Variability in language processing and in language learning

Atsuko Takashima and Stephanie Forkel

Our research mainly focuses on the neural underpinnings of individual variability in language performance and forms part of the Language in Interaction project. The main questions we are trying to answer are: What are the individual differences in brain morphology and how do these differences relate to variation in language skills? How do language task-induced brain activation and functional network architecture vary in individuals? Specifically, we are using a multiscale approach, including task fMRI, resting state fMRI, structural MRI and DTI, to measure individual differences in task-based brain activation and connectivity patterns, the resting-state functional network, white-matter integrity, grey-matter structure and density, as well as cortical thickness and areal expansion, and to map such functional and structural variation to language performance variation.