Actually speaking the words activates different areas of Broca’s and Wernicke’s regions (and elsewhere) than merely imagining them. Physically vocalizing the words, and hearing yourself vocalize them, allows them to be processed by more areas of your brain.
If that made much of a difference, it would also matter whether I was talking to someone out loud vs in writing. I don’t feel that is the case, though it’s not like I did any Gwern-level statistics about that. (Also, some people have more vivid auditory imagery than others.)
Actually speaking the words activates different areas of Broca’s and Wernicke’s regions (and elsewhere) than merely imagining them. Physically vocalizing the words, and hearing yourself vocalize them, allows them to be processed by more areas of your brain.
If that made much of a difference, it would also matter whether I was talking to someone out loud vs in writing. I don’t feel that is the case, though it’s not like I did any Gwern-level statistics about that. (Also, some people have more vivid auditory imagery than others.)