Abstract
Functional magnetic resonance imaging was employed before and after
six native English speakers completed lexical tone training as part
of a program to learn Mandarin as a second language. Language-related
areas including Broca's area, Wernicke's area, auditory cortex, and
supplementary motor regions were active in all subjects before and
after training and did not vary in average location. Across all subjects,
improvements in performance were associated with an increase in the
spatial extent of activation in left superior temporal gyrus (Brodmann's
area 22, putative Wernicke's area), the emergence of activity in
adjacent Brodmann's area 42, and the emergence of activity in right
inferior frontal gyrus (Brodmann's area 44), a homologue of putative
Broca's area. These findings demonstrate a form of enrichment plasticity
in which the early cortical effects of learning a tone-based second
language involve both expansion of preexisting language-related areas
and recruitment of additional cortical regions specialized for functions
similar to the new language functions.
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