ABSTRACT
Objective To observe the difference in activated brain regions when speaking Mandarin and Uyghur.Methods Blood oxygenation level dependent magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD-fMRI) was used to scan the brains of 30 healthy,right handed volunteers-15 native Uyghur speakers and 15 native Mandarin speakers-while they performed semantic identification and verb generation tasks.The fMRI data were used to generate statistical parametric maps of the brain areas activated by each task.Results In the semantic identification task the left anterior cingulate gyrus (BA23) and the midline mesophyll wedge were activated significantly more strongly in the Uyghur group compared with the Mandarin speakers.In the verb generation task the left inferior temporal gyrus (BA37),the inferior parietal lobule,the fusiform gyrus and the parahippocampal gyrus in the Uyghur group were all significantly more active.The right superior temporal gyrus (BA38) in the Mandarin group was significantly more active during verb generation than among the Uyghur speakers.Conclusions The brain regions activated during semantic processing and verb generation differ when speaking Uyghur and Mandarin.The cingulate gyrus and the praecuneus are more involved in Uyghur-language semantic processing,especially the left anterior cingulate gyrus.The right hemisphere is more important in Mandarin processing than in Uyghur.