2021 — 2024 |
Higby, Eve Gravier, Michelle (co-PI) [⬀] Ramanathan, Pradeep (co-PI) [⬀] |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Mri: Acquisition of Electroencephalography Equipment For the Study of the Neuroplasticity of Language and Cognitive Processes in Bilingualism and Multilingualism @ California State University, East Bay Foundation, Inc.
This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).
The Major Research Instrumentation grant supports the acquisition of a state-of-the-art electroencephalography (EEG) system (ActiCHamp Plus 64-channel active electrode system, BrainVision LLC) that will be used to non-invasively measure electrical activity generated by populations of neurons with very precise timing accuracy. The acquisition of this EEG equipment will permit cross-disciplinary collaborations among faculty at several institutions throughout California to study the neural processes that support language and cognitive processes in bi-/multilingual adults, and how these processes change across the lifespan in response to new experiences or injury (i.e., neuroplasticity). Interdisciplinary approaches are critical to the advancement of our understanding of the complex mechanisms in the mind and brain because the complexity of these processes requires perspectives from developmental science, cognitive science, language science, cognitive aging, and neurolinguistics, among others. The new equipment will be used to train a diverse student population in cognitive neuroscience research methods and the study of the neuroplasticity of communication, thereby promoting access to careers in basic science, clinical research, and applied settings. California State University East Bay is a Hispanic-Serving and Asian American & Pacific Islander-Serving Institution, drawing first-generation and minority students from the diverse Bay Area community who are historically underrepresented in these fields.
Despite recent advances in the basic neural changes associated with experience-dependent brain plasticity, our understanding of the structural and functional neural plasticity associated with language and cognitive functioning across the lifespan, and in response to injury, is still limited. The study of bilingualism and multilingualism provides a unique window into these processes; managing two language systems and flexibly switching between them engages the linguistic and cognitive control systems in unique ways, shaping the neural structures that underlie language and cognition. Research activities enabled by the EEG equipment include investigating neural activity associated with a) second language learning in adulthood and the regulation of the native language, b) formal instruction in a heritage language, c) language mixing practices in dense bilingual communities, d) the involvement of the left and right cerebral hemispheres in bilinguals’ judgments of learning, e) the preservation of cognitive abilities in aging bilinguals, and f) the connectivity of various brain regions associated with language and cognitive processing in bilinguals with aphasia, a language disorder resulting from neurological damage. Moreover, by investigating individual differences among bilinguals in factors such as age of second-language acquisition, language proficiency, and language use patterns, the researchers can explore how the brain responds to diverse language experiences in childhood and adulthood. These projects investigate the neural underpinnings of language and cognition across a broad spectrum of adults across the lifespan, both neurologically healthy and those with neurological damage. EEG allows us to study the online neural processes that lead to the language and cognitive behaviors characteristic of different language users, whose diversity is critical for developing generalizable theories of language and cognition.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
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