J Korean Soc Radiol.  2009 Dec;61(6):351-358. 10.3348/jksr.2009.61.6.351.

Functional MRI of Multilingual Subjects

• Cho JM
• Ryoo JW
• Choi DS
• Shin TB
• Chung SH
• Kim JE
• Han H
• Kim SS
• Jeon YH

• KMID: 1471262
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3348/jksr.2009.61.6.351

Abstract

PURPOSE
To evaluate brain activation areas during the processing of languages in multilingual volunteers by functional MRI and to examine the differences between the mother and foreign languages.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Nine multilingual (Korean, French, and English speaking) Korean individuals were enrolled in this study. Functional images were acquired during a lexical decision task (LDT) and picture naming task (PNT) in each of the Korean, French and English languages. The areas activated were analyzed topographically in each language and task, and compared between languages.
RESULTS
Activation was noted in Broca's area, supramarginal gyrus, fusiform gyrus during the LDT. During the PNT, activation was noted in Broca's area, left prefrontal area, cerebellum, right extrastriated cortex. While Broca's area activation was observed for all languages during LDT, there was more activation in Broca's area and additional activation in the right prefrontal area with foreign languages. During the PNT, there was more activation in the left prefrontal area with foreign languages.
CONCLUSION
Broca's area, which is known as a major language region, was activated by all languages and tasks. The brain activation areas were largely overlapping with the mother and foreign languages. However, there were wider areas of activation and additional different activation areas with foreign languages. These results suggest more cerebral effort during foreign language processing.

MeSH Terms

Brain
Cerebellum
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Mothers
Multilingualism