Current neuroimaging and neurophysiologic techniques have substantially increased our possibilities to study processes related to various language functions in the intact human brain. Learning to read and write influences the functional organization of the brain. What is uni-13 individual studies mentioned in this review, the readers are referred to the individual papers quoted. However, some short presentations and explanations to abbreviations used are given here. With positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance (fMRI), fluctuations in brain activity can be studied with a resolution from minutes (PET) to seconds (fMRI). Neuronal activity gives rise to very weak magnetic fields, which after shielding of the much stronger magnetic fields of the earth, can be registered at more than 300 points on the scalp simultaneously with a millisecond resolution with magnetoencephalography (MEG), an online technique showing where and when an activation starts and how it spreads to other regions. Similarly, small voltage fluctuations during neuronal activity-event related potentials (ERPs)-can be registered by multiple electrodes on the skull, a method that can be used even in infants. Voxel-based morphometry is a method that greatly has improved our abilities to study the anatomy of the living brain. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a neurophysiological technique that can temporarily excite or inhibit synaptic efficiency in specific areas and transiently alter brain function. For references to these methods, see Johansson (2006).