Different Language Trainings Modulate Word Learning in Young Infants: a Combined EEG and fNIRS Study
Sonja
Rossi1, 2*,
Maria
Richter2, 3,
Micol
Vignotto2, 3,
Julia
Mock2, 3,
Franziska
Stephan2, 3 and
Hellmuth
Obrig2, 3
-
1
Medical University Innsbruck, Austria
-
2
Clinic for Cognitive Neurology and Medical Faculty, University of Leipzig, Germany
-
3
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Germany
Background
During word learning infants use phonotactic rules (i.e., the combination of different phonemes) to segment the acoustic speech stream. 3 month old infants can successfully differentiate between legal and illegal phonotactic rules. The present study investigated how 6-month-old infants master the acquisition of legal and illegal phonotactic rules when integrated in 3 different language learning settings: a passive listening training and two different semantic trainings.
Methods
3 groups of 6-month-old German infants underwent a pretest, training, and posttest on 3 consecutive days. During pre- and posttest we acoustically presented phonotactically legal (with respect to German) and illegal pseudowords. Half of these were then trained. During passive listening training no semantic context was provided. Semantic training with real objects combined pseudowords with the visual presentation of real objects. Semantic training with pseudoobjects combined pseudowords with pseudoobjects. Brain activity responses were monitored by means of event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).
Results and Conclusions
Semantic trainings lead to increased learning effects in contrast to passive listening. Interestingly, ERP results for the semantic training with real objects showed increased positivities for legal and increased negativities for illegal pseudwords over the 3 learning days. The semantic training with pseudoobjects, in contrast, elicited only negativity increases over time, stronger for legal than illegal pseudowords. FNIRS results showed bilateral activation during modulation over the 3 days (i.e., long-term learning effects) and shifted to the left hemisphere when short-term learning effects (i.e., from pre- to posttest on each day) occurred. The findings indicate a high degree of brain plasticity effects occurring during early language acquisition already at 6 months of age, differing according to the learning setting.
Keywords:
word learning,
event-related brain potentials (ERPs),
functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS),
Infant language development,
phonotactic rules
Conference:
XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 27 Jul - 31 Jul, 2014.
Presentation Type:
Poster
Topic:
Language
Citation:
Rossi
S,
Richter
M,
Vignotto
M,
Mock
J,
Stephan
F and
Obrig
H
(2015). Different Language Trainings Modulate Word Learning in Young Infants: a Combined EEG and fNIRS Study.
Conference Abstract:
XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII).
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.217.00380
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Received:
19 Feb 2015;
Published Online:
24 Apr 2015.
*
Correspondence:
Dr. Sonja Rossi, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria, sonja.rossi@i-med.ac.at