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

该奖项由2021年美国救援计划法案提供全部或部分资金（公法117-2）。重大研究仪器补助金支持购买最先进的脑电图（EEG）系统（ActiCHamp Plus 64通道有源电极系统，BrainVision LLC），将用于以非常精确的定时精度非侵入性地测量由神经元群体产生的电活动。这种EEG设备的获得将允许加州几个机构的教师之间的跨学科合作，以研究支持双语/多语成人语言和认知过程的神经过程，以及这些过程如何在整个生命周期中响应新的经历或伤害（即，神经可塑性）。跨学科的方法是至关重要的，我们的头脑和大脑中的复杂机制的理解进步，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，认知老化和神经语言学等的观点。新设备将用于培训认知神经科学研究方法和通信神经可塑性研究的多样化学生群体，从而促进基础科学，临床研究和应用环境中的职业生涯。加州州立大学东湾分校是一所为西班牙裔和亚裔美国人服务的机构，吸引了来自不同湾区社区的第一代和少数民族学生，他们在这些领域的代表性历来不足。尽管最近在与经验依赖性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。双语和多语的研究为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切换，以独特的方式参与语言和认知控制系统，塑造语言和认知的神经结构。EEG设备支持的研究活动包括调查与以下各项相关的神经活动：a）成年期第二语言学习和母语调节，B）传统语言的正式教学，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的学习判断，e）老年双语者认知能力的保留，和f）患有失语症的双语者与语言和认知处理相关的各种脑区域的连通性，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、语言能力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如何对儿童和成年期的不同语言体验做出反应。这些项目调查了语言和认知的神经基础，涵盖了整个生命周期中广泛的成年人，包括神经健康和神经损伤的人。EEG使我们能够研究导致不同语言使用者的语言和认知行为特征的在线神经过程，其多样性对于开发语言和认知的通用理论至关重要。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值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.