Intrinsic Functional Connectivity in the Adult Brain and Success in Second-Language Learning

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
Xiaoqian J ChaiDenise Klein

Abstract

There is considerable variability in an individual's ability to acquire a second language (L2) during adulthood. Using resting-state fMRI data acquired before training in English speakers who underwent a 12 week intensive French immersion training course, we investigated whether individual differences in intrinsic resting-state functional connectivity relate to a person's ability to acquire an L2. We focused on two key aspects of language processing--lexical retrieval in spontaneous speech and reading speed--and computed whole-brain functional connectivity from two regions of interest in the language network, namely the left anterior insula/frontal operculum (AI/FO) and the visual word form area (VWFA). Connectivity between the left AI/FO and left posterior superior temporal gyrus (STG) and between the left AI/FO and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex correlated positively with improvement in L2 lexical retrieval in spontaneous speech. Connectivity between the VWFA and left mid-STG correlated positively with improvement in L2 reading speed. These findings are consistent with the different language functions subserved by subcomponents of the language network and suggest that the human capacity to learn an L2 can be predicted by an...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jul 6, 2016·Frontiers in Human Neuroscience·Kayako Yamamoto, Kuniyoshi L Sakai
May 26, 2020·Human Brain Mapping·Dardo Tomasi, Nora D Volkow
Oct 16, 2018·Frontiers in Psychology·Jurriaan WittemanNiels O Schiller
Sep 8, 2017·Frontiers in Human Neuroscience·Jing QuLeilei Mei
Oct 6, 2020·Frontiers in Psychology·Susan Teubner-Rhodes
Oct 11, 2017·Frontiers in Psychology·Psyche LouiEmily Przysinda
Jun 13, 2017·NeuroImage·Arian AshourvanDanielle S Bassett
Jun 14, 2021·NeuroImage·Antonello BaldassarreGiorgia Committeri
Jul 11, 2021·Nature Communications·Danyal AkarcaDuncan E Astle
Jul 27, 2021·Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·Zahra JafariMajid H Mohajerani
Oct 5, 2021·Cerebral Cortex·Kaija SanderDenise Klein
May 4, 2018·Brain and Language·Visar BerishaCorianne Rogalsky

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