State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
School of Education, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45219, USA.
Cereb Cortex. 2023 Jun 20;33(13):8352-8367. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhad121.
Numerous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have examined the neural mechanisms of negative emotional words, but scarce evidence is available for the interactions among related brain regions from the functional brain connectivity perspective. Moreover, few studies have addressed the neural networks for negative word processing in bilinguals. To fill this gap, the current study examined the brain networks for processing negative words in the first language (L1) and the second language (L2) with Chinese-English bilinguals. To identify objective indicators associated with negative word processing, we first conducted a coordinate-based meta-analysis on contrasts between negative and neutral words (including 32 contrasts from 1589 participants) using the activation likelihood estimation method. Results showed that the left medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), the left posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), the left amygdala, the left inferior temporal gyrus (ITG), and the left thalamus were involved in processing negative words. Next, these six clusters were used as regions of interest in effective connectivity analyses using extended unified structural equation modeling to pinpoint the brain networks for bilingual negative word processing. Brain network results revealed two pathways for negative word processing in L1: a dorsal pathway consisting of the left IFG, the left mPFC, and the left PCC, and a ventral pathway involving the left amygdala, the left ITG, and the left thalamus. We further investigated the similarity and difference between brain networks for negative word processing in L1 and L2. The findings revealed similarities in the dorsal pathway, as well as differences primarily in the ventral pathway, indicating both neural assimilation and accommodation across processing negative emotion in two languages of bilinguals.
许多功能磁共振成像 (fMRI) 研究都探讨了消极情绪词的神经机制，但从功能脑连接的角度来看，很少有证据表明相关脑区之间的相互作用。此外，很少有研究涉及双语者处理消极词的神经网络。为了填补这一空白，本研究使用中英双语者考察了第一语言 (L1) 和第二语言 (L2) 处理消极词的大脑网络。为了确定与消极词处理相关的客观指标，我们首先使用激活似然估计方法对消极词与中性词的对比进行了基于坐标的荟萃分析 (包括来自 1589 名参与者的 32 个对比)。结果表明，左内侧前额叶皮层 (mPFC)、左额下回 (IFG)、左后扣带回皮层 (PCC)、左杏仁核、左颞下回 (ITG) 和左丘脑参与了消极词的处理。接下来，我们使用扩展的统一结构方程模型，将这六个簇作为有效连接分析的感兴趣区域，以确定双语消极词处理的大脑网络。大脑网络结果显示了 L1 中消极词处理的两条通路：一条由左 IFG、左 mPFC 和左 PCC 组成的背侧通路，以及一条涉及左杏仁核、左 ITG 和左丘脑的腹侧通路。我们进一步研究了 L1 和 L2 中消极词处理的大脑网络之间的相似性和差异。研究结果表明，背侧通路存在相似性，而腹侧通路主要存在差异，这表明双语者在两种语言中处理消极情绪时存在神经同化和适应。
