MRI: Acquisition of a Biosemi Event Related Potentials Active Two Acquisition System to Enhance Research and Training at Texas A&M International University

在重大研究仪器的支持下，Anna B.Cieslicka博士和她的合作者将为德克萨斯州南部的拉美裔服务机构德克萨斯农工大学国际大学(TAMIU)的心理和传播系购买Biosemi脑电/事件相关电位(EEG/ERP)Active Two采集系统。事件相关电位(ERPs)在研究语言表征和加工中起着至关重要的作用，因为它们提供了一个独特的机会来“观察”实时展开的语言加工。该仪器提供了一种非侵入性技术来测量大脑中的电活动，并在时间和空间上定位它。这是通过放置在头顶表面的一组传感器记录下来的。参与研究的研究人员都是双语和双语认知加工研究的积极研究者。提出了五个合作研究项目。项目1将探索西语-英语双语者在处理习语表达的显著意义(非常熟悉的意义)和不显著的意义(不太熟悉的意义)时的大脑半球不对称性(左右大脑半球激活的差异)。由于脑电(EEG)方法的优越性，Pi早期研究的结果将得到更准确的验证。项目2将调查双语者的语码转换，并探索转换方向和语言优势等因素如何影响流利的双语者的理解。该项目的第二个目标将是解决成语的可分解性，即成语作为单个语言单位存储和处理的程度，或通过对其个别成分进行语言和语义分析而组合在一起的程度。总体而言，从项目1和项目2获得的数据将使PI和合作者能够开始一项开创性的研究项目，研究双语比喻理解的电生理关联。项目3将考察效价和唤醒对情绪词心理表征的影响。该项目将解决情感词彼此不同的方式，以及价态(积极与消极)和唤醒(低与高)如何影响这些词在人类记忆中的整体表征。这项工作将对学习不同词类的方法的发展以及通过使用与情绪有关的刺激来辅助记忆改善技术的发展具有重要意义。项目4将进一步探索双语者在母语和非母语中对正价和负价单词加工的差异，并进一步探索个体差异因素(例如，视角选择)对情绪词加工的调节程度。项目5将讨论语言接受者是否依赖世界知识和词汇信息来理解语言陈述的问题。使用单语和双语说话者，它将应用EEG/ERP范式并结合眼球跟踪，来调查双语说话者的大脑反应是否涉及到相似的神经结构来理解两种语言的讽刺陈述。这项研究将进一步了解双语说话者语言理解能力背后的神经回路。由该设备启动的研究和培训计划将促进校内和校外合作，并增加TAMU在校外研究资金和出版方面的竞争力。该仪器将为那些在心理学/神经心理学博士课程中历来代表性不足的学生提供培训和接触主流电生理方法的机会。此外，所需设备将通过推进认知科学和相关领域的众多研究项目来改善大学的研究基础设施，并将通过开设心理学和认知神经科学的新课程来增强几个本科生/研究生班的教育体验。

With Major Research Instrumentation support, Dr. Anna B. Cieslicka and her collaborators will purchase a Biosemi Electroencephalography/Event Related Potentials (EEG/ERP) Active Two Acquisition System for the Psychology and Communication Department at Texas A&M International University (TAMIU), a Hispanic serving institution in South Texas. Event-related potentials (ERPs) have been critical in investigating language representation and processing since they provide a unique opportunity to "watch" language processing as it unfolds in real-time. The instrument provides a noninvasive technique for measuring electrical activity in the brain, localizing it in both time and space. This is recorded through a set of sensors which are placed on the surface of the scalp.The participating researchers are all active researchers in the study of bilingualism and bilingual cognitive processing. Five collaborative research projects are proposed. Project 1 will explore hemispheric asymmetries (differences between the activation of the left and right cerebral hemispheres) in processing salient (highly familiar) and nonsalient (less familiar) meanings of idiomatic expressions by Spanish-English bilinguals. Findings from PI's earlier research will be verified with greater accuracy due to the superiority of the electroencephalography (EEG) methodology. Project 2 will investigate code-switching in bilinguals and explore how the factors of the direction of switching and language dominance affect fluent bilinguals' comprehension. A second goal of this project will be to address idiom decomposability, or the extent to which idioms are stored and processed as single linguistic units or assembled through linguistic and semantic analysis of their individual constituents. Overall, data obtained from Projects 1 and 2 will allow the PI and collaborators to start a pioneering research program into the electrophysiological correlates of bilingual figurative comprehension. Project 3 will examine the effects of valence and arousal on the mental representation of emotion words. The project will address the ways in which emotion words are distinct from each other, and how valence (positive versus negative) and arousal (low versus high) influence the overall representation of these words in human memory. This work will have implications for the development of methods of learning different word classes and also for aiding memory improvement techniques by means of using emotion-related stimuli. Project 4 will further explore differences in the processing of positively and negatively valenced words in bilinguals' native and nonnative languages and will additionally explore the extent to which individual differences factors (e.g., perspective taking) modulate emotional word processing. Project 5 will address the question of whether linguistic perceivers rely on world knowledge and lexical information to comprehend linguistic statements. Using mono- and bilingual speakers, it will apply an EEG/ERP paradigm in combination with eye-tracking, to investigate whether the bilingual speakers' brain responses engage similar neural structures to understand ironic statements in both languages. This research will further understanding of the neural circuitries underlying language comprehension abilities in bilingual speakers.The research and training program enabled by the equipment will foster intramural and extramural collaborations and increase TAMIU's competitiveness for extramural research funding and publishing. The instrumentation will provide training and access to mainstream electrophysiological methodologies to students that are historically underrepresented in psychology/ neuropsychology doctoral programs. In addition, the requested equipment will improve the university's research infrastructure by advancing numerous research programs in the cognitive sciences and related areas, and will enhance the educational experience of several undergraduate/graduate classes by enabling the creation of new courses in psychology and cognitive neuroscience.