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Deng T, Deng D, Feng Q. An Event-Related Potentials Study on the Syntactic Transfer Effect of Late Language Learners. Front Psychol 2022; 12:777225. [PMID: 35046874 PMCID: PMC8761976 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.777225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2021] [Accepted: 11/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
This study explored the syntactic transfer effect of the non-local subject-verb agreement structure with plural head noun after two intensive phases of input training with event-related potentials (ERP). The non-local subject-verb agreement stimuli with the plural head nouns, which never appeared in training phases, were used for the stimuli. A total of 26 late L1-Chinese L2-English learners, who began to learn English after a critical period and participated in our previous experiments, were asked back to take part in this syntactic transfer experiment. Results indicated that a significant ERP component P600 occurred in the key region (the verb) of the sentences with syntactic violations in the experimental group, but none occurred in the control group. This demonstrated that there was a significant transfer effect of the input training. The possible theoretical explanation was provided and also the malleability of the late L2 learners was discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taiping Deng
- School of Marxism Studies, Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics, Hangzhou, China
| | | | - Qing Feng
- College of Education, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
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Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) Val66met (rs6265) Polymorphism Associated with Global and Multi-Domain Cognitive Impairment in Ischemic Stroke Patients. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s41470-017-0001-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
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Evolution of cerebral cortico-cortical communication during visuomotor adaptation to a cognitive-motor executive challenge. Biol Psychol 2014; 105:51-65. [PMID: 25530479 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2014.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2014] [Revised: 11/17/2014] [Accepted: 12/08/2014] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Cortical dynamics were examined during a cognitive-motor adaptation task that required inhibition of a familiar motor plan. EEG coherence between the motor planning (Fz) and left hemispheric region was progressively reduced over trials (low-beta, high-beta, gamma bands) along with faster, straighter reaching movements during both planning and execution. The major reduction in coherence (delta, low/high-theta, low/high-alpha bands) between Fz and the left prefrontal region during both movement planning and execution suggests gradual disengagement of frontal executive following its initial role in the suppression of established visuomotor maps. Also, change in the directionality of phase lags (delta, high-alpha, high-beta, gamma bands) reflects a progressive shift from feedback to feedforward motor control. The reduction of cortico-cortical communication, particularly in the frontal region, and the strategic feedback/feedforward mode shift translated as higher quality motor performance. This study extends our understanding of the role of frontal executive beyond purely cognitive tasks to cognitive-motor tasks.
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Reiterer SM, Hu X, Sumathi TA, Singh NC. Are you a good mimic? Neuro-acoustic signatures for speech imitation ability. Front Psychol 2013; 4:782. [PMID: 24155739 PMCID: PMC3804907 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00782] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2013] [Accepted: 10/04/2013] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
We investigated individual differences in speech imitation ability in late bilinguals using a neuro-acoustic approach. One hundred and thirty-eight German-English bilinguals matched on various behavioral measures were tested for "speech imitation ability" in a foreign language, Hindi, and categorized into "high" and "low ability" groups. Brain activations and speech recordings were obtained from 26 participants from the two extreme groups as they performed a functional neuroimaging experiment which required them to "imitate" sentences in three conditions: (A) German, (B) English, and (C) German with fake English accent. We used recently developed novel acoustic analysis, namely the "articulation space" as a metric to compare speech imitation abilities of the two groups. Across all three conditions, direct comparisons between the two groups, revealed brain activations (FWE corrected, p < 0.05) that were more widespread with significantly higher peak activity in the left supramarginal gyrus and postcentral areas for the low ability group. The high ability group, on the other hand showed significantly larger articulation space in all three conditions. In addition, articulation space also correlated positively with imitation ability (Pearson's r = 0.7, p < 0.01). Our results suggest that an expanded articulation space for high ability individuals allows access to a larger repertoire of sounds, thereby providing skilled imitators greater flexibility in pronunciation and language learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susanne M Reiterer
- Unit for Language Learning and Teaching Research, Faculty of Philological and Cultural Studies, University of Vienna Vienna, Austria ; Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University Clinic Tübingen Tübingen, Germany
