Communications Biology (Apr 2021)

Graphomotor memory in Exner’s area enhances word learning in the blind

  • Tomomi Mizuochi-Endo,
  • Kazuyuki Itou,
  • Michiru Makuuchi,
  • Baku Kato,
  • Kazuhisa Ikeda,
  • Kimihiro Nakamura

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-01971-z
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 4, no. 1
pp. 1 – 12

Abstract

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Mizuochi-Endo et al. conduct a fMRI study, which reveals that in blind participants, unlike sighted participants, learning new words is associated with increased activity in Exner’s area—a part of the brain known to play a crucial role in handwriting motor memory. This demonstrates the importance of writing motor memory in vocabulary learning in the blind.