Brain and Language Lab, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
Faculty of Translation and Interpreting, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
Neuroimage. 2015 Jul 1;114:264-74. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.03.072. Epub 2015 Apr 11.
We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to longitudinally examine brain plasticity arising from long-term, intensive simultaneous interpretation training. Simultaneous interpretation is a bilingual task with heavy executive control demands. We compared brain responses observed during simultaneous interpretation with those observed during simultaneous speech repetition (shadowing) in a group of trainee simultaneous interpreters, at the beginning and at the end of their professional training program. Age, sex and language-proficiency matched controls were scanned at similar intervals. Using multivariate pattern classification, we found distributed patterns of changes in functional responses from the first to second scan that distinguished the interpreters from the controls. We also found reduced recruitment of the right caudate nucleus during simultaneous interpretation as a result of training. Such practice-related change is consistent with decreased demands on multilingual language control as the task becomes more automatized with practice. These results demonstrate the impact of simultaneous interpretation training on the brain functional response in a cerebral structure that is not specifically linguistic, but that is known to be involved in learning, in motor control, and in a variety of domain-general executive functions. Along with results of recent studies showing functional and structural adaptations in the caudate nuclei of experts in a broad range of domains, our results underline the importance of this structure as a central node in expertise-related networks.
我们使用功能磁共振成像（fMRI）来纵向研究长期、密集的同声传译训练所产生的大脑可塑性。同声传译是一项双语任务，需要大量的执行控制。我们比较了一组受训同声传译员在专业培训计划开始和结束时进行同声传译和同声复述（影子跟读）时的大脑反应。在类似的时间间隔内，对年龄、性别和语言能力匹配的对照组进行了扫描。使用多元模式分类，我们发现从第一次扫描到第二次扫描，功能反应的变化存在分布式模式，这些模式可以将口译员与对照组区分开来。我们还发现，由于训练，右尾状核在同声传译期间的募集减少。这种与实践相关的变化与随着任务变得更加自动化，对多语言语言控制的需求减少是一致的。这些结果表明，同声传译训练对口译员大脑功能反应的影响，而大脑结构不仅与语言有关，而且与学习、运动控制以及各种领域一般的执行功能有关。结合最近的研究结果，这些结果显示了在广泛领域的专家的尾状核中的功能和结构适应，强调了该结构作为与专业知识相关的网络中的核心节点的重要性。
