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高教社外语近期推出“TOP 10 Hottest Articles”系列，主要是针对外语领域的SSCI来源检索期刊，每期选择一种期刊，列出最热门的10篇学术论文(数据来源于Science Direct及Taylor & Francis等数据库)，包括摘要和关键词，部分文章全文可通过文末“阅读原文”链接下载。欢迎各位外语教师、外语研究者及外语学习者订阅'高教社外语'微信公众号并持续关注。本期为您送上TOP 10 Hottest Articles of Brain and Language in 2014. 1. Age of language learning shapes brain structure: A cortical thickness study of bilingual and monolingual individuals Brain and Language, Volume 131, April 2014, Pages 20–24 Klein, Denise; Mok, Kelvin; Chen, Jen-Kai; Watkins, Kate E. Abstract: We examined the effects of learning a second language (L2) on brain structure. Cortical thickness was measured in the MRI datasets of 22 monolinguals and 66 bilinguals. Some bilingual subjects had learned both languages simultaneously (0–3 years) while some had learned their L2 after achieving proficiency in their first language during either early (4–7 years) or late childhood (8–13 years). Later acquisition of L2 was associated with significantly thicker cortex in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and thinner cortex in the right IFG. These effects were seen in the group comparisons of monolinguals, simultaneous bilinguals and early and late bilinguals. Within the bilingual group, significant correlations between age of acquisition of L2 and cortical thickness were seen in the same regions: cortical thickness correlated with age of acquisition positively in the left IFG and negatively in the right IFG. Interestingly, the monolinguals and simultaneous bilinguals did not differ in cortical thickness in any region. Our results show that learning a second language after gaining proficiency in the first language modifies brain structure in an age-dependent manner whereas simultaneous acquisition of two languages has no additional effect on brain development. Keywords Anatomical brain imaging; Cortical thickness; Bilingualism; Second-language acquisition; Brain plasticity; Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) 2. The cerebellum: Its role in language and related cognitive and affective functions Brain and Language, Volume 127, Issue 3, December 2013, Pages 334–342 De Smet, Hyo Jung; Paquier, Philippe; Verhoeven, Jo; Mari?n, Peter Abstract: The traditional view on the cerebellum as the sole coordinator of motor function has been substantially redefined during the past decades. Neuroanatomical, neuroimaging and clinical studies have extended the role of the cerebellum to the modulation of cognitive and affective processing. Neuroanatomical studies have demonstrated cerebellar connectivity with the supratentorial association areas involved in higher cognitive and affective functioning, while functional neuroimaging and clinical studies have provided evidence of cerebellar involvement in a variety of cognitive and affective tasks. This paper reviews the recently acknowledged role of the cerebellum in linguistic and related cognitive and behavioral–affective functions. In addition, typical cerebellar syndromes such as the cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome (CCAS) and the posterior fossa syndrome (PFS) will be briefly discussed and the current hypotheses dealing with the presumed neurobiological mechanisms underlying the linguistic, cognitive and affective modulatory role of the cerebellum will be reviewed. Keywords Review; Cerebellum; Language; Behavior; Affective regulation 3. Language switching in the bilingual brain: What's next? Brain and Language, Volume 109, Issue 2-3, May–June 2009, Pages 133-140 Hernandez, Arturo E. Abstract: Recent work using functional neuroimaging with early bilinguals has found little evidence for separate neural systems for each language during picture naming (Hernandez, A. E., Dapretto, M., Mazziotta, J., & Bookheimer, S. (2001). Language switching and language representation in Spanish–English bilinguals: An fMRI study. Neuroimage, 14, 510–520). However, switching between languages in early bilinguals during picture naming shows increased activity in the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC) suggesting the importance of maintaining goal related information in order to bias subsequent response selection (Braver, T. S., Barch, D. M., Kelley, W. M., Buckner, R. L., Cohen, N. J., Miezin, F. M., et al. (2001). Direct comparison of prefrontal cortex regions engaged by working and long-term memory tasks. Neuroimage, 14, 48–59; Cohen, J. D., Braver, T. S., & O’Reilly, R. C. (1996). A computational approach to prefrontal cortex, cognitive control and schizophrenia: Recent developments and current challenges. