NEUROLINGUA: A Neuroimaging Database Tailored to Unraveling the Complexity of Multilingual Comprehension.

Database Title: NEUROLINGUA: A Neuroimaging Database Tailored to Unraveling the Complexity of Multilingual Comprehension.

Paper Title: Unraveling the Complexity of Multilingual Comprehension: Neuroimaging and Linguistic Profiling in 700+ Individuals

Authors: Ileana Quiñones a,b,c*†, Amaia Carrión-Castillo a,c*†, Iñigo Diez-Zabala b†, Laura de Frutos-Sagastuy a,d, Brendan Costello a,c, David Carcedo a, Lucía Manso-Ortega a,d, Maksim Slivka e, Abraham Sánchez a,d, Anique Schüller a,d, César Caballero-Gaudes a,c, Pedro M. Paz-Alonso a,c, Manuel Carreiras a,c,d

Author Affiliation:
a. Basque Center on Cognition, Brain, and Language (BCBL), 20009 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
b. Biogipuzkoa Health Research Institute, 20014 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
c. IKERBASQUE. Basque Foundation for Science, 48009 Bilbao, Spain
d. University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, 48940 Bilbao, Spain
e. Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, 0313 Oslo, Norway

† Equal contribution
* Correspondence: [e-mail], [e-mail]

Keywords: bilingualism, multilingualism, language comprehension, brain networks

Abstract: The neural mechanisms underlying language processing involve a well-defined brain network, including mainly left perisylvian areas. Yet, the extent of its individual variability remains largely unexplored, particularly in the context of bilingualism and multilingualism. Individual differences in linguistic profiles (e.g., age of acquisition, exposure, proficiency) provide an opportunity to assess how network topology varies according to sociolinguistic factors. To this aim, we developed NEUROLINGUA, a comprehensive database of functional and structural MRI data, enriched with sociodemographic, sociolinguistic, and behavioral information. The database includes 726 healthy individuals aged 18-82 immersed in a Basque-Spanish multilingual environment, ranging from near-monolingual individuals to those highly proficient in two or more languages. Each participant completed a functional MRI language localizer with both auditory and visual comprehension tasks, enabling cross-modal comparisons. Additionally, this localizer included auditory and visual sentences involving arithmetic problem-solving. Exploratory analyses confirmed associations between structural MRI, sociodemographic, and cognitive measures. Functional MRI data validated NEUROLINGUA’s capacity to localize the language comprehension network and capture linguistic profile effects. The combination of functional and structural MRI data with sociodemographic, sociolinguistic, and behavioral information in NEUROLINGUA offers an unparalleled resource to investigate the factors influencing language network adaptability and variability in diverse sociolinguistic contexts.

Usage Notes: The dataset featured in this paper, complete with downloadable materials and codes accessible at OSF, is freely available for use by academic researchers, institutions, and entities, on the condition that proper attribution is given to this work. It is important to note that the authors disclaim any responsibility for the appropriate or inappropriate use in clinical or other contexts. Neither the name of the copyright holder nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote commercial products derived from this dataset without specific prior written permission.

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