Table 1.
Main characteristics of the included fMRI studies and number of foci used in the meta‐analysis
| Pair | Year | First author | N | m | f | Native language | Age mean (SD; range) | Task type | Contrast | Voxel‐level (height) p< | Cluster‐level (extent) p< or no. of voxels | No. of foci | Design | Accuracy % correct mean (SD) | RT mean (SD) ms |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Children | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | 2010 | Bach | 18 | 7 | 11 | German | 8.3 (0.4) | Word & nonwordmental letter substitution | W & NW > fixation | 0.005 corr. | 15 voxels | 2 | E‐r | 83.3 (11.1) | 2,787 (231) |
| 2 | 2002 | Backes | 8 | 8 | 0 | Dutch | 11.6 (0.7; 11–12) | Nonword rhyme judgment | NW rhyming > fixation | 0.0005 corr. | 15 voxels | 11 | B | n/a | 2,441 (207) |
| 3 | 2006 | Bitan | 15 | 8 | 7 | English | 10.9 (9–12) | Word rhyme judgment | W spelling > symbols | 0.001 unc. | 35 voxels | 7 | B | 89 (7) | 1,529 (220) |
| 4 | 2007a | Bitan | 38 | 16 | 22 | English | 11.7 (9–15) | Word rhyme judgment | W spelling > symbols | 0.001 unc. | 10 voxels | 7 | E‐r | 93 (1.7) | 1,257 (65) |
| 5 | 2007b | Bitan | 36 | 14 | 22 | English | (9–15) | Word rhyme judgment | W rhyming > fixation | 0.0001 unc. | 10 voxels | 11 | E‐r | 86 (78–93) | 1,384 (1,307‐1,461) |
| 6 | 2006 | Blumenfeld | 16 | 8 | 8 | English | 10.7 (0.7; 9–12) | Semantic association judgment | W meaning > symbols | 0.01 unc. | 15 voxels | 3 | B | 93.9 (3.7) | n/a |
| 7 | 2001 | Booth | 5 | 5 | 0 | English | 11.1 (10–13) | Semantic association judgment | W meaning > symbols | 0.001 unc. | 12 voxels | 5 | B | 89.9 (SE 2.7) | 1,727 (SE 87) |
| 8 | 2003 | Booth | 15 | 8 | 7 | English | 10.7 (9–12) | Semantic association judgment | W meaning > symbols | 0.001 unc. | 15 voxels | 1 | B | ∼ 94 | n/a |
| 9 | 2007a | Booth | 13 | 9 | 4 | English | 10.5 (2.19) | Semantic association judgment | W meaning > fixation | 0.001 unc. | 15 voxels | 6 | E‐r | 96 (4) | 1,276 (376) |
| 10 | 2009 | Brem | 19 | 9 | 10 | German | 10.3 (9–12) | Word rhyme judgment | W reading > baseline | 0.05 corr. | 20 voxels | 8 | E‐r | 98.19 (0.02) | 613 (80) |
| 11 | 2006 | Cao | 14 | 8 | 6 | English | 11.5 (9–14) | Word rhyme judgment | Conflicting trials > fixation | 0.001 unc. | 20 voxels | 9 | E‐r | 79.5 (7.3) | 1,240 (351) |
| 12 | 2008 | Cao | 12 | 8 | 4 | English | 12.3 (9–14) | Word rhyme judgment | Lexical trials > fixation | 0.001 unc. | 10 voxels | 9 | E‐r | 86 (10) | 1,120 (265) |
| 13 | 2001 | Gaillard | 9 | 4 | 5 | English | 10.2 (8–13) | Sentences reading | Reading fable > dots | 0.01 corr. | 0.05 corr. | 6 | B | n/a | n/a |
| 14 | 2003 | Gaillard | 16 | 6 | 10 | English | 7.2 (6–8) | Sentences reading | Reading stories > dots | 0.001 corr. | 10 voxels | 24 | B | n/a | n/a |
| 15 | 2006a | Hoeft | 10 | 4 | 6 | English | 10.9 (0.3) | Word rhyme judgment | W rhyming > fixation (age‐matched) | 0.01 unc. | 10 voxels | 11 | B | 90 (10.5) | 2,445 (428) |
| 16 | 2006b | Hoeft | 10 | 5 | 5 | English | 8.7 (0.3) | Word rhyme judgment | W rhyming > fixation (reading‐level‐matched) | 0.01 unc. | 10 voxels | 18 | B | 80 (12.5) | 2,571 (431) |
| 17 | 2007 | Hoeft | 64 | 27 | 37 | English | 10 (8–12) | Word rhyme judgment | W rhyming > fixation | 0.01 corr. | 10 voxels | 9 | B | 78.4 (15.9) | n/a |
| 18 | 2006 | Noble | 38 | 17 | 21 | English | 7.9 (7–10) | Letter string one‐back task | NW one‐back task > fixation | 0.001 unc. | 5 voxels | 16 | B | mean d‐prime 2.5 (0.93) | n/a |
| 19 | 2009 | Rimrodt | 15 | 6 | 9 | English | 11.8 (1.4; 9–14) | Sentences reading(meaningfulness decision) | Sentence reading> word recognition | 0.001 unc. | 78 voxels | 7 | B | 87.2 (9.2) | 980 (255) |
