Emotional Prototypicality Ratings for 636 Chinese Words: A Database of Chinese Words with Affective Information.

Exemplars of concepts vary in their degree of prototypicality. This is also true for emotion concepts. This study presents prototypicality ratings for a large set of Chinese words.

A large-scale database of Chinese characters and words collected from elementary school textbooks.

Lexical databases are essential tools for studies on language processing and acquisition. Most previous Chinese lexical databases have focused on materials for adults, yet little is known about reading materials for children and how lexical properties from these materials affect children's reading comprehension. In the present study, we provided the first large database of 2999 Chinese characters and 2182 words collected from the official textbooks recently issued by the Ministry of Education (MOE) of the People's Republic of China for most elementary schools in Mainland China, as well as norms from both school-aged children and adults.

Proactive and reactive language control in bilingual language production revealed by decoding sustained potentials and electroencephalography oscillations.

Adopting highly sensitive multivariate electroencephalography (EEG) and alpha-band decoding analyses, the present study investigated proactive and reactive language control during bilingual language production. In a language-switching task, Chinese-English bilinguals were asked to name pictures based on visually presented cues. EEG and alpha-band decoding accuracy associated with switch and non-switch trials were used as indicators for inhibition over the non-target language.

Processing negative emotion in two languages of bilinguals: Accommodation and assimilation of the neural pathways based on a meta-analysis.

Numerous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have examined the neural mechanisms of negative emotional words, but scarce evidence is available for the interactions among related brain regions from the functional brain connectivity perspective. Moreover, few studies have addressed the neural networks for negative word processing in bilinguals. To fill this gap, the current study examined the brain networks for processing negative words in the first language (L1) and the second language (L2) with Chinese-English bilinguals.

Cultural background and input familiarity influence multisensory emotion perception.

Objectives: During multisensory emotion perception, the attention devoted to the visual versus the auditory modality (i.e., modality dominance) varies depending on the cultural background of the perceiver.

Multivariate decoding methods reveal how speaking two dialects affects executive functions.

How speaking two languages affects executive functions has been a long-standing debate and the mechanisms underlying the observed cognitive advantages of bilingualism remain unspecified. Here, using multivariate pattern classification methods, we decoded spatial patterns of neural signals associated with Flanker task performance in mono-dialectal and bi-dialectal speakers of Chinese. While univariate approach to even-related potentials (ERPs) showed no between-group difference, decoding accuracy of ERPs was reduced in bi-dialectal as compared to mono-dialectal speakers in both congruent-neutral and incongruent-neutral classifications.

Graph structure analysis of speech production among second language learners of Spanish and Chinese.

Language experience shapes the gradual maturation of speech production in both native (L1) and second (L2) languages. Structural aspects like the connectedness of spontaneous narratives reveal this maturation progress in L1 acquisition and, as it does not rely on semantics, it could also reveal structural pattern changes during L2 acquisition. The current study tested whether L2 lexical retrieval associated with vocabulary knowledge could impact the global connectedness of narratives during the initial stages of L2 acquisition.

Continuous speech tracking in bilinguals reflects adaptation to both language and noise.

Listeners regularly comprehend continuous speech despite noisy conditions. Previous studies show that neural tracking of speech degrades under noise, predicts comprehension, and increases for non-native listeners. We test the hypothesis that listeners similarly increase tracking for both L2 and noisy L1 speech, after adjusting for comprehension.

Nonverbal cognitive control training increases the efficiency of frontal-subcortical collaboration for bilingual language control.

Domain-general cognitive control is closely related to language control during bilingual language production. Previous neural imaging studies have revealed a highly overlapped but rewired brain network for language control and nonverbal cognitive control. In the present study, we examined this issue from a training perspective.

The cerebellum and cognition: further evidence for its role in language control.

The cognitive function of the human cerebellum could be characterized as enigmatic. However, researchers have attempted to detail the comprehensive role of the cerebellum in several cognitive processes in recent years. Here, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), we revealed different functions of bilateral cerebellar lobules in bilingual language production.

Language immersion and language training: Two paths to enhanced language regulation and cognitive control.

When bilinguals switch languages they regulate the more dominant language to enable spoken production in the less dominant language. How do they engage cognitive control to accomplish regulation? We examined this issue by comparing the consequences of training on language switching in two different contexts. Chinese-English bilinguals were immersed in English (L2) while studying abroad (this study) or in Chinese (L1) in their native language environment (Zhang et al.

Inhibitory control training reveals a common neurofunctional basis for generic executive functions and language switching in bilinguals.

