Cortical networks for sentence processing in bilingual children: An fNIRS-GIMME study

We will examine the effects of dual-language proficiency on functional connectivity underlying syntax and semantic processing in young heritage Spanish-English bilingual children. We will use Group Iterative Multiple Model Estimation (GIMME) to analyze fNIRS hemodynamic responses recorded from 82 bilingual children, aged 6 to 11 years, while they judged the plausibility of auditory sentences in English, the language of primary academic instruction. The sentences were either correct or contained syntactic or semantic violations. Using GIMME, we will assess effective connectivity between cortical regions-of-interest (ROIs) associated with syntax and semantic processing: left dorsal and ventral inferior frontal cortex, bilateral superior temporal gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus and left parietal cortex (see Figure 1/Table1). Our goals are to describe the cortical networks that support syntactic and semantic processing in bilingual children, and to identify how these cortical networks are affected by children’s proficiency in their two languages.