A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study on the White Matter Structures Related to the Phonology in Cantonese–Mandarin Bilinguals
Cantonese and Mandarin are logographic languages, and the phonology is the main difference between the two languages. It is unclear whether the long-term experience of Cantonese–Mandarin bilingualism will shape different brain white matter structures related to phonological processing. A total of 30...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2022.851669/full |
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| author | Xiaoyu Xu Yuying Jin Ning Pan Muqing Cao Jin Jing Jingwen Ma Xiaoxuan Fan Si Tan Xiaojing Song Xiuhong Li |
| author_facet | Xiaoyu Xu Yuying Jin Ning Pan Muqing Cao Jin Jing Jingwen Ma Xiaoxuan Fan Si Tan Xiaojing Song Xiuhong Li |
| author_sort | Xiaoyu Xu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Cantonese and Mandarin are logographic languages, and the phonology is the main difference between the two languages. It is unclear whether the long-term experience of Cantonese–Mandarin bilingualism will shape different brain white matter structures related to phonological processing. A total of 30 Cantonese–Mandarin bilinguals and 30 Mandarin monolinguals completed diffusion-weighted imaging scan and phonological processing tasks. The tractography and tract-based spatial statistics were used to investigate the structural differences in the bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF), and inferior fronto–occipital fasciculus (IFOF) between Cantonese–Mandarin bilinguals and Mandarin monolinguals. The post-hoc correlation analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship between the different structures with phonological processing skills. Compared to the Mandarin monolinguals, the Cantonese–Mandarin bilinguals had higher fractional anisotropy (FA) along the left ILFs higher mean diffusivity (MD) along the right IFOF and the temporoparietal segment of SLF (tSLF), higher axial diffusivity (AD) in the right IFOF and left ILF, and lower number of streamlines in the bilateral tSLF. The mean AD of the different voxels in the right IFOF and the mean FA of the different voxels in the left ILF were positively correlated with the inverse efficiency score (IES) of the Cantonese auditory and Mandarin visual rhyming judgment tasks, respectively, within the bilingual group. The correlation between FA and IES was different among the groups. The long-term experience of Cantonese–Mandarin bilinguals shapes the different brain white matter structures in tSLF, IFOF, and ILF. Compared to the monolinguals, the bilinguals’ white matter showed higher diffusivity, especially in the axonal direction. These changes were related to bilinguals’ phonological processing. |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
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| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T05:05:13Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
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| spelling | doaj.art-96187cb921624e6c9d64e04f7297948f2022-12-22T02:01:16ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Human Neuroscience1662-51612022-05-011610.3389/fnhum.2022.851669851669A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study on the White Matter Structures Related to the Phonology in Cantonese–Mandarin BilingualsXiaoyu Xu0Yuying Jin1Ning Pan2Muqing Cao3Jin Jing4Jingwen Ma5Xiaoxuan Fan6Si Tan7Xiaojing Song8Xiuhong Li9Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, ChinaGuangdong Provincial Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Guangzhou, ChinaWuhan Children’s Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, ChinaDepartment of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, ChinaCantonese and Mandarin are logographic languages, and the phonology is the main difference between the two languages. It is unclear whether the long-term experience of Cantonese–Mandarin bilingualism will shape different brain white matter structures related to phonological processing. A total of 30 Cantonese–Mandarin bilinguals and 30 Mandarin monolinguals completed diffusion-weighted imaging scan and phonological processing tasks. The tractography and tract-based spatial statistics were used to investigate the structural differences in the bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF), and inferior fronto–occipital fasciculus (IFOF) between Cantonese–Mandarin bilinguals and Mandarin monolinguals. The post-hoc correlation analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship between the different structures with phonological processing skills. Compared to the Mandarin monolinguals, the Cantonese–Mandarin bilinguals had higher fractional anisotropy (FA) along the left ILFs higher mean diffusivity (MD) along the right IFOF and the temporoparietal segment of SLF (tSLF), higher axial diffusivity (AD) in the right IFOF and left ILF, and lower number of streamlines in the bilateral tSLF. The mean AD of the different voxels in the right IFOF and the mean FA of the different voxels in the left ILF were positively correlated with the inverse efficiency score (IES) of the Cantonese auditory and Mandarin visual rhyming judgment tasks, respectively, within the bilingual group. The correlation between FA and IES was different among the groups. The long-term experience of Cantonese–Mandarin bilinguals shapes the different brain white matter structures in tSLF, IFOF, and ILF. Compared to the monolinguals, the bilinguals’ white matter showed higher diffusivity, especially in the axonal direction. These changes were related to bilinguals’ phonological processing.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2022.851669/fullCantonese–Mandarin bilingualsdiffusion tensor imagingphonological processingtractographytract-based spatial statistic |
| spellingShingle | Xiaoyu Xu Yuying Jin Ning Pan Muqing Cao Jin Jing Jingwen Ma Xiaoxuan Fan Si Tan Xiaojing Song Xiuhong Li A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study on the White Matter Structures Related to the Phonology in Cantonese–Mandarin Bilinguals Frontiers in Human Neuroscience Cantonese–Mandarin bilinguals diffusion tensor imaging phonological processing tractography tract-based spatial statistic |
| title | A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study on the White Matter Structures Related to the Phonology in Cantonese–Mandarin Bilinguals |
| title_full | A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study on the White Matter Structures Related to the Phonology in Cantonese–Mandarin Bilinguals |
| title_fullStr | A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study on the White Matter Structures Related to the Phonology in Cantonese–Mandarin Bilinguals |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study on the White Matter Structures Related to the Phonology in Cantonese–Mandarin Bilinguals |
| title_short | A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study on the White Matter Structures Related to the Phonology in Cantonese–Mandarin Bilinguals |
| title_sort | diffusion tensor imaging study on the white matter structures related to the phonology in cantonese mandarin bilinguals |
| topic | Cantonese–Mandarin bilinguals diffusion tensor imaging phonological processing tractography tract-based spatial statistic |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2022.851669/full |
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