Neural activity changes by language learning: An MEG study

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Neural activity changes by language learning: An MEG study Qiang Wei1*, Aya Ihara1, Norio FujiMaki1, Tomoe Hayakawa2 and Tsutomu Murata1 1 National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Japan 2 Teikyo University, Japan To investigate neural activity changes by language learning, we performed a priming experiment for native speakers of Japanese (n=10) and those of Chinese who were learning Japanese as a second language [high level learners (n=10), low level learners (n=14)]. All targets were kanji words that were used in both of Japanese and Chinese languages. The primes were kanji words which were phonologically the same (SAME) as or different (DIFF) from the targets in Japanese, but not in Chinese, or nonwords which were written in pseudo-characters (PSEUD). We recorded brain responses during silent reading of word pairs by using a 148-channel whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG) system. Native speakers and high level learners showed that neural activities became weaker for the SAME conditions than for the other conditions by the phonological repetition in the left posterior superior temporal and inferior parietal area (pST/IP) at the time window of 400-600 ms, at 450-500 ms in the right pST/IP for native speakers. On the other hand, low level learners showed the phonological repetition effect only in the right pST/IP at 500-600 ms. In all subject groups, the activity were larger for the DIFF condition than for the SAME in the left and right anterior temporal areas (aT) at 350-400 ms, and was larger for the SAME condition than for the DIFF in the left inferior frontal cortex (LIFC) at 450-500 ms. In addition, the difference in the LIFC activity between the SAME and DIFF conditions was larger for native speakers than for high and low level learners. Our previously report suggested that the aT and LIFC play important roles for semantic processing [1]. The present findings suggest that brain activation patterns in the pST/IP were varied by language proficiency, and that activities in LIFC indicate subtle foreign language learning effects on semantic processing via phonological mediation.