Scientists have used a innovative method to map out the transition of symbols into words. Using an interesting strategy, scientists tracked the how our visual system picks up on the shapes and converts them into symbols, then into concepts.

Over two weeks, the scientists taught made-up words written in two unfamiliar, archaic scripts to 24 native English–speaking adults. The words were assigned the meanings of common nouns, such as lemon or truck. Then the researchers used functional MRI scans to track which tiny chunks of brain in that region became active when participants were shown the words learned in training.

The way letters look — curves or staunch lines — takes hold in the back of the ventral occipitotemporal cortex, the team found. But when sounds and meanings come into play, an area further forward in that brain region that better handles abstract concepts seemed to kick into gear.

Links:

• https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1818575116
• https://www.sciencenews.org/article/imaging-scans-show-where-symbols-turn-letters-brain