pseudo-letters

[unpakwon]

What kind of letter does "pseudo-letters" refer to in the following? And what does "visual practice" refer to?

Brain imaging studies reveal that multiple areas of the brain become co-activated during learning of cursive writing of pseudo-letters, as opposed to typing or just visual practice.

Thank you.

 

[BobK]

I imagine a pseudo-letter is one that looks like a letter but isn't one (in the language(s) the reader knows).

In this context 'visual practice' seems to mean 'just keeping your eyes open in normal circumstances (that don't involve reading) and processing the images without any expectation of what shapes to expect). That is, when I see a cloud it might be any shape, but when I see a letter in an English text I expect it to be one of 26). In cursive writing (joined-up handwriting) one letter can appear in many forms.

Note: I know next to nothing about brain imaging (though I'm an MRI-veteran! )


b