Syntactic processing in bilinguals: An fNIRS study

The study of the neural basis of syntactic processing has greatly benefited from neuroimaging techniques. Research on syntactic processing in bilinguals has used a variety of techniques, including mainly functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and event-related potentials (ERP). This paper repo...

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Published inBrain and language Vol. 121; no. 2; pp. 144 - 151
Main Authors Scherer, Lilian Cristine, Fonseca, Rochele Paz, Amiri, Mahnoush, Adrover-Roig, Daniel, Marcotte, Karine, Giroux, Francine, Senhadji, Noureddine, Benali, Habib, Lesage, Frédéric, Ansaldo, Ana Inés
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Netherlands Elsevier Inc 01.05.2012
Elsevier
Subjects
Adult
Bilingualism
Brain - physiology
Brain Hemisphere Functions
Brain Mapping - methods
Diagnostic Tests
Evidence
Evoked Potentials - physiology
Female
French
Functional near-infrared spectroscopy
Humans
Language Processing
Language Proficiency
Male
Multilingualism
Native Language
Native Speakers
Nouns
Portuguese
Second Language Learning
Spectroscopy
Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared
Speech Perception - physiology
Syntax
Verbal agreement
Verbs
Young Adults
Bilingualism
Verbal agreement
Syntax
Functional near-infrared spectroscopy
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Summary:The study of the neural basis of syntactic processing has greatly benefited from neuroimaging techniques. Research on syntactic processing in bilinguals has used a variety of techniques, including mainly functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and event-related potentials (ERP). This paper reports on a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) study on syntactic processing in highly proficient young adult speakers of Portuguese (mother tongue) (L1) and French (second language) (L2). They made a syntactic judgment of visually presented sentences, which either did or did not contain noun–verb agreement violations. The results showed that syntactic processing in both languages resulted in significant activation in anterior frontal regions of the left hemisphere and in the temporal superior posterior areas of the right hemisphere, with a more prominent activation for L2 in some areas. These findings corroborate previously reported neuroimaging evidence, showing the suitability of fNIRS for the study of syntactic processing in the bilingual brain.
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ISSN:0093-934X
1090-2155
DOI:10.1016/j.bandl.2011.09.009