Enhanced activations in syntax-related regions for multilinguals while acquiring a new language

Abstract

The neuroscientific foundation of multilingualism, a unique cognitive capacity, necessitates further elucidation. We conducted an fMRI experiment to evaluate the acquisition of syntactic features in a new language (Kazakh) for multilinguals and bilinguals. Results showed that the multilinguals who were more proficient in their second/third languages needed fewer task trials to acquire Kazakh phonology. Regarding group differences, the reduction in response times during the initial exposure to Kazakh were significantly larger for the multilinguals than the bilinguals. For the multilinguals, activations in the bilateral frontal/temporal regions were maintained at a higher level than the initial level during subsequent new grammar conditions. For the bilinguals, activations in the basal ganglia/thalamus and cerebellum decreased to the initial level each time. Direct group comparisons showed significantly enhanced activations for the multilinguals in the left ventral inferior frontal gyrus. These results indicate that both syntax-related and domain-general brain networks were more enhanced for the multilinguals. We also unexpectedly observed significant activations in the visual areas for the multilinguals, implying the use of visual representation even when listening to speech sounds alone. Because the multilinguals were able to successfully utilize acquired knowledge in an accumulated manner, the results support the cumulative-enhancement model of language acquisition.

Music-experience-related and musical-error-dependent activations in the brain

“…To justify sample sizes in relation to what has been previously published, we performed a power analysis ( Mumford 2012 ) by using our previous work with a similar error-detection task (grammatical or ungrammatical) with speech sounds ( Umejima et al. 2021 ).…”

“…2021 ). We used the whole-brain data from a group of 15 participants (Bilingual group, G2 condition, “Sentence – Lexical list” contrast; see Umejima et al. 2021 ), according to a previous pilot study ( Durnez et al.…”

Transcranial Photobiomodulation on the Left Prefrontal Cortex Enhances Mandarin Chinese L1 and L2 Complex Sentence Processing Performances

“…Among a wide range of people facing problems with sentence processing, L2 learners who have normal non-language ability (e.g., attention and executive function; compared to patients) enable us to make further investigations, by which the confounding effects brought by the non-language factors could be controlled to a relatively low extent. From recent studies, L2 learners were found to process sentences also with LPFC (esp., LIFG) highly involved, which suggested that L1 and L2 speakers share a common brain area in LPFC to accomplish sentence processing (e.g., Chen et al, 2019, 2021b; Golestani et al, 2006; Jeon & Frederici, 2013; Mueller et al, 2014; Nakagawa et al, 2022; Nachi & Sakai, 2009; Sakai et al, 2009; Tao et al, 2021; Umejima et al, 2021; Wartenburger et al, 2003). Specifically, Chen et al (2019, 2021b) proposed that native Korean speakers showed significant activation in posterior LIFG when reading artificial sentences generated by the Chinese-like grammar based on word category information.…”

Emergence of syntax and word prediction in an artificial neural circuit of the cerebellum

“…The cerebellum has a large capacity for plasticity and acquires language functions relatively early in development compared with the rest of the brain 8,20,21 . A theory that cerebellar language acquisition supports subsequent language acquisition in the neocortex 8,20,21 has been proposed based on recent observations that childhood damage to the right cerebellum causes more permanent and severe language deficits than adult damage [20][21][22][23] , and that the right cerebellum is activated during learning of new language tasks 15,24,25 . Understanding the circuit computations of language functions in the cerebellum is crucial to unravelling the mechanisms of human language processing.…”