图片名称，（3）视觉提示的手指敲击。进行了书写减去命名的比较和书写减去敲击的比较，并检测了在这两种对比中共同激活的脑区。我们的主要发现是，在左侧顶上小叶前部、额中回和额上回后部以及右侧小脑观察到了这种共同激活。顶叶和额叶区域被认为是与命名和手指运动过程分开的书写过程的基础，这与主要由称为纯失写症的选择性书写缺陷研究提出的经典概念一致。另一方面，右侧小脑的激活被解释为书写所需复杂手指运动执行的反映。