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences, 351, 1515–1527; O’Reilly, R. C., Braver, T. S., & Cohen, J. D. (1999). A biologically based computational model of working memory. In E. Akira Miyake, E. Priti Shah & et al. (Eds.), Models of working memory: Mechanisms of active maintenance and executive control. (pp. 375–411): New York, NY, Keywords Cognitive neuroscience; Language; Bilingualism 4. Mirror neurons and the evolution of language Brain and Language, Volume 112, Issue 1, January 2010, Pages 25-35 Corballis, Michael C. Abstract: The mirror system provided a natural platform for the subsequent evolution of language. In nonhuman primates, the system provides for the understanding of biological action, and possibly for imitation, both prerequisites for language. I argue that language evolved from manual gestures, initially as a system of pantomime, but with gestures gradually “conventionalizing” to assume more symbolic form. The evolution of episodic memory and mental time travel, probably beginning with the genus Homo during the Pleistocene, created pressure for the system to “grammaticalize,” involving the increased vocabulary necessary to refer to episodes separated in time and place from the present, constructions such as tense to refer to time itself, and the generativity to construct future (and fictional) episodes. In parallel with grammaticalization, the language medium gradually incorporated facial and then vocal elements, culminating in autonomous speech (albeit accompanied still by manual gesture) in our own species, Homo sapiens. Keywords Mirror neurons; Language; Speech; Evolution; Gesture 5. Language or music, mother or Mozart? Structural and environmental influences on infants' language networks Brain and Language, Volume 114, Issue 2, August 2010, Pages 53-65 Dehaene-Lambertz, G.; Montavont, A.; Jobert, A.; Allirol, L.; Dubois, J.; Hertz-Pannier, L.; Dehaene, S. Abstract: Understanding how language emerged in our species calls for a detailed investigation of the initial specialization of the human brain for speech processing. Our earlier research demonstrated that an adult-like left-lateralized network of perisylvian areas is already active when infants listen to sentences in their native language, but did not address the issue of the specialization of this network for speech processing. Here we used fMRI to study the organization of brain activity in two-month-old infants when listening to speech or to music. We also explored how infants react to their mother’s voice relative to an unknown voice. The results indicate that the well-known structural asymmetry already present in the infants’ posterior temporal areas has a functional counterpart: there is a left-hemisphere advantage for speech relative to music at the level of the planum temporale. The posterior temporal regions are thus differently sensitive to the auditory environment very early on, channelling speech inputs preferentially to the left side. Furthermore, when listening to the mother’s voice, activation was modulated in several areas, including areas involved in emotional processing (amygdala, orbito-frontal cortex), but also, crucially, a large extent of the left posterior temporal lobe, suggesting that the mother’s voice plays a special role in the early shaping of posterior language areas. Both results underscore the joint contributions of genetic constraints and environmental inputs in the fast emergence of an efficient cortical network for language processing in humans. Keywords fMRI; Brain; Infant; Language acquisition; Lateralization; Social; Music 6. The cortical organization of lexical knowledge: A dual lexicon model of spoken language processing Brain and Language, Volume 121, Issue 3, June 2012, Pages 273-288 Gow, David W. Abstract: Current accounts of spoken language assume the existence of a lexicon where wordforms are stored and interact during spoken language perception, understanding and production. Despite the theoretical importance of the wordform lexicon, the exact localization and function of the lexicon in the broader context of language use is not well understood. This review draws on evidence from aphasia, functional imaging, neuroanatomy, laboratory phonology and behavioral results to argue for the existence of parallel lexica that facilitate different processes in the dorsal and ventral speech pathways. The dorsal lexicon, localized in the inferior parietal region including the supramarginal gyrus, serves as an interface between phonetic and articulatory representations. The ventral lexicon, localized in the posterior superior temporal sulcus and middle temporal gyrus, serves as an interface between phonetic and semantic representations. In addition to their interface roles, the two lexica contribute to the robustness of speech processing. Keywords Lexicon; Language; Spoken word recognition; Lexical access; Speech perception; Speech production; Neuroimaging; Aphasia; Dual stream model; Localization 7. Weak coherence, no theory of mind, or executive dysfunction? Solving the puzzle of pragmatic language disorders Brain and Language, Volume 85, Issue 3, June 2003, Pages 451-466 Martin, Ingerith; McDonald, Skye Abstract: Deficits in pragmatic language ability are common to a number of clinical populations, for example, right-hemisphere damage (RHD), Autism and traumatic brain injury (TBI). In these individuals the basic structural components of language may be intact, but the ability to use language to engage socially is impaired. Despite the nature of these difficulties being well documented, exactly what causes these difficulties is less clear. Furthermore, the current status of causal explanations for pragmatic difficulties