Written word is a relatively recent invention in human history. The cortical specialization for visual word process is an import research topic. The current project aims to explore the development of cortical specialization for Chinese characters during the natural reading acquisition through behavioral experiments and ERP studies. The participants are 6- to 11- years old children. The specific research questions are: 1) When do the coarse tuning and fine tuning emerge during child development? How they develop and related? 2) Do there exist critical period or transitional period during the development of cortical specialization for prints? 3) How children's age or physical maturation and their reading ability affect the formation and development of cortical specialization for Chinese characters? The findings of the present project will contribute to reveal the neural mechanism of word processing, and provide direct evidence for the formation of brain functional specialization.
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