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Updated: May 8, 2026
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Measuring Statistical Learning Across Modalities and Domains in School-Aged Children Via an Online Platform and Neuroimaging Techniques
Published on: June 30, 2020
Dynamic neural network reorganization associated with second language vocabulary acquisition: a multimodal imaging
Chihiro Hosoda1, Kanji Tanaka, Tadashi Nariai
1Department of Functional Brain Research, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan.
Summary
Learning a second language (L2) can reshape the brain. Neuroplasticity in the right hemisphere
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Linguistics
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- The neural basis of human language, particularly the role of innate structures versus experience-dependent plasticity, remains debated.
- Research has traditionally focused on left-hemisphere dominance for language, with less attention paid to the right hemisphere's potential involvement.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether learning a second language (L2) induces neuroplastic changes in brain structure and connectivity.
- To explore the role of the right hemisphere in accommodating new linguistic experiences.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study correlating L2 vocabulary competence with gray matter volume and white matter connectivity.
- 16-week L2 training intervention in university students, with pre- and post-training brain imaging.
Main Results:
- Positive correlations were found between L2 vocabulary and right-hemisphere gray matter volume (inferior frontal gyrus pars opercularis - IFGop) and connectivity (IFGop with caudate nucleus and STG/SMG).
- L2 training led to increased IFGop volume and white matter pathway reorganization in the right hemisphere.
- These structural changes positively correlated with L2 ability gains in the trained group.
Conclusions:
- The right-hemispheric network can be reorganized for language processing through use-dependent plasticity in young adults.
- Linguistic experiences can induce flexible reorganization of neural substrates, challenging exclusive left-hemisphere language models.
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