Reading in the brain : the science and evolution of a human invention

A renowned cognitive neuroscientist?s fascinating and highly informative account of how the brain acquires readingHow can a few black marks on a white page evoke an entire universe of sounds and meanings? In this riveting investigation, Stanislas Dehaene provides an accessible account of the brain circuitry of reading and explores what he calls the ?reading paradox?: Our cortex is the product of millions of years of evolution in a world without writing, so how did it adapt to recognize words? Reading in the Brain describes pioneering research on how we process language, revealing the hidden logic of spelling and the existence of powerful unconscious mechanisms for decoding words of any size, case, or font. Dehaene?s research will fascinate not only readers interested in science and culture, but also educators concerned with debates on how we learn to read, and who wrestle with pathologies such as dyslexia. Like Steven Pinker, Dehaene argues that the mind is not a blank slate: Writing systems across all cultures rely on the same brain circuits, and reading is only possible insofar as it fits within the limits of a primate brain. Setting cutting-edge science in the context of cultural debate, Reading in the Brain is an unparalleled guide to a uniquely human ability. In This Riveting Investigation, Stanislas Dehaene Provides An Accessible Account Of The Brain Circuitry Of Reading And Explores What He Calls The Reading Paradox: Our Cortex Is The Product Of Millions Of Years Of Evolution In A World Without Writing, So How Did It Adapt To Recognize Words? The New Science Of Reading : From Neurons To Education ; Putting Neurons Into Culture ; The Mystery Of The Reading Ape ; Biological Unity And Cultural Diversity ; A Reader's Guide -- How Do We Read? : The Eye: A Poor Scanner ; The Search For Invariants ; Amplifying Differences ; Every Word Is A Tree ; The Silent Voice ; The Limits Of Sound ; The Hidden Logic Of Our Spelling System ; The Impossible Dream Of Transparent Spelling ; Two Routes For Reading ; Mental Dictionaries ; An Assembly Of Daemons ; Parallel Reading ; Active Letter Decoding ; Conspiracy And Competition In Reading ; From Behavior To Brain Mechanisms --^ The Brain's Letterbox : Joseph-jules Déjerine's Discovery ; Pure Alexia ; A Lesion Revealed ; Modern Lesion Analysis ; Decoding The Reading Brain ; Reading Is Universal ; A Patchwork Of Visual Preferences ; How Fast Do We Read? ; Electrodes In The Brain ; Position Invariance ; Subliminal Reading ; How Culture Fashions The Brain ; The Brains Of Chinese Readers ; Japanese And Its Two Scripts ; Beyond The Letterbox ; Sound And Meaning ; From Spelling To Sound ; Avenues To Meaning ; A Cerebral Tidal Bore ; Brain Limits On Cultural Diversity ; Reading And Evolution -- The Reading Ape : Of Monkeys And Men ; Neurons Of Objects ; Grandmother Cells ; An Alphabet In The Monkey Brain ; Provo-letters ; The Acquisition Of Shape ; The Learning Instinct ; Neuronal Recycling ; Birth Of A Culture ; Neurons For Reading ; Bigram Neurons ; A Neuronal Word Tree ; How Many Neurons For Reading? ; Simulating The Reader's Cortex ; Cortical Biases That Shape Reading --^ Inventing Reading : The Universal Features Of Writing Systems ; A Golden Section For Writing Systems ; Artificial Signs And Natural Shapes ; Prehistoric Precursors Of Writing ; From Counting To Writing ; The Limits Of Pictography ; The Alphabet: A Great Leap Forward ; Vowels: The Mothers Of Reading -- Learning To Read : The Birth Of A Future Reader ; Three Steps For Reading ; Becoming Aware Of Phonemes: A Chicken And Egg Problem ; The Orthographic Stage ; The Brain Of A Young Reader ; What Does Reading Make Us Lose? ; When Letters Have Colors ; From Neuroscience To Education ; Reading Wars ; The Myth Of Whole-word Reading ; The Inefficiency Of The Whole-language Approach ; A Few Suggestions For Educators -- The Dyslexic Brain : What Is Dyslexia? ; Phonological Trouble ; The Biological Unity Of Dyslexia ; A Prime Suspect: The Left Temporal Lobe ; Neuronal Migrations ; The Dyslexic Mouse ; The Genetics Of Dyslexia ; Overcoming Dyslexia --^ Reading And Symmetry : When Animals Mix Left And Right ; Evolution And Symmetry ; Symmetry Perception And Brain Symmetry ; Dr. Orton's Modern Followers ; The Pros And Cons Of A Symmetrical Brain ; Single-neuron Symmetry ; Symmetrical Connections ; Dormant Symmetry ; Breaking The Mirror ; Broken Symmetry ... Or Hidden Symmetry? ; Symmetry, Reading, And Neuronal Recycling ; A Surprising Case Of Mirror Dyslexia -- Toward A Culture Of Neurons : Resolving The Reading Paradox ; The Universality Of Cultural Forms ; Neuronal Recycling And Cerebral Modules ; Toward A List Of Cultural Invariants ; Why Are We The Only Cultural Species? ; Uniquely Human Plasticity ; Reading Other Minds ; A Global Neuronal Workspace -- The Future Of Reading. Stanislas Dehaene. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 331-375) And Index. A renowned cognitive neuroscientist?s fascinating and highly informative account of how the brain acquires reading How can a few black marks on a white page evoke an entire universe of sounds and meanings? In this riveting investigation, Stanislas Dehaene provides an accessible account of the brain circuitry of reading and explores what he calls the ?reading paradox?: Our cortex is the product of millions of years of evolution in a world without writing, so how did it adapt to recognize words? Reading in the Brain describes pioneering research on how we process language, revealing the hidden logic of spelling and the existence of powerful unconscious mechanisms for decoding words of any size, case, or font. Dehaene?s research will fascinate not only readers interested in science and culture, but also educators concerned with debates on how we learn to read, and who wrestle with pathologies such as dyslexia. Like Steven Pinker, Dehaene argues that the mind is not a blank Writing systems across all cultures rely on the same brain circuits, and reading is only possible insofar as it fits within the limits of a primate brain. Setting cutting-edge science in the context of cultural debate, Reading in the Brain is an unparalleled guide to a uniquely human ability.