Bilingualism alters children's frontal lobe functioning for attentional control.
Bilingualism alters children's frontal lobe functioning for attentional control.
复制标题
DOI：
10.1111/desc.12377
复制
发表时间：
2017-05
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Kovelman I
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Arredondo MM;Hu XS;Satterfield T;Kovelman I
双语是一种典型的语言体验，但人们对其对儿童认知和大脑发育的影响知之甚少。双语理论表明，早期双语习得可以提高儿童的认知能力，特别是那些依赖额叶功能的认知能力。虽然行为学研究结果提供了许多相互矛盾的证据，但人们对其对儿童额叶发育的影响知之甚少。使用功能性近红外光谱（fNIRS），研究结果表明，在非语言注意力控制任务中，西班牙语-英语双语儿童（n=13, 7-13岁）的左前额叶皮层比同龄英语单语儿童更活跃。相比之下，单语者（n=14）表现出比双语者更大的右前额叶激活。目前的研究结果表明，早期双语对儿童前额叶皮层的注意控制功能组织产生了重大变化，并对理解早期生活经历如何影响认知和大脑发育具有重要意义。
Bilingualism is a typical linguistic experience, yet relatively little is known about its impact on children's cognitive and brain development. Theories of bilingualism suggest early dual-language acquisition can improve children's cognitive abilities, specifically those relying on frontal lobe functioning. While behavioral findings present much conflicting evidence, little is known about its effects on children's frontal lobe development. Using functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS), the findings suggest that Spanish-English bilingual children (n=13, ages 7-13) had greater activation in left prefrontal cortex during a non-verbal attentional control task relative to age-matched English monolinguals. In contrast, monolinguals (n=14) showed greater right prefrontal activation than bilinguals. The present findings suggest early bilingualism yields significant changes to the functional organization of children's prefrontal cortex for attentional control and carry implications for understanding how early life experiences impact cognition and brain development.