Comments on: There’s No Such Thing as Reading Silently to Yourself

By: kc

kc — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 00:41:23 +0000

Doesn’t anybody besides scicurious and me read any of the previous comments before posting? Half of these comments say the same thing (“What about deaf people?”).

By: scicurious

scicurious — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 20:33:20 +0000

Hi Everyone! Sci here, from the original post at Neurotic Physiology (http://scientopia.org/blogs/scicurious/2013/01/23/silent-reading-isnt-so-silent-at-least-not-to-your-brain/). I’m so glad to see good questions!

Unfortunately, the paper did not address how deaf people process reading, or whether they do it in the same way. There are other studies which sort of address this, but it’s a difficult test to perform. Most deaf people receive cochlear implants, become deaf after learning to speak, or are taught speech in addition to sign. In fMRI studies, deaf people who have been taught to speak still show auditory processing when they read (see here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19012106), but when reading normally they appear also to associate with the mouth shape and hand sign (activation in manual areas especially, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19012106). Another study which worked exclusively with people who were deaf prior to learning to read showed activation instead associated with phonological processes, so with the shape of the mouth required (as in lip reading) as opposed to the sound itself (see here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17329129). A third study shows no activation of lanugage areas in deaf people when they read (see here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9448260). So I would say the jury is still out on how exactly the deaf process language, but it is clear that they use auditory associated areas less than people who hear (as you might expect). I hope that helps!

By: Dara Nikoonezhad

Dara Nikoonezhad — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 08:58:37 +0000

The idea that we cannot comprehend written information unless we hear it in our heads makes sense to me from an evolutionary standpoint. Humans are the first species that have developed written word and that can read. All other animals can hear verbal communication, and their brains interpret sounds, so it makes sense that we cannot simply understand communication through sight. However, it is interesting in that we can visualize other means on communication using sight, such as hand gestures and sign language and symbols, so why not letters? Perhaps this means that certain types of information can only be interpreted in certain ways? An interesting study would be in scientists tried to find out from people that have been deaf their whole lives, what they interpret in their heads when they read words, since they have never heard any of these words spoken aloud, and thus cannot utilize this same “inner voice” as the rest of us. The words must appear more as symbols would appear to us, soundless.

By: Gene in L.A.

Gene in L.A. — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 04:06:58 +0000

This was the whole idea behind what was called speed-reading, a few decades back. The idea was to get past the voice-in-the-head to pure visual intake, by reading down the middle of the page at a very rapid rate. Did that turn out to be a myth, and is no one doing that any more?

By: Molly Srausbaugh

Molly Srausbaugh — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 02:14:28 +0000

So what happens if you are deaf? Does reading to yourself activate the same area of the brain? Do people who have never heard a voice hear voices in their heads when they read? Is that even possible?

By: Ariella

Ariella — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 00:52:14 +0000

I wonder about deaf people reading. If they’ve never heard a voice speaking, why would they hear an inner voice?

By: Lon

Lon — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 00:44:06 +0000

Actually, that is a fairly recent development. It was Saint Augustine who was stunned into amazement when he visited (I can’t remember the bishop nor his name) and saw him reading to himself in silence. At that time, the few people who were literate read aloud to themselves. Oh, and I hear voices in my head even when I’m not reading.

By: Rod

Rod — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 23:23:34 +0000

In the ancient world, all people who could read, read out loud, or at the very least moved their lips while reading. St. Augustine tells how he once found St. Ambrose reading a book without moving his lips – the first time he had seen anyone able to do such a thing.

By: Susan

Susan — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 23:18:26 +0000

How does this apply to people who have been profoundly deaf since birth?

By: Peter

Peter — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 23:14:37 +0000

And deaf people? Do they also here a voice inside their head ?

By: Christine

Christine — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 23:05:44 +0000

But — what about deaf people who have never heard?

By: Shawn

Shawn — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 14:50:29 +0000

I love it when I watch a show with actors that use heavy accents, then go read a book and all the characters in the book have the same accents in my head.