Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstraße 1a, Leipzig 04103, Germany.
Research Group Milestones of Early Cognitive Development, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstraße 1a, Leipzig 04103, Germany.
Cereb Cortex. 2023 Apr 25;33(9):5426-5435. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhac430.
Within the first years of life, children learn major aspects of their native language. However, the ability to process complex sentence structures, a core faculty in human language called syntax, emerges only slowly. A milestone in syntax acquisition is reached around the age of 4 years, when children learn a variety of syntactic concepts. Here, we ask which maturational changes in the child's brain underlie the emergence of syntactically complex sentence processing around this critical age. We relate markers of cortical brain maturation to 3- and 4-year-olds' sentence processing in contrast to other language abilities. Our results show that distinct cortical brain areas support sentence processing in the two age groups. Sentence production abilities at 3 years were associated with increased surface area in the most posterior part of the left superior temporal sulcus, whereas 4-year-olds showed an association with cortical thickness in the left posterior part of Broca's area, i.e. BA44. The present findings suggest that sentence processing abilities rely on the maturation of distinct cortical regions in 3- compared to 4-year-olds. The observed shift to more mature regions involved in processing syntactically complex sentences may underlie behavioral milestones in syntax acquisition at around 4 years.
在生命的最初几年，儿童学习母语的主要方面。然而，处理复杂句子结构的能力，即人类语言的核心能力——句法，却发展缓慢。句法习得的一个里程碑是在 4 岁左右，此时儿童学习各种句法概念。在这里，我们想知道儿童大脑的哪些成熟变化是导致大约在这个关键年龄出现句法复杂句子处理的基础。我们将皮质脑成熟的标志物与 3 岁和 4 岁儿童的句子处理与其他语言能力进行了比较。我们的结果表明，不同的皮质脑区域支持两个年龄组的句子处理。3 岁时的句子产生能力与左颞上回最靠后的部分表面积增加有关，而 4 岁时与左布罗卡区后部的皮质厚度有关，即 BA44。本研究结果表明，与 4 岁儿童相比，句子处理能力依赖于不同皮质区域的成熟。观察到的向参与处理句法复杂句子的更成熟区域的转变，可能是 4 岁左右句法习得行为里程碑的基础。
