He Yan, Hu Yinying
College of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.
Institute of Brain and Education Innovation, East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai 200062, China.
Brain Sci. 2022 Feb 16;12(2):273. doi: 10.3390/brainsci12020273.
Recent neuroimaging research has suggested that interpreters and non-interpreters elicit different brain activation patterns during simultaneous language translation. However, whether these two groups have different functional connectivity during such a task, and how the neural coupling is among brain subregions, are still not well understood. In this study, we recruited Mandarin (L1)/English (L2) interpreters and non-interpreter bilinguals, whom we asked to perform simultaneous language translation and reading tasks. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to collect cortical brain data for participants during each task, using 68 channels that covered the prefrontal cortex and the bilateral perisylvian regions. Our findings revealed both interpreter and non-interpreter groups recruited the right dorsolateral prefrontal hub when completing the simultaneous language translation tasks. We also found different functional connectivity between the groups. The interpreter group was characterized by information exchange between the frontal cortex and Wernicke's area. In comparison, the non-interpreter group revealed neural coupling between the frontal cortex and Broca's area. These findings indicate expertise modulates functional connectivity, possibly because of more developed cognitive skills associated with executive functions in interpreters.
近期的神经影像学研究表明，口译员和非口译员在同声传译过程中会引发不同的大脑激活模式。然而，这两组人在执行此类任务时是否具有不同的功能连接，以及大脑各子区域之间的神经耦合情况如何，目前仍未得到充分了解。在本研究中，我们招募了普通话（第一语言）/英语（第二语言）口译员和非口译员双语者，要求他们执行同声传译和阅读任务。在每个任务期间，使用功能近红外光谱技术（fNIRS）通过覆盖前额叶皮层和双侧颞叶周围区域的68个通道为参与者收集大脑皮层数据。我们的研究结果显示，口译员组和非口译员组在完成同声传译任务时均激活了右侧背外侧前额叶枢纽。我们还发现两组之间存在不同的功能连接。口译员组的特征是额叶皮层与韦尼克区之间存在信息交换。相比之下，非口译员组显示出额叶皮层与布洛卡区之间的神经耦合。这些发现表明专业技能会调节功能连接，这可能是因为口译员具备与执行功能相关的更发达的认知技能。
