MRI: Acquisition of Electroencephalography Equipment for the Study of the Neuroplasticity of Language and Cognitive Processes in Bilingualism and Multilingualism

该奖项的全部或部分资金来自《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公共法律第117-2号)。重大研究仪器拨款支持购买最先进的脑电系统(ActiCHamp Plus通道主动电极系统，BrainVision LLC)，该系统将用于以非常精确的时间精度非侵入性测量神经元群体产生的电活动。购买这种脑电设备将允许加州多个机构的教职员工开展跨学科合作，研究支持双语/多语种成年人语言和认知过程的神经过程，以及这些过程如何在一生中随着新的经历或损伤(即神经可塑性)的变化而变化。跨学科方法对于提高我们对大脑和大脑中复杂机制的理解至关重要，因为这些过程的复杂性需要从发展科学、认知科学、语言科学、认知衰老和神经语言学等角度来看待。新设备将用于培训不同的学生群体，学习认知神经科学的研究方法和交流的神经可塑性，从而促进在基础科学、临床研究和应用环境中的职业机会。加州州立大学东湾分校是一所服务于拉美裔和亚裔美国人和太平洋岛民的机构，吸引了旧金山湾区多样化社区的第一代和少数族裔学生，他们在这些领域的代表性一直较低。尽管最近在与经验相关的大脑可塑性相关的基本神经变化方面取得了进展，但我们对与语言和认知功能相关的结构和功能神经可塑性的理解仍然有限。对双语和多种语言的研究为了解这些过程提供了一个独特的窗口；管理两种语言系统并在它们之间灵活地切换，以独特的方式接触语言和认知控制系统，塑造语言和认知的神经结构。脑电设备支持的研究活动包括调查与a)成年后第二语言学习和对母语的调节有关的神经活动，b)用传统语言进行正式教学，c)密集双语社区的语言混合实践，d)左右大脑半球参与双语者对学习的判断，e)双语者认知能力的保持，以及f)双语者与语言和认知处理相关的不同脑区的连通性，失语症是一种由神经损伤引起的语言障碍。此外，通过调查双语者在第二语言习得年龄、语言熟练程度和语言使用模式等因素上的个体差异，研究人员可以探索大脑对儿童和成年期间不同语言经历的反应。这些项目调查了广泛的成年人一生中语言和认知的神经基础，包括神经学健康的人和有神经损伤的人。EEG使我们能够研究导致不同语言用户语言和认知行为特征的在线神经过程，其多样性对于开发可概括的语言和认知理论至关重要。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).The Major Research Instrumentation grant supports the acquisition of a state-of-the-art electroencephalography (EEG) system (ActiCHamp Plus 64-channel active electrode system, BrainVision LLC) that will be used to non-invasively measure electrical activity generated by populations of neurons with very precise timing accuracy. The acquisition of this EEG equipment will permit cross-disciplinary collaborations among faculty at several institutions throughout California to study the neural processes that support language and cognitive processes in bi-/multilingual adults, and how these processes change across the lifespan in response to new experiences or injury (i.e., neuroplasticity). Interdisciplinary approaches are critical to the advancement of our understanding of the complex mechanisms in the mind and brain because the complexity of these processes requires perspectives from developmental science, cognitive science, language science, cognitive aging, and neurolinguistics, among others. The new equipment will be used to train a diverse student population in cognitive neuroscience research methods and the study of the neuroplasticity of communication, thereby promoting access to careers in basic science, clinical research, and applied settings. California State University East Bay is a Hispanic-Serving and Asian American & Pacific Islander-Serving Institution, drawing first-generation and minority students from the diverse Bay Area community who are historically underrepresented in these fields.Despite recent advances in the basic neural changes associated with experience-dependent brain plasticity, our understanding of the structural and functional neural plasticity associated with language and cognitive functioning across the lifespan, and in response to injury, is still limited. The study of bilingualism and multilingualism provides a unique window into these processes; managing two language systems and flexibly switching between them engages the linguistic and cognitive control systems in unique ways, shaping the neural structures that underlie language and cognition. Research activities enabled by the EEG equipment include investigating neural activity associated with a) second language learning in adulthood and the regulation of the native language, b) formal instruction in a heritage language, c) language mixing practices in dense bilingual communities, d) the involvement of the left and right cerebral hemispheres in bilinguals’ judgments of learning, e) the preservation of cognitive abilities in aging bilinguals, and f) the connectivity of various brain regions associated with language and cognitive processing in bilinguals with aphasia, a language disorder resulting from neurological damage. Moreover, by investigating individual differences among bilinguals in factors such as age of second-language acquisition, language proficiency, and language use patterns, the researchers can explore how the brain responds to diverse language experiences in childhood and adulthood. These projects investigate the neural underpinnings of language and cognition across a broad spectrum of adults across the lifespan, both neurologically healthy and those with neurological damage. EEG allows us to study the online neural processes that lead to the language and cognitive behaviors characteristic of different language users, whose diversity is critical for developing generalizable theories of language and cognition.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.