A INFLUÊNCIA DA ALFABETIZAÇÃO NAS COGNIÇÕES DE RECONHECIMENTO DE FACES E DOS SINAIS DA FALA: UM ESTUDO PSICOLINGUÍSTICO

Abstract

Brain imaging tests show that after literacy, an activation in the left ventro-occipito-temporal region occurs in the brain during grapheme recognition. This region, known as VWFA (Visual Word Form Area) is believed to impact the mosaic of neighboring regions involved in the recognition of objects, places, body parts and faces. It also influences the region that hosts the recognition of speech signals. This study tests children in the pre- and post-literacy phases, looking for behavioral correlates for these neurophysiological findings. We found positive impact of literacy on speech processing, but loss of provisional acuity in recognizing faces of new readers.