Poster A42, Tuesday, August 20, 2019, 10:15 am – 12:00 pm, Restaurant Hall
EEG Resting-State Indices as Markers of Foreign-Language Aptitude in Older Adults
Maria Kliesch1,2,3, Martin Meyer3,4;1Zurich Center for Linguistics, University of Zurich, 2Chair of Romance Linguistics, Institute of Romance Studies, University of Zurich, 3Chair of Neuropsychology, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, 4Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Klagenfurt, Austria
Foreign language (FL) aptitude is a construct that presupposes a specific talent for learning languages, and is used to explain why some people learn a new language easier, faster or better than others. Most scholars agree that the concept covers a range of different cognitive factors, and that it is a result of genetic, developmental and experiential factors. However, cognitive measures interact strongly with motivational aspects (Dörnyei, 2010). Recent studies by Prat et al. (2016, 2019) could show that EEG resting-state indices (i.e. mean spectral power and coherence metrics), too, are able to predict the learning rate of FL learners, thus suggesting a paradigm-free way of assessing FL aptitude. With increasing age, individual differences in both cognitive capacity and resting-state indices are exacerbated in older adults (Christensen, 2001), so that investigating FL learning in old adulthood can help shed light on the underlying processes of FL aptitude. This study investigates the role of EEG resting-state indices, cognitive capacities and motivational aspects in predicting individual FL attainment, and assesses whether resting-state indices change as a function of FL proficiency. A sample of 27 Swiss German adults between 64-74 years of age participated in a 7-months Spanish course for beginners. The training consisted of one weekly hour of classroom-based instruction, 30 weekly minutes of FL testing and 3 weekly hours of individual learning using a language learning software at home. Before and after the training, 12-minutes resting-state EEG were recorded, from which mean spectral power and functional networks were estimated. In addition, training motivation and cognitive capacities, including working memory capacities and verbal fluency in the native language, were assessed each week throughout the training. A passive control group performed the same cognitive and electrophysiological measures. To assess the weight of each predictor (EEG indices, cognitive capacities, motivation) on FL proficiency (concatenated score of three FL tests), we conducted multilevel models analyses with random effects per subject. To investigate group differences, two learner groups were formed based on L2 attainment, and good learners were contrasted with poor learners and the passive control group. Our analyses showed that, in line with previous theories on FL aptitude, working memory capacities and verbal fluency in the native language significantly predicted individual FL attainment. The effects, however, were mitigated by controlling training motivation and overall wellbeing. At the same time, better learners showed higher mean spectral power in the beta band and higher network density before the training. Comparison of post-training EEG indices revealed a reorganization of beta-band functional connectivity in better language learners as compared to slower learners and participants in the passive control group. Our findings confirm that individual differences in FL aptitude persist in older learners, and corroborate former studies in that EEG indices lend themselves as paradigm-free markers of future FL proficiency. Further, our results show that successful FL learning reorganizes beta-band functional connectivity, which is commonly reduced in patients suffering from mild cognitive impairment.
Themes: Multilingualism, Development
Method: Electrophysiology (MEG/EEG/ECOG)