How does the leaming of a new language change the brain,when the brain is already dedicated to one's native tongue?While the mainstream cognitive neuroscience of language has focused on the processing of only one language,in recent years there has been a surge of interest in the neuroplasticity of the bilingual brain.Several studies in our laboratories have explored the neural changes underlying successful and less successful learning,especially in the context of learning Chinese as a second language.In this talk,I will present evidence on how second language experience shapes functional and neuroanatomical changes on top of experience with one's first language,and address this question with evidence from a number of our longitudinal or training studies.We attempt to identify(a)how neurocognitive changes occur as a function of contexts and methods of learning,(b)how such changes may capture learning success and effectiveness,and(c)whether such changes may be predicted based on individual learners'neurocognitive profiles.
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