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Multilingual Individual Neurocognitive Differences in Middle Age Project

Project description

Exploring the effects of multilingualism on cognitive ageing

Recent studies have suggested the positive effects of multilingualism on the brain. Multilingualism, for instance, may play a protective role against age-related neurocognitive decline. In this context, researchers are exploring how neurocognition is affected by cognitive ageing and the effect of multilingualism. To find answers, researchers will combine behavioural testing with brain recordings via electroencephalography. The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions MIND-MAP project will investigate how variation in multilingual engagement correlates to individual differences in neurocognitive adaptations in the mid-life age range. The project will also provide fresh insight into the relationship between specific patterns of multilingualism and resulting neurocognitive adaptations.

Objective

The objective of the Multilingual Individual Neurocognitive Differences in Middle Age Project (MIND-MAP) is to investigate how variation in multilingual engagement (e.g. context and intensity of L2 use) correlates to individual differences in neurocognitive adaptations in the mid-life age range. This age range is severely understudied in the relevant literatures, yet of critical importance as it is the immediate precursor period to when cognitive ageing (CA) becomes most prevalent. As such, MIND-MAP serves as a bridge between research mapping multilingual experience-related factors and individual differences in neurocognitive outcomes to research on multilingualism effects in CA. Herein we combine behavioral testing with brain recordings via electroencephalography (EEG). EEG is widely used in cognitive neuroscience to assess quality and quantity of overall brain wave oscillatory activity and the degree of communication between brain regions (functional connectivity) in response to stimuli and at rest. Combining behavior and neuroimaging modalities, MIND-MAP will examine specific domains of neurocognition adversely affected by CA that overlap with areas argued to be positively affected by multilingual experience precisely in the age range where revealing and understanding these correlations could be the most helpful, that is just prior to when CA progression is typically noted. Fine-tuning our understanding of the (potential) relationship between specific patterns of multilingualism and resulting neurocognitive adaptations is the first step to unlocking any future potential for capitalizing on it as a health initiative, which would have manifold societal repercussions.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.

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Coordinator

UNIVERSITETET I TROMSOE - NORGES ARKTISKE UNIVERSITET
Net EU contribution
€ 210 911,04
Address
HANSINE HANSENS VEG 14
9019 Tromso
Norway

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Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost
No data