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Cao F, Tao R, Liu L, Perfetti CA, Booth JR. High proficiency in a second language is characterized by greater involvement of the first language network: evidence from Chinese learners of English. J Cogn Neurosci 2013; 25:1649-63. [PMID: 23654223 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_00414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
The assimilation hypothesis argues that second language learning recruits the brain network for processing the native language, whereas the accommodation hypothesis argues that learning a second language recruits brain structures not involved in native language processing. This study tested these hypotheses by examining brain activation of a group of native Chinese speakers, who were late bilinguals with varying levels of proficiency in English, when they performed a rhyming judgment to visually presented English word pairs (CE group) during fMRI. Assimilation was examined by comparing the CE group to native Chinese speakers performing the rhyming task in Chinese (CC group), and accommodation was examined by comparing the CE group to native English speakers performing the rhyming task in English (EE group). The CE group was very similar in activation to the CC group, supporting the assimilation hypothesis. Additional support for the assimilation hypothesis was the finding that higher proficiency in the CE group was related to increased activation in the Chinese network (as defined by the CC > EE), including the left middle frontal gyrus, the right inferior parietal lobule, and the right precuneus, and decreased activation in the English network (as defined by the EE > CC), including the left inferior frontal gyrus and the left inferior temporal gyrus. Although most of the results support assimilation, there was some evidence for accommodation as the CE group showed less activation in the Chinese network including the right middle occipital gyrus, which has been argued to be involved in holistic visuospatial processing of Chinese characters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fan Cao
- Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
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Kaan E, Wayland R, Keil A. Changes in oscillatory brain networks after lexical tone training. Brain Sci 2013; 3:757-80. [PMID: 24961423 PMCID: PMC4061855 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci3020757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2013] [Revised: 03/28/2013] [Accepted: 04/18/2013] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Learning foreign speech contrasts involves creating new representations of sound categories in memory. This formation of new memory representations is likely to involve changes in neural networks as reflected by oscillatory brain activity. To explore this, we conducted time-frequency analyses of electro-encephalography (EEG) data recorded in a passive auditory oddball paradigm using Thai language tones. We compared native speakers of English (a non-tone language) and native speakers of Mandarin Chinese (a tone language), before and after a two-day laboratory training. Native English speakers showed a larger gamma-band power and stronger alpha-band synchrony across EEG channels than the native Chinese speakers, especially after training. This is compatible with the view that forming new speech categories on the basis of unfamiliar perceptual dimensions involves stronger gamma activity and more coherent activity in alpha-band networks than forming new categories on the basis of familiar dimensions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edith Kaan
- Department of Linguistics, University of Florida, P.O. Box 115454, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
| | - Ratree Wayland
- Department of Linguistics, University of Florida, P.O. Box 115454, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
| | - Andreas Keil
- Department of Psychology, University of Florida, P.O. Box 112766, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
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Reiterer S, Pereda E, Bhattacharya J. On a Possible Relationship between Linguistic Expertise and EEG Gamma Band Phase Synchrony. Front Psychol 2011; 2:334. [PMID: 22125542 PMCID: PMC3222221 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00334] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2011] [Accepted: 10/29/2011] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent research has shown that extensive training in and exposure to a second language can modify the language organization in the brain by causing both structural and functional changes. However it is not yet known how these changes are manifested by the dynamic brain oscillations and synchronization patterns subserving the language networks. In search for synchronization correlates of proficiency and expertise in second language acquisition, multivariate EEG signals were recorded from 44 high and low proficiency bilinguals during processing of natural language in their first and second languages. Gamma band (30-45 Hz) phase synchronization (PS) was calculated mainly by two recently developed methods: coarse-graining of Markov chains (estimating global phase synchrony, measuring the degree of PS between one electrode and all other electrodes), and phase lag index (PLI; estimating bivariate phase synchrony, measuring the degree of PS between a pair of electrodes). On comparing second versus first language processing, global PS by coarse-graining Markov chains indicated that processing of the second language needs significantly higher synchronization strength than first language. On comparing the proficiency groups, bivariate PS measure (i.e., PLI) revealed that during second language processing the low proficiency group showed stronger and broader network patterns than the high proficiency group, with interconnectivities between a left fronto-parietal network. Mean phase coherence analysis also indicated that the network activity was globally stronger in the low proficiency group during second language processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susanne Reiterer
