Letterbox – Stanislas Dehaene coined this term to describe the part of the brain that responds to written words in less than ⅕ of a second. The letterbox has many other amazing statistics and functions that I will cover in this blog.
I am working my way through Stanislas Dehaene’s book Reading in the brain: the new science of how we read and his neuroscience research of the brain’s letterbox area has huge implications in our elementary and secondary classrooms when we address learning to read as well as learning in general. If you are looking to start back at the beginning of my chapter summaries, consider my blogs about:
- The introduction (Who is Stanislas Dehaene?)
- Chapter 1 (Part 1)
- Chapter 1 (Part 2)
(Please note: the “classroom implications” section is my interpretation of Dehaene’s book.)
Amazing Letterbox Statistic #1
Amazing letterbox statistic #1 starts with a quote from back in chapter 1: “The time that it takes us to read a word … depends primarily on the conflicts [that] can occur at all levels.” (Dehaene, 2010, p. 49) The individual letters, strings of letters, words, and strings of words can “support, censor, or eliminate each other” within this competition. (Dehaene, 2010, p. 45)
With the millions of neurons that have billions of connections inside the letterbox, the brain strives to find the most efficient pathway to make meaning. As the brain learns to read, it adapts and compiles statistics on these efficient pathways. The most efficient pathways are elevated to warp speed and this is called automaticity.
However, when the letterbox finds competition or uncertainty at the very first stage of recognition, it must open itself to millions or billions of possibilities as it searches the neural pathways. This is extremely inefficient but even happens to adults who can read. For example, our adult brain might slow down slightly as we try to read or write LOSE and LOOSE.
Classroom implication: To create efficient pathways, move from simple sounds to complex sounds with direct and explicit instruction of foundational skills. A phonics scope & sequence should:
- start with simple sounds: “f” is /f/ (one letter makes one sound)
- move towards more complex sounds: “ph” is /f/ (two letters make one sound)
Classroom instruction builds from simple sounds to complex sounds with a scope & sequence that is based on the science of reading and with a scope & sequence that is understood and implemented by all teachers in the building.
Amazing Letterbox Statistic #2
The average brain has approximately 50,000 words in its mental lexicon (dictionary) and those billions of neuron connections in the letterbox are tasked with lifting the print off the page, processing the strings of letters into words, and then pulling that word from the large mental dictionary we have.
Not all of those functions happen within the letterbox. In a fraction of a second, the letterbox has pushed the word or string of words back and forth to the brain’s other mental functions – meaning, sound, semantics, syntax. Those parts of the brain work in parallel and push the information from one hemisphere to the other for that one word. Imagine the work your brain has done to read just this paragraph.
While we may have 50,000 words in our lexicon (mental dictionary), we do not actively use them all when we speak or write. For example, I may understand that the words carburetor and piston are parts of an engine but I do not use them in speech or writing because I don’t truly understand what they are. If I encounter those words in print, I know they relate to a car engine, however, I need to keep reading, ask questions, or watch a video to understand the overall meaning of the words.
Classroom implication: Vocabulary is one of the five pillars of reading (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension). Explicitly teaching vocabulary is also the most underused comprehension strategy for secondary teachers. Teachers might assume that students will find the definition and meaning within the paragraph – that’s why the reading was assigned, right?
As Dr. Anita Archer states, “We cannot commit assumicide.” Students may not be able to pull the definition(s) from the paragraph. Intentionally plan which key vocabulary words should be pre-taught. Use visuals, student-friendly definitions, or Total Physical Response (TPR) gestures to convey meaning. Reinforce this meaning before, during, and after the reading.
Amazing Letterbox Statistic #3
The letterbox in a Chinese reader and writer is located within millimeters of the same location in the brain as that of an English reader and writer. The fact that the two languages differ in the direction of reading and form of writing does not impact where brain activation is taking place.
Researchers know this because of advanced imaging technology called fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging). An fMRI measures hemoglobin molecules. When a hemoglobin molecule does not transport oxygen with it, the local magnetic field of that area in the brain is disrupted and the fMRI machine does not record a strong signal. However, when the hemoglobin molecule carries oxygen, it is picked up “as a small but measurable increase in the resonance signal.” (Dehaene, 2010, p. 69)
Furthermore, young Chinese students do not process the characters in the visual area of the brain – they also use their letterbox! While the letterbox for a speaker of English prefers strings of letters that belong together, the Chinese letterbox looks at the character to unpack the hierarchy of semantic and phonetic markers inside the character.
Classroom implications: Reading Chinese is not a holistic process where the brain absorbs the character in its visual entirety. Students who learn Chinese characters and pinyin become “bi-graphal” and “mono-lingual” and fMRI results show that the same area of the brain is activated for both: the letterbox.
