Research on how the brain implements reading has produced results of remarkable consistency, especially on the functional anatomy of single word reading. I examine the general features of this emerging knowledge and draw attention to the extent to which it converges with results from other methods of reading science in several areas: reading acquisition, reading disability, and the basic cognitive processes of reading. I also look to neurobiological findings of word reading across writing systems. The neurobiological reading network identified in alphabetic research does have a universal basis, but it is also shows some accommodation to the writing system.

Reading:

Bolger, D. J., Perfetti, C. A., & Schneider, W. (2005). Cross-cultural effect on the brain revisited: universal structures plus writing system variation. Human Brain Mapping, 25, 92–104.