- Department for English Linguistics, Center for Linguistics, University of TübingenGermany
- Department of English Studies, University of ViennaVienna, Austria
| | - Ernesto Pereda
- Department of Basic Physics, University of La LagunaTenerife, Spain
| | - Joydeep Bhattacharya
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths College, University of LondonLondon, UK
- Commission for Scientific Visualization, Austrian Academy of SciencesVienna, Austria
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Reiterer SM, Hu X, Erb M, Rota G, Nardo D, Grodd W, Winkler S, Ackermann H. Individual differences in audio-vocal speech imitation aptitude in late bilinguals: functional neuro-imaging and brain morphology. Front Psychol 2011; 2:271. [PMID: 22059077 PMCID: PMC3203549 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2011] [Accepted: 09/28/2011] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
An unanswered question in adult language learning or late bi and multilingualism is why individuals show marked differences in their ability to imitate foreign accents. While recent research acknowledges that more adults than previously assumed can still acquire a "native" foreign accent, very little is known about the neuro-cognitive correlates of this special ability. We investigated 140 German-speaking individuals displaying varying degrees of "mimicking" capacity, based on natural language text, sentence, and word imitations either in their second language English or in Hindi and Tamil, languages they had never been exposed to. The large subject pool was strictly controlled for previous language experience prior to magnetic resonance imaging. The late-onset (around 10 years) bilinguals showed significant individual differences as to how they employed their left-hemisphere speech areas: higher hemodynamic activation in a distinct fronto-parietal network accompanied low ability, while high ability paralleled enhanced gray matter volume in these areas concomitant with decreased hemodynamic responses. Finally and unexpectedly, males were found to be more talented foreign speech mimics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susanne Maria Reiterer
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, MR Research Group, University of Tübingen Tübingen, Germany
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Abstract
Recent advances in neuroimaging have permitted testing of hypotheses regarding the neural bases of individual differences, but this burgeoning literature has been characterized by inconsistent results. To test the hypothesis that differences in task demands could contribute to between-study variability in brain-behavior relationships, we had participants perform 2 tasks that varied in the extent of cognitive involvement. We examined connectivity between brain regions during a low-demand vigilance task and a higher-demand digit-symbol visual search task using Granger causality analysis (GCA). Our results showed 1) Significant differences in numbers of frontoparietal connections between low- and high-demand tasks 2) that GCA can detect activity changes that correspond with task-demand changes, and 3) faster participants showed more vigilance-related activity than slower participants, but less visual-search activity. These results suggest that relatively low-demand cognitive performance depends on spontaneous bidirectionally fluctuating network activity, whereas high-demand performance depends on a limited, unidirectional network. The nature of brain-behavior relationships may vary depending on the extent of cognitive demand. High-demand network activity may reflect the extent to which individuals require top-down executive guidance of behavior for successful task performance. Low-demand network activity may reflect task- and performance monitoring that minimizes executive requirements for guidance of behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bharat B Biswal
- Department of Radiology, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, NJ 07103, USA
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Rypma B, Prabhakaran V. When less is more and when more is more: The mediating roles of capacity and speed in brain-behavior efficiency. INTELLIGENCE 2009; 37:207-222. [PMID: 20161012 PMCID: PMC2758693 DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2008.12.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
