Anterior part of fronto-temporal language network as the neural basis of morphologically structured word form processing: evidence from Korean morphologically complex word

The present fMRI study investigated which subregions of the visual word recognition network contribute to morphologically structured word form processing in Korean. Participants performed two separate lexical decision tasks in the scanner. In the Eojeol task, stimuli were three-syllable words composed of a disyllabic noun plus a case particle, whereas in the Noun task, stimuli were disyllabic (DSN) and trisyllabic (TSN) nouns. Behaviorally, reaction time was significantly longer in the Eojeol condition than in both DSN and TSN conditions, indicating greater processing demands for morphologically complex words, while accuracy did not differ across conditions. At the neural level, ROI analyses revealed that Eojeol processing elicited stronger activation than simple nouns in specific nodes of the visual word recognition related system, including the left inferior frontal gyrus (pars opercularis), anterior perisylvian cortex, anterior superior temporal sulcus, and anterior inferior temporal gyrus. These findings suggest that morphologically complex word recognition in Korean recruits additional resources within the visual word recognition network, highlighting the role of anterior fronto-temporal subregions in combining content and functional morphemes into unified lexical representations. Morphologically complex words recruited anterior fronto-temporal language network. pSTS and lingual gyrus involved domain-general lexical and orthographic operations. Used Eojeols as cross-linguistic evidence for morphologically complex word recognition.