OBJECTIVESTo identify the cortical areas engaged during Chinese word processing using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and to examine the reliability and reproducibility of fMRI for localization of functional areas in the human brain.

METHODSFMRI data were collected on 8 young, right-handed, native Chinese speakers during performance of Chinese synonym and homophone judgment tasks on two different clinical MRI systems (1.5 T GE Signa Horizon and 1.5 T Siemens Vision). A cross correlation analysis was used to statistically generate the activation map.

RESULTSBroca's area, Wernicke's area, bilateral extrastriate, and ventral temporal cortex were significantly activated during both the synonym and homophone activities. There was essentially no difference between results acquired on two different MRI systems.

CONCLUSIONSFMRI can be used for localizing cortical areas critical to Chinese language processing in the human brain. The results are reliable and well reproducible across different clinical MRI systems.