閱讀的腦科學研究能告訴我們什麼？從認知神經科學的觀點談中文閱讀障礙兒童的神經機制

Neural Networks for Reading as Revealed by Functional Brain Imaging: What Have We Learned from Chinese Dyslexic Children?

近年來，由於功能性腦顯影技術的提升，使得科學家對閱讀中文字詞時所運用的大腦機制有更深一層的認識。就語言的獨特性而言，中文不論是在形（orthographic）、音（phonological）或義（semantic）等表徵均與拼音文字系統有所不同，因此，探索中文閱讀的神經機制是否不同於西方文字，可謂當前中文認知神經科學家和教育心理學者的重要課題。因為在中文具有獨特的語言表徵的思考下，透過回顧這些腦科學研究，我們可以更清楚地了解中文閱讀障礙的神經機制的本質並解決閱讀內在的認知基礎是什麼，在哪裡運作的問題。同時，本文也試著提出教育上的建議與這個領域未來發展的重要方向，以供研究者與教學者上的參考依據。

Nowadays, neuroscientic techniques that probe the relationship between brain regions and reading behavior are applied to examine the neural mechanisms in children with or without dyslexia. The advent of functional neuroimaging tools has enabled cognitive scientists and psychologists to investigate multiple facets of the biological factors and cognitive processes of reading. Many neuroscientists have become increasingly interested in the reading neural network involved in logographic (e.g., Chinese) and alphabetic writing system (e.g., English), regardless of whether the language is universal or specific. The nature of the languate is quite different; for instance, the orthography, phonology, and semantics involved in Chinese are not similar to those involved in English. In brief, the cross-language issue needs to be addressed in order for us to understand whether the neural mechanisms in Chinese dyslexia are different from those in dyslexia with alphabetic language backgrounds. Reviewing the neuroimaging studies can help us understand the brain regions in which Chinese reading is operated, and the nature of dyslexic brains. In addition, we conclude with a discussion on the clinical implications for education in Chinese reading and future research directions.