Data from: Neural categorization of visual words of alphabetic and non-alphabetic languages

Languages provide social-category markers that tag people as one or
another social group. How does the brain sort words into different
language categories as a basis of the social-categorization function of
language? We addressed this issue by testing neural categorization of
visual words of different writing systems in nine studies using
electroencephalography, magnetoencephalography, and a repetition
suppression paradigm. We showed that a neural network, including the
anterior temporal, insular, orbital frontal, and ventral occipito-temporal
cortices in both hemispheres, was engaged in computations of correlation
distances between two words to represent intra-language similarity and
inter-language difference during categorization of visual words of
alphabetic and non-alphabetic languages. These processes occurred as early
as 150 ms post-stimulus, recruited within-hemisphere functional
connections, operated independently of words’ semantic meanings and
pronunciations, and exhibited consistently across individuals with diverse
language backgrounds. These findings highlight the neural mechanisms of
language-based spontaneous neural categorization of visual words as a
basis of the social-categorization function of language.