Work

Two languages, one developing brain: event‐related potentials to words in bilingual toddlers

Year: 2005

Type: article

Abstract: Infant bilingualism offers a unique opportunity to study the relative effects of language experience and maturation on brain development, with each child serving as his or her own control. Event-related potentials (ERPs) to words were examined in 19- to 22-month-old English-Spanish bilingual toddlers. The children's dominant vs. nondominant languages elicited different patterns of neural activity in the lateral asymmetry of an early positive component (P100), and the latencies and distributions of ERP differences to known vs. unknown words from 200-400 and 400-600 ms. ERP effects also differed for 'high' and 'low' vocabulary groups based on total conceptual vocabulary scores. The results indicate that the organization of language-relevant brain activity is linked to experience with language rather than brain maturation.

Source: Developmental Science

DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2005.00453.x

Authors: Barbara T. Conboy, Debra L. Mills

Institutions: San Diego State University, University of California San Diego, Emory University

Language: English

Topic: Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: National Institutes of Health, University of California, San Diego, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

Award: G4605935270