Stronger Activation in Widely Distributed Regions May not Compensate for an Ineffectively Connected Neural Network When Reading a Second Language

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Even though how bilinguals process the second language (L2) still remain disputable, it is agreed that L2 processing involve more brain areas and activate common regions more strongly. It interested us to probe why heavier manipulation of cortical regions did not guarantee a high language proficiency. Since the responses of individual brain regions were inadequate to explain how the brain enabled behavior, we sought to explore this question at the neural network prospect via the Psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis. We found that Chinese English bilinguals adopted the assimilation/accommodation strategy to read L2, and English activated common brain areas more strongly. However, the whole brain voxel-wise analysis of effective connectivity showed that these brain areas formed a less synchronized network, which may indicate an ineffective neural network of L2. Our findings provided a possible explanation why the proficiency level of L2 was always lower than L1, and suggested that future fMRI studies may better explore language issues by depicting functional connectivity efficacy.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationBrain Informatics - International Conference, BI 2017, Proceedings
EditorsYi Zeng, Bo Xu, Maryann Martone, Yong He, Hanchuan Peng, Qingming Luo, Jeanette Hellgren Kotaleski
PublisherSpringer Verlag
Pages95-106
Number of pages12
ISBN (Print)9783319707716
DOIs
StatePublished - 2017
EventInternational Conference on Brain Informatics, BI 2017 - Beijing, China
Duration: 16 Nov 201718 Nov 2017

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume10654 LNAI
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

ConferenceInternational Conference on Brain Informatics, BI 2017
Country/TerritoryChina
CityBeijing
Period16/11/1718/11/17

Keywords

  • Chinese English bilinguals
  • FMRI
  • Functional connectivity
  • Neural modulation effect
  • Psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Stronger Activation in Widely Distributed Regions May not Compensate for an Ineffectively Connected Neural Network When Reading a Second Language'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this