Mei Leilei, Xue Gui, Lu Zhong-Lin, Chen Chuansheng, Zhang Mingxia, He Qinghua, Wei Miao, Dong Qi
Center for Studies of Psychological Application and School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China; Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.
State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
Neuropsychologia. 2014 Dec;65:156-68. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.10.019. Epub 2014 Oct 24.
Learning a new language entails interactions with one׳s prior language(s). Much research has shown how native language affects the cognitive and neural mechanisms of a new language, but little is known about whether and how learning a new language shapes the neural mechanisms of prior language(s). In two experiments in the current study, we used an artificial language training paradigm in combination with an fMRI to examine (1) the effects of different linguistic components (phonology and semantics) of a new language on the neural process of prior languages (i.e., native and second languages), and (2) whether such effects were modulated by the proficiency level in the new language. Results of Experiment 1 showed that when the training in a new language involved semantics (as opposed to only visual forms and phonology), neural activity during word reading in the native language (Chinese) was reduced in several reading-related regions, including the left pars opercularis, pars triangularis, bilateral inferior temporal gyrus, fusiform gyrus, and inferior occipital gyrus. Results of Experiment 2 replicated the results of Experiment 1 and further found that semantic training also affected neural activity during word reading in the subjects׳ second language (English). Furthermore, we found that the effects of the new language were modulated by the subjects׳ proficiency level in the new language. These results provide critical imaging evidence for the influence of learning to read words in a new language on word reading in native and second languages.
学习一门新语言需要与之前掌握的语言进行互动。许多研究表明母语如何影响一门新语言的认知和神经机制，但对于学习一门新语言是否以及如何塑造之前语言的神经机制却知之甚少。在本研究的两个实验中，我们使用了一种人工语言训练范式并结合功能磁共振成像来检验：（1）一门新语言的不同语言成分（语音和语义）对之前语言（即母语和第二语言）神经过程的影响；（2）这些影响是否受到新语言熟练程度的调节。实验1的结果表明，当新语言的训练涉及语义时（与仅涉及视觉形式和语音相对），母语（中文）单词阅读过程中的神经活动在几个与阅读相关的区域有所减少，包括左侧额下回岛盖部、三角部、双侧颞下回、梭状回和枕下回。实验2的结果重复了实验1的结果，并进一步发现语义训练也影响了受试者第二语言（英语）单词阅读过程中的神经活动。此外，我们发现新语言的影响受到受试者在新语言方面熟练程度的调节。这些结果为学习新语言中的单词阅读对母语和第二语言单词阅读的影响提供了关键的影像学证据。
