Left putaminal activation when speaking a second language: evidence from PET
Abstract
The neural representation of the languages of the polyglot speaker has been highly controversial. We used positron emission tomography (PET) to investigate whether production in a second language (L2) involves the same neural substrates as that of a first language (L1) in normal bilingual subjects who learned L2 after the age of 5 years. Comparison of cerebral blood flow (CBF) when repeating words in L2 and repeating words in L1 yielded only a single significant CBF change: an increase in the left putamen. We hypothesize that this region plays a specific role for articulation in L2. The role of the putamen in articulation is supported by foreign accent syndrome (FAS), which can occur after left putaminal damage. The increased articulatory demands imposed by speaking a second language may require complex motor control for speech production in L2.
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Left putamen activation is higher for auditory repetition of words in a non-native language than the native language.
“The role of the left putamen in speech production was also discussed in a paper by Klein et al. (1994) who observed that left putamen activation was higher for auditory repetition of words in a non-native language than the native language which can be explained in terms of increased demands on the articulatory system.”
From A review and synthesis of the first 20years of PET and fMRI studies of heard speech, spoken language and reading (2012) · cites this paper as Klein et al. (1994)
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- Authors
- Klein, D., Zatorre, R. J., Milner, B., Meyer, E., & Evans, A. C.
- Affiliations
- Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (CA)
- McGill University (CA)
- Venue
- Neuroreport
- Published
- 1994-11
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 17
- Pages
- 2295-2297
- ISSN
- 0959-4965 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2059616282
- Cited by
- 196
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 0.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Neuroreport (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Phonetics and Phonology Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Language Development and Disorders
- Keywords
- second language production, bilingualism, cerebral blood flow, speech articulation, foreign accent syndrome, speech motor control, language lateralization
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Female, Humans, Language, Functional Laterality, Male, Putamen, Speech, Speech Perception, Tomography, Emission-Computed
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