across these populations is divergent and sometimes contradictory. This paper explores the empirical validity of three theories that attempt to explain pragmatic language impairment. It is recommended that a new, more convergent approach to investigating the causes of pragmatic language disability be adopted. Keywords Pragmatic language; Autism; Right-hemisphere damage; Traumatic brain injury; Theory of mind; Executive dysfunction; Central coherence 8. Age constraints on first versus second language acquisition: Evidence for linguistic plasticity and epigenesis Brain and Language, Volume 87, Issue 3, December 2003, Pages 369-384 Mayberry, Rachel I; Lock, Elizabeth Abstract: Does age constrain the outcome of all language acquisition equally regardless of whether the language is a first or second one? To test this hypothesis, the English grammatical abilities of deaf and hearing adults who either did or did not have linguistic experience (spoken or signed) during early childhood were investigated with two tasks, timed grammatical judgement and untimed sentence to picture matching. Findings showed that adults who acquired a language in early life performed at near-native levels on a second language regardless of whether they were hearing or deaf or whether the early language was spoken or signed. By contrast, deaf adults who experienced little or no accessible language in early life performed poorly. These results indicate that the onset of language acquisition in early human development dramatically alters the capacity to learn language throughout life, independent of the sensory-motor form of the early experience. Keywords Critical period; Grammatical processing; Comprehension; First-language acquisition; Second-language acquisition; Signed language; ASL; Plasticity; Syntax 9. Mechanisms of aphasia recovery after stroke and the role of noninvasive brain stimulation Brain and Language, Volume 118, Issue 1-2, July 2011, Pages 40-50 Hamilton, Roy H.; Chrysikou, Evangelia G.; Coslett, Branch Abstract: One of the most frequent symptoms of unilateral stroke is aphasia, the impairment or loss of language functions. Over the past few years, behavioral and neuroimaging studies have shown that rehabilitation interventions can promote neuroplastic changes in aphasic patients that may be associated with the improvement of language functions. Following left hemisphere strokes, the functional reorganization of language in aphasic patients has been proposed to involve both intrahemispheric interactions between damaged left hemisphere and perilesional sites and transcallosal interhemispheric interactions between the lesioned left hemisphere language areas and homotopic regions in the right hemisphere. A growing body of evidence for such reorganization comes from studies using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), two safe and noninvasive procedures that can be applied clinically to modulate cortical excitability during post-stroke language recovery. We discuss a hierarchical model for the plastic changes in language representation that occur in the setting of dominant hemisphere stroke and aphasia. We further argue that TMS and tDCS are potentially promising tools for enhancing functional recovery of language and for further elucidating mechanisms of plasticity in patients with aphasia. Keywords Aphasia; Stroke; Neuroplasticity; Transcranial magnetic stimulation; Transcranial direct current stimulation; Neurorehabilitation; Interhemispheric interactions 10. Putative sex differences in verbal abilities and language cortex: A critical review Brain and Language, Volume 108, Issue 3, March 2009, Pages 175-183 Wallentin, Mikkel Abstract: This review brings together evidence from a diverse field of methods for investigating sex differences in language processing. Differences are found in certain language-related deficits, such as stuttering, dyslexia, autism and schizophrenia. Common to these is that language problems may follow from, rather than cause the deficit. Large studies have been conducted on sex differences in verbal abilities within the normal population, and a careful reading of the results suggests that differences in language proficiency do not exist. Early differences in language acquisition show a slight advantage for girls, but this gradually disappears. A difference in language lateralization of brain structure and function in adults has also been suggested, perhaps following size differences in the corpus callosum. Neither of these claims is substantiated by evidence. In addition, overall results from studies on regional grey matter distribution using voxel-based morphometry, indicate no consistent differences between males and females in language-related cortical regions. Language function in Wada tests, aphasia, and in normal ageing also fails to show sex differentiation. Keywords Sex differences; Language; Brain structure; Brain function; Brain; Functional neuroimaging; Lateralization 往期回顾： TOP 10 Hottest Articles(SSCI) · Lingua TOP 10 Hottest Articles(SSCI) · Teaching and Teacher Education 请点击“阅读原文”链接下载部分文章全文。 |
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