Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- Lifespan Development and the Brain
- PART ONE SETTING THE STAGE ACROSS THE AGES OF THE LIFESPAN
- PART TWO NEURONAL PLASTICITY AND BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION: MICROSTRUCTURE MEETS THE EXPERIENTIAL ENVIRONMENT
- PART THREE NEURONAL PLASTICITY AND BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION: ATYPICAL BRAIN ARCHITECTURES
- PART FOUR BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION: SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS AND DOMAINS
- 7 Language Acquisition: Biological Versus Cultural Implications for Brain Structure
- 8 Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic in the Brain: Neural Specialization for Acquired Functions
- 9 Emotion, Learning, and the Brain: From Classical Conditioning to Cultural Bias
- 10 The Musical Mind: Neural Tuning and the Aesthetic Experience
- PART FIVE PLASTICITY AND BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION IN LATER LIFE
- PART SIX BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION: FROM MICRO- TO MACROENVIRONMENTS IN LARGER CULTURAL CONTEXTS
- PART SEVEN EPILOGUE
- Author Index
- Subject Index
- References
7 - Language Acquisition: Biological Versus Cultural Implications for Brain Structure
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- Lifespan Development and the Brain
- PART ONE SETTING THE STAGE ACROSS THE AGES OF THE LIFESPAN
- PART TWO NEURONAL PLASTICITY AND BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION: MICROSTRUCTURE MEETS THE EXPERIENTIAL ENVIRONMENT
- PART THREE NEURONAL PLASTICITY AND BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION: ATYPICAL BRAIN ARCHITECTURES
- PART FOUR BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION: SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS AND DOMAINS
- 7 Language Acquisition: Biological Versus Cultural Implications for Brain Structure
- 8 Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic in the Brain: Neural Specialization for Acquired Functions
- 9 Emotion, Learning, and the Brain: From Classical Conditioning to Cultural Bias
- 10 The Musical Mind: Neural Tuning and the Aesthetic Experience
- PART FIVE PLASTICITY AND BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION IN LATER LIFE
- PART SIX BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION: FROM MICRO- TO MACROENVIRONMENTS IN LARGER CULTURAL CONTEXTS
- PART SEVEN EPILOGUE
- Author Index
- Subject Index
- References
Summary
ABSTRACT
In the discussion on co-constructivism of culture and brain, language is particularly interesting because it is clearly a cultural construction, yet deeply rooted biologically. Cross-linguistic data strongly suggest that the same brain areas, functionally identified to be specific for syntax, semantics, and phonology, are active in participants across languages. However, comparisons between first (native) and second (nonnative) language processing reveal differences with respect to the recruitment of the different subcomponents in a common neuronal network of language processing. Native language processing thus seems to be similar across different languages, but the strategies used to process a nonnative language appear to be different.
INTRODUCTION
One of the intriguing issues discussed in the context of the nature–nurture debate (also known as the biology–culture debate) is the question of how different languages influence the brain basis of language processing. This question is particularly interesting in light of the fact that language is clearly a cultural construct and that cultural parameters have been shown to influence development and organization. Thus, a direct assumption following from these observations could be that different languages result in different neural structures.
There is clear evidence that cultural parameters present during development and learning, in general, influence the representation of particular cognitive and motor functions in the brain. A number of brain imaging studies have demonstrated reliable differences in brain activation as a function of training and expertise.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Lifespan Development and the BrainThe Perspective of Biocultural Co-Constructivism, pp. 161 - 182Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006
References
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