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Activity levels in the left hemisphere caudate-fusiform circuit predict how well a second language will be learned.

ABSTRACT: How second language (L2) learning is achieved in the human brain remains one of the fundamental questions of neuroscience and linguistics. Previous neuroimaging studies with bilinguals have consistently shown overlapping cortical organization of the native language (L1) and L2, leading to a prediction that a common neurobiological marker may be responsible for the development of the two languages. Here, by using functional MRI, we show that later skills to read in L2 are predicted by the activity level of the fusiform-caudate circuit in the left hemisphere, which nonetheless is not predictive of the ability to read in the native language. We scanned 10-y-old children while they performed a lexical decision task on L2 (and L1) stimuli. The subjects' written language (reading) skills were behaviorally assessed twice, the first time just before we performed the fMRI scan (time 1 reading) and the second time 1 y later (time 2 reading). A whole-brain based analysis revealed that activity levels in left caudate and left fusiform gyrus correlated with L2 literacy skills at time 1. After controlling for the effects of time 1 reading and nonverbal IQ, or the effect of in-scanner lexical performance, the development in L2 literacy skills (time 2 reading) was also predicted by activity in left caudate and fusiform regions that are thought to mediate language control functions and resolve competition arising from L1 during L2 learning. Our findings suggest that the activity level of left caudate and fusiform regions serves as an important neurobiological marker for predicting accomplishment in reading skills in a new language.

SUBMITTER: Tan LH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3038767 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Activity levels in the left hemisphere caudate-fusiform circuit predict how well a second language will be learned.

Tan Li Hai LH Chen Lin L Yip Virginia V Chan Alice H D AH Yang Jing J Gao Jia-Hong JH Siok Wai Ting WT

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20110124 6

How second language (L2) learning is achieved in the human brain remains one of the fundamental questions of neuroscience and linguistics. Previous neuroimaging studies with bilinguals have consistently shown overlapping cortical organization of the native language (L1) and L2, leading to a prediction that a common neurobiological marker may be responsible for the development of the two languages. Here, by using functional MRI, we show that later skills to read in L2 are predicted by the activit ...[more]

PMID: 21262807

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Project description:The neural mechanisms underlying recovery of language after left hemisphere stroke remain elusive. Although older evidence suggested that right hemisphere language homologues compensate for damage in left hemisphere language areas, the current prevailing theory suggests that right hemisphere engagement is ineffective or even maladaptive. Using a novel combination of support vector regression-based lesion-symptom mapping and voxel-based morphometry, we aimed to determine whether local grey matter volume in the right hemisphere independently contributes to aphasia outcomes after chronic left hemisphere stroke. Thirty-two left hemisphere stroke survivors with aphasia underwent language assessment with the Western Aphasia Battery-Revised and tests of other cognitive domains. High-resolution T1-weighted images were obtained in aphasia patients and 30 demographically matched healthy controls. Support vector regression-based multivariate lesion-symptom mapping was used to identify critical language areas in the left hemisphere and then to quantify each stroke survivor's lesion burden in these areas. After controlling for these direct effects of the stroke on language, voxel-based morphometry was then used to determine whether local grey matter volumes in the right hemisphere explained additional variance in language outcomes. In brain areas in which grey matter volumes related to language outcomes, we then compared grey matter volumes in patients and healthy controls to assess post-stroke plasticity. Lesion-symptom mapping showed that specific left hemisphere regions related to different language abilities. After controlling for lesion burden in these areas, lesion size, and demographic factors, grey matter volumes in parts of the right temporoparietal cortex positively related to spontaneous speech, naming, and repetition scores. Examining whether domain general cognitive functions might explain these relationships, partial correlations demonstrated that grey matter volumes in these clusters related to verbal working memory capacity, but not other cognitive functions. Further, grey matter volumes in these areas were greater in stroke survivors than healthy control subjects. To confirm this result, 10 chronic left hemisphere stroke survivors with no history of aphasia were identified. Grey matter volumes in right temporoparietal clusters were greater in stroke survivors with aphasia compared to those without history of aphasia. These findings suggest that the grey matter structure of right hemisphere posterior dorsal stream language homologues independently contributes to language production abilities in chronic left hemisphere stroke, and that these areas may undergo hypertrophy after a stroke causing aphasia.

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Activity levels in the left hemisphere caudate-fusiform circuit predict how well a second language will be learned.

Publications

Activity levels in the left hemisphere caudate-fusiform circuit predict how well a second language will be learned.

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