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Fong MCM, Ma MKH, Chui JYT, Law TST, Hui NY, Au A, Wang WS. Foreign Language Learning in Older Adults: Anatomical and Cognitive Markers of Vocabulary Learning Success. Front Hum Neurosci 2022; 16:787413. [PMID: 35340542 PMCID: PMC8942782 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.787413] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2021] [Accepted: 02/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
In recent years, foreign language learning (FLL) has been proposed as a possible cognitive intervention for older adults. However, the brain network and cognitive functions underlying FLL has remained largely unconfirmed in older adults. In particular, older and younger adults have markedly different cognitive profile—while older adults tend to exhibit decline in most cognitive domains, their semantic memory usually remains intact. As such, older adults may engage the semantic functions to a larger extent than the other cognitive functions traditionally considered the most important (e.g., working memory capacity and phonological awareness). Using anatomical measurements and a cognitive test battery, the present study examined this hypothesis in twenty cognitively normal older adults (58–69 years old), who participated in a two-month Italian learning programme. Results showed that the immediate learning success and long-term retention of Italian vocabularies were most consistently predicted by the anatomical measures of the left pars orbitalis and left caudal middle frontal cortex, which are implicated in semantic and episodic memory functions. Convergent evidence was also found based on the pattern of cognitive associations. Our results are consistent with a prominent role of semantic and episodic memory functions in vocabulary learning in older learners.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manson Cheuk-Man Fong
- Research Centre for Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience, Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Research Institute for Smart Ageing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
- *Correspondence: Manson Cheuk-Man Fong
| | - Matthew King-Hang Ma
- Department of Electronic Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Jeremy Yin To Chui
- Research Centre for Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience, Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Tammy Sheung Ting Law
- Research Centre for Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience, Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Nga-Yan Hui
- Research Centre for Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience, Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Alma Au
- Department of Applied Social Science, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - William Shiyuan Wang
- Research Centre for Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience, Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Research Institute for Smart Ageing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Department of Electronic Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
- William Shiyuan Wang
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Novén M, Olsson H, Helms G, Horne M, Nilsson M, Roll M. Cortical and white matter correlates of language-learning aptitudes. Hum Brain Mapp 2021; 42:5037-5050. [PMID: 34288240 PMCID: PMC8449104 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2021] [Revised: 06/13/2021] [Accepted: 07/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
People learn new languages with varying degrees of success but what are the neuroanatomical correlates of the difference in language‐learning aptitude? In this study, we set out to investigate how differences in cortical morphology and white matter microstructure correlate with aptitudes for vocabulary learning, phonetic memory, and grammatical inferencing as measured by the first‐language neutral LLAMA test battery. We used ultra‐high field (7T) magnetic resonance imaging to estimate the cortical thickness and surface area from sub‐millimeter resolved image volumes. Further, diffusion kurtosis imaging was used to map diffusion properties related to the tissue microstructure from known language‐related white matter tracts. We found a correlation between cortical surface area in the left posterior‐inferior precuneus and vocabulary learning aptitude, possibly indicating a greater predisposition for storing word‐figure associations. Moreover, we report negative correlations between scores for phonetic memory and axial kurtosis in left arcuate fasciculus as well as mean kurtosis, axial kurtosis, and radial kurtosis of the left superior longitudinal fasciculus III, which are tracts connecting cortical areas important for phonological working memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mikael Novén
- Department of Linguistics and Phonetics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Hampus Olsson
- Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Medical Radiation Physics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Gunther Helms
- Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Medical Radiation Physics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Merle Horne
- Department of Linguistics and Phonetics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Markus Nilsson
- Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Radiology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Mikael Roll
- Department of Linguistics and Phonetics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
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Villar-Rodríguez E, Palomar-García MÁ, Hernández M, Adrián-Ventura J, Olcina-Sempere G, Parcet MA, Ávila C. Left-handed musicians show a higher probability of atypical cerebral dominance for language. Hum Brain Mapp 2020; 41:2048-2058. [PMID: 32034834 PMCID: PMC7268010 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2019] [Revised: 12/02/2019] [Accepted: 01/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Music processing and right hemispheric language lateralization share a common network in the right auditory cortex and its frontal connections. Given that the development of hemispheric language dominance takes place over several years, this study tested whether musicianship could increase the probability of observing right language dominance in left-handers. Using a classic fMRI language paradigm, results showed that atypical lateralization was more predominant in musicians (40%) than in nonmusicians (5%). Comparison of left-handers with typical left and atypical right lateralization revealed that: (a) atypical cases presented a thicker right pars triangularis and more gyrified left Heschl's gyrus; and (b) the right pars triangularis of atypical cases showed a stronger intra-hemispheric functional connectivity with the right angular gyrus, but a weaker interhemispheric functional connectivity with part of the left Broca's area. Thus, musicianship is the first known factor related to a higher prevalence of atypical language dominance in healthy left-handed individuals. We suggest that differences in the frontal and temporal cortex might act as shared predisposing factors to both musicianship and atypical language lateralization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esteban Villar-Rodríguez
- Neuropsychology and Functional Neuroimaging Group, Jaume I University, Edificio de Investigación II, Castellón de la Plana, Spain
| | - María-Ángeles Palomar-García
- Neuropsychology and Functional Neuroimaging Group, Jaume I University, Edificio de Investigación II, Castellón de la Plana, Spain
| | - Mireia Hernández
- Cognition and Brain Plasticity Group, Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, Institut de Neurociències, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jesús Adrián-Ventura
- Neuropsychology and Functional Neuroimaging Group, Jaume I University, Edificio de Investigación II, Castellón de la Plana, Spain
| | - Gustau Olcina-Sempere
- Neuropsychology and Functional Neuroimaging Group, Jaume I University, Edificio de Investigación II, Castellón de la Plana, Spain
| | - María-Antònia Parcet
- Neuropsychology and Functional Neuroimaging Group, Jaume I University, Edificio de Investigación II, Castellón de la Plana, Spain
| | - César Ávila
- Neuropsychology and Functional Neuroimaging Group, Jaume I University, Edificio de Investigación II, Castellón de la Plana, Spain
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