Learning language with the wrong neural scaffolding: the cost of neural commitment to sounds
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Finn-2013-Learning language wi.pdf
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Author(s)
Hudson Kam, Carla L.
Ettlinger, Marc
Vytlacil, Jason
D'Esposito, Mark
Finn, Amy Sue
Date Issued
November 2013
Journal
Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience
Publisher
Frontiers Research Foundation
Citation
Finn, Amy S., Carla L. Hudson Kam, Marc Ettlinger, Jason Vytlacil, and Mark D Esposito. “Learning language with the wrong neural scaffolding: the cost of neural commitment to sounds.” Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience 7 (2013).
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Does tuning to one's native language explain the “sensitive period” for language learning? We explore the idea that tuning to (or becoming more selective for) the properties of one's native-language could result in being less open (or plastic) for tuning to the properties of a new language. To explore how this might lead to the sensitive period for grammar learning, we ask if tuning to an earlier-learned aspect of language (sound structure) has an impact on the neural representation of a later-learned aspect (grammar). English-speaking adults learned one of two miniature artificial languages (MALs) over 4 days in the lab. Compared to English, both languages had novel grammar, but only one was comprised of novel sounds. After learning a language, participants were scanned while judging the grammaticality of sentences. Judgments were performed for the newly learned language and English. Learners of the similar-sounds language recruited regions that overlapped more with English. Learners of the distinct-sounds language, however, recruited the Superior Temporal Gyrus (STG) to a greater extent, which was coactive with the Inferior Frontal Gyrus (IFG). Across learners, recruitment of IFG (but not STG) predicted both learning success in tests conducted prior to the scan and grammatical judgment ability during the scan. Data suggest that adults' difficulty learning language, especially grammar, could be due, at least in part, to the neural commitments they have made to the lower level linguistic components of their native language.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT
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Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2013.00085