An enduring enterprise of experimental psychology has been to account for individual differences in human performance. Recent advances in neuroimaging have permitted testing of hypotheses regarding the neural bases of individual differences but this burgeoning literature has been characterized by inconsistent results. We argue that careful design and analysis of neuroimaging studies is required to separate individual differences in processing capacity from individual differences in processing speed to account for these differences in the literature. We utilized task designs which permitted separation of processing capacity influences on brain-behavior relationships from those related to processing speed. In one set of studies, participants performed verbal delayed-recognition tasks during blocked and event-related fMRI scanning. The results indicated that those participants with greater working memory (WM) capacity showed greater prefrontal cortical activity, strategically capitalized on the additional processing time available in the delay period, and evinced faster WM-retrieval rates than low-capacity participants. In another study, participants performed a digit-symbol substitution task (DSST) designed to minimize WM storage capacity requirements and maximize processing speed requirements during fMRI scanning. In some prefrontal cortical (PFC) brain regions, participants with faster processing speed showed less PFC activity than slower performers while in other PFC and parietal regions they showed greater activity. Regional-causality analysis indicated that PFC exerted more influence over other brain regions for slower than for faster individuals. These results support a model of neural efficiency in which individuals differ in the extent of direct processing links between neural nodes. One benefit of direct processing links may be a surplus of resources that maximize available capacity permitting fast and accurate performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bart Rypma
- School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences and Center for Brain Health, University of Texas at Dallas
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Okuhata ST, Okazaki S, Maekawa H. Differential topographic pattern of EEG coherence between simultaneous and successive coding tasks. Int J Psychophysiol 2007; 66:66-80. [PMID: 17651849 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2007.06.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2006] [Revised: 06/22/2007] [Accepted: 06/26/2007] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
The concept of two types of information coding, simultaneous and successive processing, is now well supported by extensive studies with factor analysis. However, few EEG evidence on processing types have been reported. In the present study we investigated whether varying demands on simultaneous or successive processing are reflected by different pattern of EEG coherence change from the passive condition to the active condition. We computed EEG coherence during simultaneous and successive processing tasks in both passive and active conditions. Under the passive condition, participants were just to perceive the presented stimuli. In the active condition, participants were required to remember the presented stimuli and then reproduce or recognize the remembered stimuli. Our result revealed the different topographic patterns of coherence change from the passive to the active condition between the simultaneous and the successive task. In the successive processing task, bilateral frontal-left temporal coherence in beta showed a significant decrease during the active condition, supporting Luria's model of the two information coding types. The condition effect of coherence in the simultaneous processing task was rather unclear. Our data also indicated that more task related cognitive processes, rather than the task-independent processes such as attentional demand, were reflected in EEG coherence of higher frequency bands. The different EEG coherence patterns seen in the simultaneous and successive tasks suggested the first step evidence that EEG coherence pattern may differentiate two distinctive types of information coding.
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Reiterer S, Hemmelmann C, Rappelsberger P, Berger ML. Characteristic functional networks in high- versus low-proficiency second language speakers detected also during native language processing: an explorative EEG coherence study in 6 frequency bands. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2005; 25:566-78. [PMID: 16185851 DOI: 10.1016/j.cogbrainres.2005.08.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2005] [Revised: 08/17/2005] [Accepted: 08/19/2005] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
An EEG coherence study was performed with a twofold objective: first, to scrutinize the theoretical concept of "cortical efficiency" in connection with second language (L2) acquisition and, second, to detect cooperations between cortical areas in specific frequency bands indicative for highly proficient L2 processing. Two groups differing only in their level of L2 proficiency were contrasted during presentation of natural language videos in English (L2) and German (native language, L1), with explorative coherence analysis in 6 frequency bands (0.5-31.5 Hz). The coherence brain maps revealed more pronounced and widespread increases in coherences in the alpha1-band (8-10 Hz) in low-proficiency than in the high-proficiency L2 speakers. Surprisingly, this difference was obtained also during L1 processing and corroborated for both languages by multivariate permutation tests. These tests revealed additional differences between the low- and the high-proficiency group also for coherences within the beta1- (13-18 Hz) and the beta2-band (18.5-31.5 Hz), again during L2 and L1 processing. Since the same group differences were observed during L1 and L2 processing, our high-proficiency group might have profited from a more generic advantage in language or text processing strategy. This strategic advantage was most evident at alpha1 frequencies, possibly related to a specific way of processing internal mental states (top-down processing).
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Affiliation(s)
- Susanne Reiterer
- Center for Brain Research, Division of Integrative Neurophysiology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
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