Amazing Letterbox Statistic #4
The brain’s letterbox “adapts actively to the task of reading by compiling statistics on strings of letters that belong together” and this is what creates automaticity. (Dehaene, 2010, p. 95) Our brain compiles statistics? Wow!
For example, the letterbox gives a green GO light to the word “cabinet”, a yellow CAUTION light to the word “poliver”, and a hard red STOP light to the string of letters “cqbprgt”.
The letterbox responds favorably to strings of letters that form words that can be attached to meaning. The letterbox also “prefers customary letter combinations, like WH or ING, to rare or impossible ones such as HW or QNF.” (Dehaene, 2010, p. 95) When the letterbox has a positive encounter with a word, that neural pathway just becomes a little faster. Automaticity does not occur after one encounter with a new word or full text for all people. Many many repeated encounters with the word or concept are needed to work towards automaticity.
Classroom implication: The brain will not recognize “piston” as a shape or as an entire word unit until we are able to break it down into the smallest units of sound – phonemes – and blend them back together. A student learns to decode “p-i-s-t-o-n” and then blends it to “piston”.
From there, a student learns that other morphemes such as “-ed” or “ing” cannot be added because “pistoned” or “pistoning” do not make sense when added. A student then attaches meaning to the vocabulary word within the context of an engine.
Teach vocabulary to strengthen students’ lexicons and make reading more relevant. As the brain learns the word, its pronunciation, and its meaning, the brain compiles a very fast statistic on how to automatically retrieve the word faster in future texts and conversations.
Amazing Letterbox Statistic #5
In .17 seconds (less than ⅕ of a second), the letterbox processes the information and instantly sends it to the spoken language and meaning areas of the brain. This moment could be for one letter or for a string of letters or a word. From there, Dehaene likens both the phonological route and the semantic route to that of a government senate. There are disagreements along the way as all parts of the brain attempt to connect in the smoothest most efficient way possible.
Once all the “senators” have agreed and voted on the letter, word, meaning, sentence structure, or pronunciation, then a unanimous “rule” is agreed upon. An efficient pathway has started to occur and can begin to be reinforced. This is the start of orthographic mapping. At this point, a new reader decodes a word slowly because the student is at the phonological stage: one grapheme-one phoneme (one letter-one sound) at a time.
But with practice, this one grapheme-one phoneme reading becomes increasingly faster as the student learns to blend words: /k/ /a/ /t/ = cat! Yeah! For expert adults, we have moved so far beyond this stage and, like I mentioned in the chapter 1 blog, we take in strings of letters all at once as we read (about 8 or fewer letters at a time).
Classroom implication: How can we reduce the brain’s distractions during the time when a student is working to map one sound to one letter? This stage is the foundation for future automaticity and a student’s focused attention during instruction is essential! Examples:
- Is the screen or board a visual distraction?
- Minimize what is projected on the screen.
- Is the student’s desk a visual distraction?
- How many items can I tape to the desk for support? (math, writing, reading, etc…)
- Is the tote in the center of the table (full of pencils, scissors, and crayons) needed for that 20 minutes of reading instruction?
- Create the routine of putting EVERYTHING away during these 20 minutes of foundational skills work.
- Am I an auditory distraction?
- Do I keep talking and talking and talking?
- Stick to an exact script that has as little teacher talk as possible.
- There is zero research to show that fluffy teacher talk helps with grapheme-phoneme automaticity.
- What routines help decrease my teacher talk?
- Gestures and visuals
- Make these gestures and visuals consistent within a grade level team as well as vertically across grades K-2.
The Amazing Letterbox – Final Thoughts
The brain is not a linear sequence of processing (like a factory production line or the flow of electricity). So while the brain’s circuitry is fast and complex, the letterbox has been researched to be the starting point for reading. In Duke and Cartwright’s Active View of Reading (shown in the image below), their visual representation of reading depicts how many of these processes happen simultaneously at lightning speed. What research has shown with fMRI results is the it all starts in the letterbox.
Start conversations with colleagues and administration about what is consistently being done in the building to move towards reading instruction that is rooted in science. Collaborate and make the changes together to increase the collective impact of the shift.
My name is Lisa and this is one of the coolest books I’ve read in a very long time. When I was in high school, I remember a speech from my dad about how amazing and underused the brain was. How did I wait so many years to dig further into his statement?
Find more of the video versions of my blogs on my YouTube channel: L’Essentiel French Resources. For people watching my video, consider heading to my website at www.essentielfrenchresources.com
Resources:
– Dehaene, S. (2021). How we learn: Why brains learn better than any machine…for now. Penguin Books..
– Dehaene, S. (2010). Reading in the brain: The new science of how we read. Penguin Books. (I receive a commission if you purchase either Dehaene book from Amazon.)
