title: Effect of second language exposure on brain activity for language processing among preschoolers.
abstract: We investigated brain activity in 3-5-year-old preschoolers as they listened to connected speech stimuli in Japanese (first language), English (second language), and Chinese (a rarely exposed, foreign language) using near-infrared spectroscopy. Unlike the younger preschoolers who had been exposed to English for almost 1 year, brain activity in the bilateral frontal regions of the older preschoolers who had been exposed to English for almost 2 years was higher for Japanese and English speech stimuli than for Chinese. This tendency seemed to be similar to that observed in adults who had learned English for some years. These results indicate that exposure to a second language affects brain activity to language stimuli among preschoolers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Arts and Letters, Tohoku University, Japan. hidaka@rikkyo.ac.jp
authors.forename: Souta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hidaka
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shibata
authors.forename: Michiyo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurihara
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Akitsugu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Konno
authors.forename: Suguru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.forename: Jiro
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gyoba
authors.forename: Hiroko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hagiwara
authors.forename: Masatoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koizumi
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D019303:Multilingualism; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared / Q000379:methods; D055815:Young Adult