Un índice objetivo de capacidad lectora: El ‘potencial de reconocimiento’ (PR) y el área cerebral que procesa las formas visuales de las palabras

The present article reviews the scientific literature on a component of brain electrical activity named Recognition Potential, or RP, of great interest in the study and exploration of one of the main processes involved in reading. The PR is an electrical fluctuation peaking at about 200 to 250 ms after the onset of a visually presented word. Its neural origin locates within the so-called visual word form area, within the basal temporal cortex, mainly left. Up to this area they converge partial or complete analyses on multiple processes implied in reading, from most perceptual and primary to higher-order cognitive processes such as lexico-semantic access or semantic integration of the word within a sentential context. Of interest, all these processes affect the RP and, therefore, they can be studied, directly or indirectly, by means of this component.