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Background: The brain activation patterns of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are still unclear and they involve multiple brain regions. Most previous studies have focused on abnormal activation in the frontal and temporal lobes, with few investigating the entire brain.Objective: To identify and compare the changes in cerebral hemodynamics and abnormal activation patterns in the entire brain of MCI patients and healthy older adults.Methods: Patients with MCI (n = 22) and healthy controls (HC, n = 34) matched by age, education levels, sex, and mental state were enrolled. They performed the same letter and category verbal fluency test (VFT) tasks while their behavioral performance and global cerebral hemodynamics were analyzed.Results: The performance during the category VFT task was significantly better than that during the letter VFT task across all participants (HC: correct: p < 0.001; intrusions: p < 0.001; MCI: correct: p < 0.001; intrusions: p < 0.001). The number of correct words during the letter and category VFT tasks was significantly higher in the HC group than in the MCI group (p < 0.001). The deoxygenated-hemoglobin (HbR) concentrations in the left parietal lobule (p = 0.022) and left inferior parietal lobule (p = 0.034) were significantly different during the category VFT task.Conclusion: The differences between HC and MCI groups were greater in the category task. The HbR concentration was more sensitive for the category VFT task and concentration changes in the left parietal lobule and left inferior parietal lobule may be useful for clinical screening and application; thus, they deserve more attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• High-level mathematical thinking in processing geometrical problems would not produce instant behavioural impacts on learners' L2 learning. • High-level mathematical thinking in processing geometrical problems inhibited learners' brain function activation and network functional connectivity (FC) for language processing. • High-level mathematical thinking may generate 'cognitive residue' in phonological processing of L2. • Only learners with good phonics ability could reluctantly activate the brain regions necessary for English phonological decoding. The contribution of language to the development of mathematical skills has been studied for several decades. However, how mathematical thinking influences language learning, especially second language (L2) learning, remains unknown. To approach this question, this study employed a control/experimental design to reveal the impacts of high-level mathematical thinking used in geometrical problems on the phonological processing of adult Chinese learners of English as a foreign language using a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) device. The results showed that high-level mathematical thinking in processing geometrical problems would not produce instant behavioural impacts on learners' L2 learning, although it inhibited learners' brain function activation and network functional connectivity (FC) for language processing. Nevertheless, it is presumed that high-level mathematical thinking may generate 'cognitive residue' in phonological processing of L2 as only learners with good phonics ability could reluctantly activate the brain regions necessary for English phonological decoding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]