Abstract: Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to examine the lateralization of the cerebral hemisphere during the naming of Chinese single characters and pseudowords with twelve normal students. The result indicated that Chinese single characters activated the left inferior frontal cortex (BA45) but pseudowords did not. This result showed that Chinese word processing is close to the left hemisphere. The right hemisphere was also involved in processing but its mechanism needed to be further studied.

Key words: recognition of Chinese words, hemispheric lateralization, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)