This study compared the brain activation patterns associated with the comprehension of written and spoken Portuguese sentences. An fMRI study measured brain activity while participants read and listened to sentences about general world knowledge . To mirror the transient nature of spoken sentences, visual input was presented in rapid serial visual
presentation format. The results showed a common core of amodal left inferior frontal and middle temporal gyri ctivation, as well as modality specific brain activation associated with listening and reading comprehension. Reading comprehension was associated with more left-lateralized activation and, in contrast with listening, with left inferior occipital cortex (including fusiform gyrus) activation. Listening comprehension
was associated with extensive bilateral temporal cortex activation and more overall activation of the whole cortex. Results also showed individual differences in brain
activation for reading comprehension. Readers with lower working memory capacity showed more activation of right-hemisphere areas (spillover of activation) and more
activation in the prefrontal cortex, potentially associated with more demand being placed on executive control processes. Readers with higher working memory capacity showed more activation in a frontal-posterior network of areas (left angular and precentral gyri, and right inferior frontal gyrus). The activation of this network may be associated with phonological rehearsal of linguistic information when reading serial text. The study demonstrates the modality fingerprints for language comprehension and evidence of differences in how higher and lower capacity readers deal with reading text
presented in serial format.