Distinct functional connectivity patterns during naturalistic learning by adolescent first versus second language speakers.

ABSTRACT: Spoken lessons (lectures) are commonly used in schools as a medium for conveying educational content. In adolescence, experience-expectant maturation of language and cognitive systems supports learning; however, little is known about whether or how learners' language experiences interact with this integration process during learning. We examined functional connectivity using fMRI in 38 Spanish-English bilingual (L1-Spanish) and English monolingual (L1-English) adolescents during a naturalistic science video lesson in English. Seed analyses including the left inferior frontal gyrus (pars opercularis) and posterior middle temporal gyrus showed that L1-Spanish adolescents, when learning in their second language (L2), displayed widespread bilateral functional connectivity throughout the cortex

SUBMITTER: Leon Guerrero S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11329752 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature