Functional connectivity of Chinese characters processing: A meta-analysis

Meta-analyses aim to mine reliable research findings from individual studies and can be usefully applied to an increasing number of published functional brain imaging studies. In this paper we use a new meta-analysis method based on the Apriori algorithm of association rules that can be used to find the possible connection network of the brain. We analyzed 13 studies that investigated how the brain processes Chinese phonology, compared the results of activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis, and generated a potential core connection network model of the brain during this processing. The identified regions included the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), left middle frontal gyrus (MFG), bilateral supplementary motor areas (SMA), and left precentral gyrus. The described connection network model of brain regions was consistent with previous research. Furthermore, the network can facilitate better understanding of how the brain processes the Chinese language.