Language Acquisition: Biological Versus Cultural Implications for Brain Structure

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511499722.009

7 - Language Acquisition: Biological Versus Cultural Implications for Brain Structure

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 July 2009

Angela D. Friederici and

Shirley-Ann Rüschemeyer

Edited by

Paul B. Baltes ,

Patricia A. Reuter-Lorenz and

Frank Rösler

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Angela D. Friederici: Affiliation:
Director Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig; Honorary Professor Universities of Leipzig (Psychology) and Potsdam (Linguistics) and Charité University Medicine, Berlin, Germany
Shirley-Ann Rüschemeyer: Affiliation:
Postdoctoral Fellow Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
Paul B. Baltes: Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Bildungsforschung, Berlin
Patricia A. Reuter-Lorenz: Affiliation:
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Frank Rösler: Affiliation:
Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany

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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 Brain
The Perspective of Biocultural Co-Constructivism
, pp. 161 - 182

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511499722.009 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2006

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