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Case mixing and the right parietal cortex: evidence from rTMS

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Abstract

We investigated the necessary role of the right parietal lobe in visual word recognition using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). TMS was applied to the right posterior parietal lobe and to a control area as participants read aloud words presented either in lower case or in mIxEd-cAsE. The words were presented either with unlimited duration and high contrast (Experiment 1), or with brief presentation and low-contrast (Experiments 2 and 3). In all three experiments, TMS over the parietal area disrupted reading, and in Experiments 2 and 3 this effect was most pronounced for mIxEd-cAsE words. This suggests that the right parietal lobe mediates the recognition of words in unfamiliar formats.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the BBSRC and the MRC to G.W.H., and a University of Birmingham studentship to W.B. We would like to thank Peter Praamstra, as well as the reviewers, for constructive comments on earlier versions of this manuscript.

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  1. Behavioural Brain Sciences, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK

    W. Braet & G. W. Humphreys

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  1. W. Braet
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  2. G. W. Humphreys
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Correspondence to W. Braet.

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Braet, W., Humphreys, G.W. Case mixing and the right parietal cortex: evidence from rTMS. Exp Brain Res 168, 265–271 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-005-0085-z

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