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Cross-linguistic influence on brain activation during second language processing: An fMRI study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2007

HYEONJEONG JEONG ,
MOTOAKI SUGIURA ,
YUKO SASSA ,
SATORU YOKOYAMA ,
KAORU HORIE ,
SHIGERU SATO ,
MASATO TAIRA  and
RYUTA KAWASHIMA
HYEONJEONG JEONG
Affiliation:
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Tokyo & Department of Functional Brain Imaging, IDAC, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
MOTOAKI SUGIURA
Affiliation:
Department of Functional Brain Imaging, IDAC, Tohoku University, Sendai & Department of Cerebral Research, NIPS, Okazaki, Japan
YUKO SASSA
Affiliation:
Department of Functional Brain Imaging, IDAC, Tohoku University, Sendai & RISTEX, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Tokyo, Japan
SATORU YOKOYAMA
Affiliation:
Department of Functional Brain Imaging, IDAC, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
KAORU HORIE
Affiliation:
Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
SHIGERU SATO
Affiliation:
Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
MASATO TAIRA
Affiliation:
ARISH & Division of Applied System Neuroscience, Graduate School of Medical Science, Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan
RYUTA KAWASHIMA
Affiliation:
Department of Functional Brain Imaging, IDAC, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
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Abstract

The goal of this study was to examine the effect of the linguistic distance between a first language (L1) and a second language (L2) on neural activity during second language relative to first language processing. We compared different L1–L2 pairs in which different linguistic features characterize linguistic distance. Chinese and Korean native speakers were instructed to perform sentence comprehension tasks in two L2s (English and Japanese) and their respective L1s. Activation while understanding English sentences relative to understanding sentences in L1 was greater for the Korean group than the Chinese group in the left inferior frontal gyrus, bilateral posterior superior temporal gyri, and right cerebellum. Activation while understanding Japanese sentences relative to understanding sentences in L1 was greater for the Chinese group than the Korean group in the anterior portion of the left superior temporal gyrus. The results demonstrated that the location of the L2–L1 processing-induced cortical activation varies between different L1–L2 pairs.

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Footnotes

This research was supported in part by the grant promoting multidisciplinary research projects “Brain Mechanisms for Cognition, Memory and Behavior” at Nihon University from the MEXT, JST/RISTEX, R&D promotion scheme for regional proposals promoted by TAO, a Grant-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas (C): Advanced Brain Science Project from MEXT, and the Tohoku University 21st Century COE Program in Humanities (MEXT). We are grateful for the extremely helpful comments of the editor of Bilingualism David Green and three anonymous reviewers. We also would like to thank a team of researchers who contributed to the research reported in this article: Tomoki Haji, Naho Ikuta, Kazuki Iwata, Qingmei Lee, Nobuo Usui, and Jobu Watanabe.