Abstract
PET (positron emission tomography) activation studies on reading in our laboratory were described in comparison with those in English-speaking countries. PET studies of English words showed that Wernicke's area and the temporo-parietal area which were activated in auditory presentation did not exhibit significant blood flow increases in visual presentation, and that Broca's area was not always left-side dominantly activated. Our studies using kanji and kana for reading aloud materials confirmed these results, i. e., Wernicke's area or the parietal lobe was not activated, and the left-side dominant activation of Broca's area was observed only in kanji, while in kana the blood flow increased bilaterally and to the same degree. Furthermore, it was revealed that kana, similar to in English word studies, activated widespread regions including the lateral occipital gyrus. A difference was that both kanji and kana increased the blood flow in the left posterior inferior temporal area, which was not activated in English word studies.
