This study examined the influence of semantic information on reading aloud, and whether individual differences in the use of this information were related to anatomical differences in relevant parts of the neural circuits for reading. Effects of imageability on RT ranged widely (Fig. 1B), suggesting that skilled readers differ in the extent to which they use semantic information in reading aloud. This variation was associated with the

volume of white matter tracts passing through both the ITS, an area that supports lexical semantic processing, and the pMTG, an area implicated in phonological processing. A similar effect was found for the volume of tracts passing through both the AG, an area associated with semantic processing, and the pSTG, an area associated with phonological processing. Variability in how words are read is often attributed to use of different strategies

or styles; our results show that one type of individual difference, see more ABT-888 supplier in the use of semantics in reading aloud, is associated with neuroanatomical differences. Further research will be needed to determine the origins of these individual differences. There may be differences in brain development and structure that cause individuals to vary in how they read aloud. Alternatively, the neuroanatomical differences could result, wholly or in part, from experiential factors including the nature of early language and reading experience, and how reading is taught. The latter alternative is suggested by a study showing white matter changes associated with interventions for reading problems (Keller & Just, 2009). Further studies of this type using other methods in which participants acquire new reading skills (Bailey et al., 2004, Carreiras et al., 2009 and Dehaene et al.,

2010) are necessary, however. It may also be possible to track the development of these pathways in longitudinal studies of children who transition from pre-readers to reading (for an example focused on the pOTS see Ben-Shachar, Dougherty, Deutsch, & Wandell, 2011). The analyses we conducted were hypothesis-driven, testing whether individual differences in reading aloud would be related to neuroanatomical differences in connectivity between areas thought to be involved check details in mappings between semantics and phonology, as indicated by other findings. However, the results are novel and require both replication (e.g., with additional subject populations, such as younger readers and adults who vary widely in reading skill) and extension (e.g., addressing individual differences involving other types of information and tasks, and in English and other writing systems). The main result concerning relations between behavioral and neuroanatomical differences is correlational, and the functions of the two semantic-phonological pathways are underdetermined. These are important directions for future research stimulated by interesting results in a promising new area.