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New Language Training Promotes Neurocognitive Resilience in Healthy Aging
Poster Session A, Friday, September 12, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm, Field House
Eleonora Rossi1, Hannah Treadway1, Jeffrey Kunath2, Steven Weisberg1, Natalie Ebner1; 1University of Florida, 2University of Illinois, Chicago
Bilingualism i.e., the long-term experience of speaking two or more languages has been shown to promote neuroplasticity by engaging memory, attention, and inhibitory control and boost neurocognitive reserves (Stern et al., 2019; Paulavicius, et al. 2020; Anderson, Hawrylewicz & Grundy, 2020; Deluca et al. 2019). However, little is known about the effectiveness of novel, short-term language learning as a tool for promoting healthy neurocognitive resilience in older adults. This study tests the effectiveness of short-term new language training as a linguistic and cognitive neuromodulator in healthy older adults. The goal of this study is therefore to test the effects of a relatively short novel language training (i.e., 36 days) both as a means to track early brain markers of new language learning using electroencephalography (EEG), and to test whether the effects of the language training generalize to other cognitive functions, such as working memory that are known to be vulnerable in aging. Research design. In this longitudinal study 20 English monolingual older adults, aged 60-85 completed first a pre-test that included several neurocognitive, and linguistic tasks including: Resting-State EEG, an EEG-based N-Back task to measure working memory, a verbal fluency task in English and in Spanish, and a personal social network questionnaire. After pre-test, participants were randomly assigned to either a Spanish Language Training condition or an Active Control condition. The Language Training group (n= 10) completed a Spanish training for ~36 days, using Rosetta Stone in Spanish from home. Each day, participants completed a module that lasted between 30 and 40 minutes. Individuals assigned to the Active Control group (n=10) watched scientific videos from home and answered a few questions for a comparable duration of days and time. After the end of the training (Language Training or Active Control), participants came back for the post-test. During post-test participants completed again verbal fluency tasks in English and Spanish, an EEG-based picture naming task (only for the individuals who completed the Spanish Rosetta Stone Training), and the EEG-based N-Back task. Results: Data for the ERP-based picture naming task at post-test was analyzed for the 10 older adults who completed the Spanish training. Averaged ERP amplitudes in response to pictures that were learned during the training were compared to the ERP amplitude of items that participants were not exposed to during the training. The preliminary results confirm our hypothesis that encoding and memory consolidation of new Spanish vocabulary induces a reduction in the N400 for studied words relative to non-studied words. Working memory was measured through the EEG N-Back task at pre- and post-test. In addition, working memory was measured through the EEG N-Back task at pre- and post-test (Kok, 2001; Finnigan et al., 2011) Our results show an enhanced P200 and P300 at post-test for the older adults who completed the Spanish language training compared to the control group. Conclusions: Overall, these results point toward a positive neuromodulator effect of novel language training in healthy older adults both for language and generalizes to memory functions.
Topic Areas: Language Development/Acquisition,