| 20 | 2009 | Van der Mark | 24 | 10 | 14 | German | 11.3 (0.4) | Phonological lexical decision | W reading > fixation | 0.05 corr. | 10 voxels | 10 | E‐r | 94 (7) | 1,033 (299) |
| Adults | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | 2000 | Mechelli | 6 | 5 | 1 | English | 24 (20–34) | Word & nonword reading | W & NW reading > fixation | 0.05 corr. | 5 voxels | 11 | B | n/a | n/a |
| 2 | 2002 | Cohen | 7 | 1 | 6 | French | (20–30) | Word & nonword reading | W & NW reading> checkerboard | 0.01 unc. | 0.05 corr. | 8 | B | 77.85 (outside scanner) | n/a |
| 3 | 2005 | Bitan | 14 | 5 | 9 | English | (20–35) | Word rhyme judgment | W spelling > symbols | 0.001 unc. | 50 voxels | 6 | B | 98 (2) | 868 (196) |
| 4 | 2002 | Booth | 13 | 3 | 10 | English | 24.6 (20–35) | Word rhyme judgment | W spelling > symbols | 0.001 unc. | 11 voxels | 7 | B | 96.8 (SE 5.1) | 899 (SE 93) |
| 5 | 2005 | Binder | 24 | 12 | 12 | English | 27.5 (18–48) | Nonword reading | NW reading > fixation | 0.001 unc | 0.05 corr. | 97 | E‐r | 96.8 (3.3) | 966 (158) |
| 6 | 1999 | Kiehl | 6 | 6 | 0 | English | 24.5 (22–36) | Word & nonword reading(lexical decision) | W & NW reading > symbols | 0.05 ‐ 0.001 corr. | n/a | 19 | B | n/a | 627 (90) |
| 7 | 2001 | Booth | 4 | 4 | 0 | English | 25.5 (22–31) | Semantic association judgment | W meaning > symbols | 0.001 unc. | 12 voxels | 5 | B | 90.9 (SE 3.3) | 1,666 (SE 126) |
| 8 | 2003 | Booth | 15 | 7 | 8 | English | 28.8 (21–36) | Semantic association judgment | W meaning > symbols | 0.001 unc. | 15 voxels | 2 | B | ∼ 98 | n/a |
| 9 | 1999 | Chee | 8 | 5 | 3 | English | (22–38) | Word reading(abstract/concrete decision) | W meaning > fixation | 0.00001 unc. | n/a | 29 | B | 92.6 | 850 |
| 10 | 2009 | Brem | 18 | 9 | 9 | German | 25.2 (20–31) | Word rhyme judgment | W reading > baseline | 0.05 corr. | 20 voxels | 9 | E‐r | 99.31 (0.01) | 519 (70) |
| 11 | 2005 | Burton | 14 | 6 | 8 | English | 26.7 (6; 21–46) | Word & nonword rhyme judgment | W, NW, SQ > single FF | 0.005 unc. | 8 voxels | 10 | B | 99 (SE 0.01) | 1,483 (46) |
| 12 | 2003 | Cohen | 9 | 2 | 7 | French | 60 (42–68) | Word & nonword reading | W & NW reading > fixation | 0.005 unc | 0.05 corr. | 11 | B | 100 | 539 |
| 13 | 2000 | Robertson | 8 | 4 | 4 | English | n/a | Sentences reading | Sentence reading > symbol strings | 0.001 unc. | 0.05 corr. | 8 | B | 83 | n/a |
| 14 | 2001 | Ferstl | 12 | 8 | 4 | German | 23 (3.1; 19–31) | Sentences reading (coherence decision) | Sentence reading >letter case judgment | 0.001 unc. | > 125 mm3 | 10 | E‐r | 94 (3) | 2,072 (542) |
| 15 | 2001 | Dehaene | 37 | 12 | 25 | French | (19–34) | Word readingmasked & unmasked | Visible words > fixation | 0.001 unc. | 0.05 corr. | 15 | E‐r | 88.9 (outside scanner) | n/a |
| 16 | 2006 | Binder | 30 | 15 | 15 | English | (18–49) | Nonword reading (contained an ascender letter) | Letter string task > dots | 0.00001 unc. | 0.05 corr. | 31 | E‐r | 99.1 (1.5) | 726 (100) |
| 17 | 2001 | Poldrack | 8 | 4 | 4 | English | (20–29) | Nonword rhyme judgment | Rhyme judgment >letter case judgment | 0.05 corr. | 10 voxels | 2 | B | 88 | n/a |
| 18 | 2000 | Tagaments | 11 | 6 | 5 | English | 28 (20–47) | Word one‐back task | W one‐back task > symbols | 0.05 corr. | n/a | 18 | B | n/a | n/a |
| 19 | 2005 | Xu | 22 | 22 | 0 | English | 34 (12; 21–65) | Sentence reading | Sentence reading > letter strings | 0.001 unc. | n/a | 17 | B | 100 (outside scanner) | n/a |
| 20 | 2004 | Rapp | 15 | 9 | 6 | German | (19–51) | Sentence reading | Literal sentences >low level baseline | 0.05 corr. | 10 voxels | 12 | E‐r | 94.2 (5.8) | 2,140 (580) |