Abstract: The left middle frontal gyrus has been identified in cognitive neuroscience of language as a region showing Chinese-reading-specific activation, yet its precise function remains debated. In recent years, accumulating evidence has suggested that activation of the middle frontal gyrus during Chinese reading may be related to general cognitive processes, such as working memory and executive control. This review systematically summarizes recent advances in these two lines of research and proposes two possible accounts of the involvement of the left middle frontal gyrus in Chinese reading. First, this region may contain functionally dissociable subregions: its posterior portion may be more involved in neural activation associated with lexical reading, whereas its anterior portion may primarily support general cognitive processes such as working memory and executive function. Second, the left middle frontal gyrus may act as a hub between general cognitive control networks and language/reading networks. Future research should adopt a cross-domain perspective to further investigate the dynamic activation of the left middle frontal gyrus as a node mediating cross-network interactions during reading.

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