Functional brain networks underlying the interaction between central and peripheral processes involved in Chinese handwriting in children and adults

The neural mechanisms that support handwriting, an important mode of human communication, are thought to be controlled by a central process (responsible for spelling) and a peripheral process (responsible for motor output). However, the relationship between central and peripheral processes has been debated. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, this study examined the neural mechanisms underlying this relationship in Chinese handwriting in 36 children (mean age = 10.40 years) and 56 adults (mean age = 22.36 years) by manipulating character frequency (a central variable). Brain network analysis showed that character frequency reconfigured functional brain networks known to underlie motor processes, including the somatomotor and cerebellar network, in both children and adults, indicating that central processing cascades into peripheral processing. Furthermore, the network analysis characterized the interaction profiles between motor networks and linguistic-cognitive networks, fully mapping the neural architecture that supports the interaction of central and peripheral processes involved in handwriting. Taken together, these results reveal the neural interface underlying the interaction between central and peripheral processes involved in handwriting in a logographic writing system, advancing our understanding of the neural basis of handwriting.