Language-Specific Synchronization of Neural Networks in the Human Brain

Abstract

This study examines language-specific characteristics of the electric activity in bilinguals’ brains. The aim of this study was to evaluate language-specific characteristics of functional connectivity related to the perception of verbal information in different languages. Increasing synchronization of gamma band was detected in the association regions of left hemisphere during the Russian sonnets, alongside with interhemispheric coherence. The increase in synchronization exclusively in the left hemisphere was observed as in the case of English and Ukrainian sonnets. Increase of the coherence was shown in the left lateral and medial supplementary motor area when listening to Russian sonnets in comparison with Ukrainian. Decrease of coherence while listening to the Russian sonnets in comparison with Ukrainian was present in angular gyrus and superior parietal lobule. This evidence could indicate relatively lesser involvement of memory and attention when listening to Russian in comparison with the Ukrainian. Despite high proficiency of the participants, the mechanism of language perception could be different. Perhaps, an emotional response does not depend on the level of knowledge of the language but rather on its phonetic structure and prosody.