Cerebral organization of language in the mother tongue and second languages

我们的研究利用魁北克的语言环境来观察母语和第二语言中涉及语言处理不同方面的大脑区域。我们使用了几种调查方法(行为研究和脑功能和解剖成像技术)，并研究了右撇子、单语和双语志愿者，以探索在童年时期学习一项特定技能如何决定成人大脑的功能组织。我们的总体目标是了解大脑区域的网络，这些区域在我们的母语和随后学习的语言中调节声音代码、意义和语法的处理。这项计划中的研究试图确定在第二语言习得过程中，新的或扩大的大脑皮层区域被招募到什么程度。通过研究成年人大脑语言系统的组织结构，这些成年人经历了不同和特定的语言体验变化，这一方法应该会揭示调节语言的神经系统，并揭示关于语言习得的“关键期”的争论。这些实验的结果也应该使我们能够为靠近重要语言区域的大脑受损的个人设计更合适的干预策略。

Our studies take advantage of the linguistic environment of Quebec to look at the brain regions involved in different aspects of language processing in the mother tongue and second languages. We use several methods of investigation (behavioural studies and functional and anatomical brain imaging techniques) and study right-handed monolingual and bilingual volunteers, to explore how learning a specific skill during childhood may determine the functional organization of the adult brain. Our overall goal is to understand the network of brain regions that mediate processing of the sound code, meaning and grammar in our mother tongue and in subsequently learned languages. The research planned seeks to establish to what extent new or expanded cortical regions are recruited during second language acquisition. By studying the organization of the language systems of the brain in adults who have had different and specific alterations of language experience, this approach should reveal neural systems that mediate language and throws light on the debate about 'critical periods' in language acquisition. The outcome of these experiments should also enable us to design more appropriate intervention strategies for individuals who have suffered brain damage close to important language areas.