ArticleNature neuroscience2016
Connectivity precedes function in the development of the visual word form area.
Article in Nature neuroscience, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 222 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
222 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Is human face recognition lateralized to the right hemisphere due to neural competition with left-lateralized visual word recognition? A critical review.Brain structure & function · 2022Pooled it
- Reading instruction causes changes in category-selective visual cortex.Brain research bulletin · 2024Trial
- Developmental prosopagnosics have widespread selectivity reductions across category-selective visual cortex.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2018Trial
- Structure and function of word laterality in early childhood.Behavioral neuroscience · 2026Article
- Developmental Reading-Network Reorganization in Developmental Dyslexia: A Neuroplasticity Framework.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Fusiform face area development correlates with development in higher-order social brain regions.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2026Article
- Experience-dependent cortical plasticity in response to formal schooling: Effects on networks for reading and mathematics.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2026Article
- Selectivity for high-level language processing is highly localized in individual brains.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Context-dependent reconfiguration of functional connectivity in posterior (VWFA-1) and anterior (VWFA-2) visual word form area under attentional and linguistic demands.Behavioral and brain functions : BBF · 2026Article
- Literacy acquisition and functional connectivity drive the emergence and continued development of the VWFA.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- The intrinsic cortical geometry of reading.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Monosynaptic connections link functionally similar regions in human cortex.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- A Deep Learning Framework for Spatiotemporal Modeling of Visual Task fMRI.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- The reading brain - Transforming vision into language.Progress in neurobiology · 2026Review
- Dense longitudinal neuroimaging reveals individual brain change trajectories.Trends in cognitive sciences · 2026Review
- Representations converge as brain maps diverge along the cortical hierarchy.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Home numeracy experiences are associated with number-related brain activity and connectivity in early childhood.NPJ science of learning · 2026Article
- Functional Connectivity Fingerprints of Emerging Reading Skill in the First Months of Schooling.Developmental science · 2026Article
- Infants have rich visual categories in ventrotemporal cortex at 2 months of age.Nature neuroscience · 2026Article
- The Emergence of Topography and Hemispheric Lateralization in High-Level Vision.Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006) · 2026Review
162 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Abstract
What determines the cortical location at which a given functionally specific region will arise in development? We tested the hypothesis that functionally specific regions develop in their characteristic locations because of pre-existing differences in the extrinsic connectivity of that region to the rest of the brain. We exploited the visual word form area (VWFA) as a test case, scanning children with diffusion and functional imaging at age 5, before they learned to read, and at age 8, after they learned to read. We found the VWFA developed functionally in this interval and that its location in a particular child at age 8 could be predicted from that child's connectivity fingerprints (but not functional responses) at age 5. These results suggest that early connectivity instructs the functional development of the VWFA, possibly reflecting a general mechanism of cortical development.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.