Multimodal measures of the interaction between cognition and language experience

语言经验是影响神经认知的重要因素；然而，与语言经验相关的认知和神经可塑性变化的基本过程的问题在很大程度上仍未得到解答。拟议的研究将采用综合的多模态认知神经科学方法来解决有关语言经验对大脑和行为认知的影响的问题。语言体验将以连续和多方面的方式进行测量（例如，第二语言学习的年龄，自我报告的语言使用模式，熟练程度的客观测量），并与语言和非语言领域中不同执行功能过程的行为测量相关（例如，心理集转移，工作记忆的更新和监测，以及抑制）。行为分析的结果将为后续研究提供信息，这些研究将使用脑电图（EEG）和磁共振成像（MRI）来检查语言经验对大脑功能和结构的影响。执行功能任务将在记录脑电活动（即脑电图）和核磁共振扫描期间执行。通过结合这两种方法，将获得有关神经过程的时间和涉及任务执行的特定大脑区域的信息。此外，对大脑结构和休息时大脑活动（即任务独立活动）的测量将确定大脑的解剖差异和大脑内在连接的差异，这些差异可能与不同的语言体验有关。将进行的一系列实验将进一步加深我们对语言体验因素的理解，这些因素在塑造大脑和行为方面很重要，并开始解决有关这些变化机制的问题。鉴于双语和多语的普遍存在，理解语言经验如何影响认知和大脑过程是必不可少的。目前的研究采用多方法方法和综合实验范式，其结果将对当前关于语言经验对认知和大脑可塑性影响的基本过程的认识做出重大贡献。这项拟议的研究将为未来的研究提供基础和框架，以检验语言经验对早期大脑发育、语言和认知处理的影响，包括不同语言和不同人群的影响。

Language experience is an important factor that influences neurocognition; however, questions about the fundamental processes underlying the cognitive and neuroplastic changes that are related to language-experience remain largely unanswered. The proposed research will take a comprehensive multimodal cognitive neuroscience approach to address questions about the influence(s) of language experience on cognition in terms of the brain and behaviour. Language experience will be measured in a continuous and multifaceted way (e.g., age of second language learning, self-reported language usage patterns, objective measures of proficiency) and related to behavioural measures of different executive function processes (i.e., mental set shifting, updating and monitoring of working memory, and inhibition) in both the verbal and the non-verbal domains. The results of the behavioural analysis will inform subsequent studies that will examine the influence of language experience on brain function and structure using electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Executive function tasks will be performed while electrical brain activity (i.e., EEG) is recorded and during MRI scanning. By combining these two methods, information about both the timing of neural processes and the specific brain regions implicated in task performance will be obtained. Additionally, measures of brain structure and brain activity at rest (i.e., task-independent activity) will identify anatomical differences in the brain and differences in intrinsic brain connectivity that may be associated with different language experiences. The series of experiments that will be undertaken will further our understanding of the language experience factors that are important in shaping the brain and behaviour and start to address questions about the mechanism(s) of these changes. Given the ubiquity of bi- and multi-lingualism, understanding how language experience influences cognition and brain processes is essential. The results from the current research that uses a multi-method approach and comprehensive experimental paradigms will yield results that make significant contributions to current knowledge of the fundamental processes underlying language experience-related effects on cognition and brain plasticity. The proposed research will provide the foundations and framework for future research that examines the effects of language experience on early brain development, language and cognitive processing, including across different languages and in diverse populations.