汉字阅读中左侧额中回的子区域分化及其在脑网络中的关键节点作用

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1042.2027.0472

摘要/Abstract

摘要： 左侧额中回是语言认知神经科学研究识别汉字阅读特异激活的脑区, 其确切功能一直是研究者争议的问题。近年来, 大量研究表明, 额中回在汉字阅读中的激活可能与工作记忆、执行控制加工等一般认知加工相关。本文系统综述了上述两方面的最新研究进展, 并从两个层面解释左侧额中回参与汉字阅读的功能：一是该脑区可能存在功能分离的子区域, 即其后部主要参与词汇阅读相关的神经激活, 其前部更多承载工作记忆、执行功能等一般认知加工任务。另一种可能是左侧额中回作为跨网络关键节点, 在一般认知控制网络与语言/阅读网络之间发挥作用。未来研究需要从跨领域的研究视角, 深入探究左侧额中回作为跨网络交互节点在阅读中的动态激活。

关键词: 左侧额中回, 神经网络, 工作记忆, 执行控制

Abstract: Neuroimaging studies have consistently reported stronger activation of the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG) during Chinese character reading than during alphabetic word reading; however, its precise function remains debated. One account relates this activation to reading-related processes that are particularly important for Chinese, including visuospatial orthographic analysis and mappings from orthography to phonology and semantics. Another account attributes it to domain-general cognitive demands, especially working memory and executive control. This review synthesizes evidence from both lines of research and proposes an integrative account of the role of the left MFG in Chinese character reading.
Anatomically, the left MFG is located in the middle portion of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and is connected with occipital, temporal, and parietal regions through multiple white-matter pathways. These connections provide a structural basis for coordinating visual-orthographic, phonological, and semantic information with working memory and executive control processes. Functional neuroimaging studies have likewise implicated the left MFG in both reading-related processing and domain-general cognitive operations, including information maintenance, updating, conflict monitoring, and regulation. This broad functional profile cannot be fully explained by assigning the region a single reading-specific or domain-general function.
Evidence from studies of information maintenance and rehearsal indicates that recruitment of the left MFG varies with task demands. The region is more consistently activated when reading requires greater maintenance, updating, or manipulation of information, and similar involvement can occur across writing systems as working memory demands increase. Findings from studies of reading development, developmental dyslexia, and reading intervention further associate left MFG activation and functional connectivity with phonological memory, reading ability, writing experience, and training-related changes. Research on conflict monitoring and regulation also shows that the left MFG is sensitive to competition and integration among orthographic, phonological, and semantic representations. Similar recruitment has been observed when alphabetic word reading involves inconsistent spelling-to-sound mappings and when bilingual language control requires competition between languages to be resolved. Together, these findings indicate that the contribution of the left MFG is shaped by both task demands and the network context in which the region is recruited.
Two related issues are central to the current debate. First, accounts emphasizing Chinese-specific processing and those emphasizing domain-general cognition have often been treated as competing explanations, although neither alone can account for variations in left MFG activation across reading materials, experimental tasks, writing systems, and participant groups. Second, studies commonly use the broad anatomical label “left MFG,” even though the reported activation sites are distributed across different anterior and posterior portions of the region. This spatial heterogeneity, together with task-dependent differences in functional connectivity, may underlie the divergent interpretations of left MFG function in the existing literature.
This review proposes a local-to-global framework that integrates two complementary explanations. At the local level, the left MFG may contain functionally differentiated subregions along its anterior-posterior axis. Posterior portions, particularly regions near Brodmann areas 6 and 9, may contribute more to lexical processing during reading and to mappings from orthography to phonology or semantics. Anterior portions near Brodmann areas 9, 46, and 10 may contribute more to working memory, goal maintenance, and executive control. At the global level, the left MFG may serve as a key cross-network node that coordinates reading networks with domain-general cognitive control networks. Its connections with occipital and fusiform visual regions, temporal language regions, inferior parietal areas, and frontoparietal control regions allow its functional contribution to vary with current processing demands. The principal innovation of this framework is to characterize the left MFG as a region with internal functional differentiation and task-dependent network interactions. Subregional differentiation explains the local organization of reading-related and domain-general processes, whereas the key-node account explains how these processes are coordinated across brain networks.
Future research can further develop this framework by combining precise subregional localization with network-level analysis. Individualized functional localization and high-resolution multimodal imaging can distinguish the functions of anterior and posterior MFG subregions. Graph-theoretical, effective-connectivity, and time-resolved network analyses can reveal how the left MFG coordinates information across reading and cognitive control networks. Experimental designs that independently manipulate orthographic properties, mapping consistency, working memory load, and executive control demands can clarify the contribution of each process. Cross-linguistic and longitudinal studies can further determine how the functional organization of the left MFG changes with writing-system experience and reading development. Together, these approaches will advance an integrated understanding of the dynamic role of the left MFG across languages, tasks, and stages of reading acquisition.

Key words: left middle frontal gyrus, neural network, working memory, executive control

陈甜, 黄家萱, 王小娟, 杨剑峰. (2027). 汉字阅读中左侧额中回的子区域分化及其在脑网络中的关键节点作用. 心理科学进展 , 35(2), 472-481.

CHEN Tian, HUANG Jiaxuan, WANG Xiaojuan, YANG Jianfeng. (2027). Possible subregional differentiation of the left middle frontal gyrus in Chinese character reading and the region’s role as a key node in brain networks. Advances in Psychological Science, 35(2), 472-481.

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