The Second Language (L2) Brain Lab supports L2 Acquisition and (Sentence) Processing research and is headed by Laurent Dekydtspotter. 

We address cutting-edge research questions about the neurocognitive bases of second language systems, primarily through electroencephalography (EEG) and behavioral approaches to sentence processing. Our current areas of focus include (A) the neurofunctional processes that implement basic language computations and (B) the encoding of novel features and expressions in second language acquisition. Our primary research methods include the analysis of oscillatory dynamics in various frequency ranges, broadband aperiodic activity, and functional connectivity. Under the view that the continued ability to acquire new languages across the lifespan reflects a central characteristic of language design, the L2 brain lab has a strong focus on syntax-semantics and morphosyntax in language externalization, as well as on the nature of the language faculty in the mind/brain to advance the biolinguistics enterprise.

Facilities

The Second Language Acquisition and Sentence Processing Lab is equipped with 4 PCs and a portable eye-tracking system on a laptop. We also have a PC workstation equipped with Matlab and EEGLAB.

News

• The new study "Cortical γ-oscillations implement basic language operations: Evidence from electroencephalography in anaphora during English filler-gap dependency processing" has been published the journal PLoS One.  Read the full article here: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0333820 
• Free access to a new publication on a γ operational workspace for syntax in L1 and L2 processing that could invite more L2 research across linguistic programs to address the nature of the language faculty. We provide evidence for a γ operational workspace enabling basic operations across syn-sem features, elements, and objects and argue that such an operational workspace is central to the ability to recruit cell ensembles in L2 circuit development in the parsing of new language inputs during and after L1 consolidation, offering a biological basis for a parsing-to-learn L2 acquisition model.

https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1lSZn3FHbnxOMt

Members

Recent Publications

• Dekydtspotter L, Miller AK, Meinert K, Cha J-h, Ahn JH, Swanson K, et al. (2025) Cortical γ-oscillations implement basic language operations: Evidence from electroencephalography in anaphora during English filler-gap dependency processing. PLoS One 20(10): e0333820. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0333820 
• Dekydtspotter, L., Miller, A. K., Iverson, M., Cha, J-H; Gilbert, J, A. Ahn, J. H., Meinert, K., Yang, L., & Zhang, H. (2025). A γ Operational Workspace for Syntax in L1 and L2 Processing: Evidence from Recursive Re-representations of Wh-fillers in French.  Journal of Neurolinguistics, Elsevier Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneuroling.2025.101281
• Dekydtspotter, L., Miller, K., Swanson, K., Cha, J.-H. Xiong, Y., Ahn, J.-H., Gilbert, J. A., Pope, D., Iverson, M., Meinert, K. (2024). Hierarchical neural processing in γ oscillations for syntactic and semantic operations accounts for a single epistemology in native and nonnative French. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2024.1372909/full
• Dekydtspotter, L., Miller, A. K., Iverson, M., Xiong, Y., Swanson, K., and Gilbert, C. (2023). The timing versus resource problem in nonnative sentence processing: evidence from a time-frequency analysis of anaphora resolution in successive wh-movement in native and nonnative speakers of French, https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0275305

Collaborations and Ongoing Projects

The status of syntax in L2 sentence processing: behavioral investigations

• Hyun-Kyoung Seo, IU Columbus
• Mark Black, Ph.D. candidate, French Linguistics
• Rodica Frimu, Ph.D. candidate, French Linguistics
• Amber Panwitz, Ph.D. candidate, French Linguistics
• Charlene Gilbert, Ph.D. track French Linguistics
• Alisha Reaves, Ph.D. track French Linguistics
• Cyntia Vernhet, Ph.D. track French Linguistics

Parser grammar relations: lexical access and learning

• Claire Renaud, Prof. Arizona State University
• Hyun-Jin Kim, Second Language Study
• Tanial Leal, postdoc Spanish & Portuguese
• Rodica Frimu, Ph.D. candidate, French Linguistics

Syntactic Chains: ERP investigations in French, Spanish and English

• Charlene Gilbert, Ph.D. track French Linguistics
• Alisha Reaves, Ph.D. track French Linguistics
• Cyntia Vernhet, Ph.D. track French Linguistics
• Tanial Leal, postdoc Spanish & Portuguese
• Mike Iverson, postdoc Second Language Studies
• Kate A, Miller, Prof. IUPU Indianapolis

This work made possible thanks to the shared facilities of the Imaging Research Facility, Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dr. Sharlene Newman, Director, and Isaiah Innis, EEG Technician.