CNBC faculty members Julie Fiez, Avniel Ghuman, and Mark Richardson and their colleagues have published a recent study in PNAS dissecting the role of left midfusiform gyrus (lmFG) in word recognition and individuation. There has been much debate about the contribution of lmFG in reading. Fiez, Ghuman, Richardson and colleagues were able to elucidate the dynamic role of lmFG during reading, decoding an early gist-like stage focused on orthographic similarity and a later stage focused on word individuation. Further, they were able to stimulate regions of lmFG in epileptic patients which led to reading-specific disruption. An interview with Ghuman, the senior author on the paper, is available here. The paper is available here.