@article{5364009fb3fc4fc285bfc165aa18f687,
title = "Effect of second language exposure on brain activity for language processing among preschoolers",
abstract = "We investigated brain activity in 3-5-year-old preschoolers as they listened to connected speech stimuli in Japanese (first language), English (second language), and Chinese (a rarely exposed, foreign language) using near-infrared spectroscopy. Unlike the younger preschoolers who had been exposed to English for almost 1 year, brain activity in the bilateral frontal regions of the older preschoolers who had been exposed to English for almost 2 years was higher for Japanese and English speech stimuli than for Chinese. This tendency seemed to be similar to that observed in adults who had learned English for some years. These results indicate that exposure to a second language affects brain activity to language stimuli among preschoolers.",
keywords = "Connected speech stimuli, Development, Language processing, NIRS, Preschoolers, Second language",
author = "Souta Hidaka and Hiroshi Shibata and Michiyo Kurihara and Akihiro Tanaka and Akitsugu Konno and Suguru Maruyama and Jiro Gyoba and Hiroko Hagiwara and Masatoshi Koizumi",
note = "Funding Information: We thank Fumitaka Homae, Shiro Ojima, and Lisa Sugiura for their helpful comments and suggestions. We also thank Junichi Takahashi for his support, and Akihiko Suzuki for his technical support. We are also very grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their valuable and insightful comments and suggestions for early versions of the manuscript. This work is supported by Grant-in-aid for the promotion of “Brain Science and Education, Type II” from the Research Institute of Science and Technology for Society, Japan Science and Technology Agency to H.H., and Grant-in-aid for scientific research (S) from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (22222001 to M.K). ",
year = "2012",
month = may,
doi = "10.1016/j.neures.2012.02.004",
language = "English",
volume = "73",
pages = "73--79",
journal = "Neuroscience Research",
issn = "0168-0102",
publisher = "Elsevier Ireland Ltd",
number = "1",
}