title: Age-related behavioural and neurofunctional patterns of second language word learning: different ways of being successful.
abstract: This study aimed at investigating the neural basis of word learning as a function of age and word type. Ten young and ten elderly French-speaking participants were trained by means of a computerized Spanish word program. Both age groups reached a similar naming accuracy, but the elderly required significantly more time. Despite equivalent performance, distinct neural networks characterized the ceiling. While the young cohort showed subcortical activations, the elderly recruited the left inferior frontal gyrus, the left lingual gyrus and the precuneus. The learning trajectory of the elderly, the neuroimaging findings together with their performance on the Stroop suggest that the young adults relied on control processing areas whereas the elderly relied on episodic memory circuits, which may reflect resorting to better preserved cognitive resources. Finally, the recruitment of visual processing areas by the elderly may reflect the impact of the language training method used.
authors.affiliation: École d'orthophonie et audiologie, Faculté de Médecine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada; Centre de Recherche de l'Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, Montréal, Canada. Electronic address: karine.marcotte@umontreal.ca.
authors.forename: Karine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Marcotte
authors.affiliation: École d'orthophonie et audiologie, Faculté de Médecine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada; Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: Ana Inés
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Ansaldo
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D009415:Nerve Net; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D012984:Software; D013030:Spain; D057190:Stroop Test; D013997:Time Factors; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Ageing; FMRI; Longitudinal study; Word learning