Background: The neural networks underpinning language control and domain-general executive functions overlap in bilinguals, but existing evidence is mainly correlative. Here, we present the first neurofunctional evidence for a transfer effect between (domain-general) inhibitory control and language control through training. We trained Chinese-English bilinguals for 8 days using a Simon task taxing the inhibitory control system, whilst an active control group was trained with a color judgment task that does not tax the inhibitory control system.

The cortical organization of writing sequence: evidence from observing Chinese characters in motion.

Writing sequences play an important role in handwriting of Chinese characters. However, little is known regarding the integral brain patterns and network mechanisms of processing Chinese character writing sequences. The present study decoded brain patterns during observing Chinese characters in motion by using multi-voxel pattern analysis, meta-analytic decoding analysis, and extended unified structural equation model.

Language switching training modulates the neural network of non-linguistic cognitive control.

Bilingual language experience, such as switching between languages, has been shown to shape both cognitive and neural mechanisms of non-linguistic cognitive control. However, the neural adaptations induced by language switching remain unclear. Using fMRI, the current study examined the impact of short-term language switching training on the neural network of domain-general cognitive control for unbalanced Chinese-English bilinguals.

Patterns and networks of language control in bilingual language production.

Many studies have examined the cognitive and neural mechanisms of bilingual language control, but few of them have captured the pattern information of brain activation. However, language control is a functional combination of both cognitive control and language production which demonstrates distinct patterns of neural representations under different language contexts. The first aim of the present study was to explore the brain activation patterns of language control using multivoxel pattern analysis (MVPA).

Different inhibitory control components predict different levels of language control in bilinguals.

In recent years, some studies have started to explore the impact of individual general executive functions (EFs) on bilingual language control. To our knowledge, few studies have systematically examined various components of EFs on different levels of language control in bilinguals. In two experiments, we investigated the effects of two components of IC on different levels of bilingual language control.

Language context tunes brain network for language control in bilingual language production.

When bilinguals intend to speak in their first (L1) or second language (L2) according to the environment, a brain network involving cortical-subcortical regions is recruited to resolve cross-language interference. Research has found that the activation of these brain regions varies with language contexts. However, previous studies have not yet examined adaptive changes in the interactions of brain regions for different language contexts.

Speech perception in a second language: Hearing is believing-seeing is not.

This study examined the effects of the speaker's face and accent on second language (L2) speech perception. Forty-two Chinese speakers of English immersed in the L2 environment were instructed to perform a cross-modal semantic judgement task. They saw an Asian or Caucasian face on the screen and heard word pairs in L2 in a native English accent or a Chinese accent, and were asked to judge whether the word pairs were related to each other in meaning or not.

Affiliative bonding between teachers and students through interpersonal synchronisation in brain activity.

Human beings organise socially. Theories have posited that interpersonal neural synchronisation might underlie the creation of affiliative bonds. Previous studies tested this hypothesis mainly during a social interaction, making it difficult to determine whether the identified synchronisation is associated with affiliative bonding or with social interaction.

Individual differences in inhibitory control abilities modulate the functional neuroplasticity of inhibitory control.

Previous research has shown that training on inhibitory control (IC) leads to functional neural plastic changes, although this effect on individuals with different levels of IC abilities has yet to be studied. Here, we examined the individual differences in IC abilities of 85 participants, who performed a Simon task while undergoing a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan. Participants in the experimental group followed an 8-day training session on IC between the pre- and the post-test, whereas the control group did not receive any training.

Brain network reconfiguration for language and domain-general cognitive control in bilinguals.

For bilinguals, language control is needed for selecting the target language during language production. Numerous studies have examined the neural correlates of language control and shown a close relationship between language control and domain-general cognitive control. However, it remains unknown how these brain regions coordinate with each other when bilinguals exert cognitive control over linguistic and nonlinguistic representations.

The influence of short-term language-switching training on the plasticity of the cognitive control mechanism in bilingual word production.

This study examined the effect of short-term language-switching training on the cognitive control mechanism in bilingual word production. In two experiments, two groups of relatively proficient but unbalanced Chinese-English bilinguals performed a cued picture-naming task, in which they switched between their two languages. On two consecutive days, the participants took part in four sessions.

Neural mechanisms for selectively tuning in to the target speaker in a naturalistic noisy situation.

The neural mechanism for selectively tuning in to a target speaker while tuning out the others in a multi-speaker situation (i.e., the cocktail-party effect) remains elusive.

Enhancement of teaching outcome through neural prediction of the students' knowledge state.

The neural mechanism for the dyadic process of teaching is poorly understood. Although theories about teaching have proposed that before any teaching takes place, the teacher will predict the knowledge state of the student(s) to enhance the teaching outcome, this theoretical Prediction-Transmission hypothesis has not been tested with any neuroimaging studies. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy-based hyperscanning, this study measured brain activities of the teacher-student pairs simultaneously.