The neurocognitive basis of reading single words as seen through early latency ERPs: a model of converging pathways

This paper first provides a brief review of the functional neuroanatomy of reading single words, focusing on the lexical and phonological routes. Next, early (defined as peaking prior to 350 ms) reading event-related potential components are summarized. A comprehensive effort is made to organize existing observations into a coherent scheme and commentary is made on terminology. Proposals are made regarding the cognitive function reflected by each ERP component and the associated generator sites. The overall framework constitutes a neurocognitive model of reading and demonstrates how the high temporal resolution of event-related potentials can provide additional insights into the reading process beyond those available from behavioral and neuroimaging studies, with a special focus on how the two pathways implied in reading are coordinated. The present model suggests that there are two such coordinating operations, convergence processes during an initial information burst and resonance processes during an extended harmonization process that follows.