Centre for Language and Brain Conducts First Neurolinguistic Field Study of Reading in Yakut

© HSE University

In July, a team from the HSE Centre for Language and Brain, in collaboration with the Centre for the Study, Preservation, and Development of Native Languages of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), conducted the first-ever neurolinguistic expedition to the village of Churapcha to study reading in the Yakut language using electroencephalography (EEG). For the first time, EEG data from 43 adults and behavioural data from 40 children was collected during the two-week expedition.

According to Olga Dragoy, Director of the HSE Centre for Language and Brain and head of the expedition, experimental linguistics worldwide still relies primarily on data from a small number of well-studied languages, mostly from the Indo-European family. As a result, she argues, it is methodologically unsound to draw universal conclusions about the nature of language from such a limited dataset. The objective of the Centre for Language and Brain is to expand both the geographical reach and linguistic diversity of experimental linguistics. Russia, with its multilingual population, offers unique opportunities for this, being home to languages from a wide range of families and groups.

Prior to this expedition, no psychoneurolinguistic research had ever been conducted using material from the Yakut language. The first experiment of this kind was carried out in Churapcha by a team consisting of Olga Dragoy, Olga Tuzhik, and Polina Pilipets from the Centre for Language and Brain and Nadezhda Vasilyeva from the Centre for the Study, Preservation and Development of Native Languages of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

The choice of the village of Churapcha was intentional, as 99% of the local population speaks Yakut, making the Churapcha district a unique setting for studying native language perception in the context of active Yakut–Russian bilingualism.

During the two-week expedition, the team collected EEG data from 43 adults and behavioural data from 40 children. Adult participants were shown sentences containing incorrect tense coordination. The researchers recorded event-related brain potentials using EEG, enabling them to observe how the brain responds to different types of language errors.

‘The Yakut language distinguishes between an immediate past tense—eg, üleleetim, meaning "I have been working (recently)"—and a distant past tense, as in üleleebitim, meaning "I worked (a while ago)." We are interested in how the brains of native Yakut speakers respond to tense agreement errors between adverbs and verbs,' explains Polina Pilipets, Research Assistant at the HSE Centre for Language and Brain.

For instance, some sentences in the experiment combined the adverb bylyryyn ('a year ago,' indicating distant past) with a verb in the immediate past tense, or paired the adverb subu aghay ('just now,' indicating immediate past) with a verb in the distant past tense.

Olga Tuzhik (left), Polina Pilipets (centre)

Photo by HSE University

'According to preliminary surveys of native speakers, sentences that combine a distant-past adverb with a verb in the immediate past tense are perceived as more "incorrect." We expect this distinction to be reflected in the EEG signals—specifically, in the form of larger evoked potential amplitudes in response to the more prominent error,' comments Olga Tuzhik, Research Assistant at the HSE Centre for Language and Brain.

Alongside the EEG experiment, the team conducted behavioural testing with 40 bilingual children who speak both Yakut and Russian. The children completed cognitive tasks in both languages, including the RAVLT and the Trail Making Test in Russian, as well as tasks in Yakut. During the expedition, the researchers, in collaboration with linguists and native speakers, adapted the Russian-language LexiMetr test for assessing children's reading skills in Yakut and collected data in both languages.

'Adapting diagnostic tools for the Yakut language is of great importance, as it enables early diagnosis and support of children with reading difficulties. These tools are essential for both teachers and psychologists,' emphasises Nadezhda Vasilyeva, Leading Researcher at the Centre for the Study, Preservation and Development of Native Languages of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

Nadezhda Vasilyeva (left), Olga Dragoy (centre)

Photo by HSE University

The expedition to Churapcha marked the first step toward a systematic study of the Yakut language using neurolinguistic methods. Moving forward, the researchers plan to examine aphasia in Russian–Yakut bilinguals. Similar studies have long been conducted in Russia with respect to the Russian language, but it remains unclear how aphasia manifests in Yakut or what specific language disorder patterns occur in native Yakut speakers. Yakutia offers all the necessary conditions for this research. In particular, the M.E. Nikolaev National Centre of Medicine is equipped with modern neurological and diagnostic facilities and has already expressed its willingness to collaborate.

'I would like to commend the excellent organisation of this expedition. It was the first time we experienced such a high level of collaboration: our colleagues from the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the administration of the Churapcha district ensured flawless logistics, accommodation, and participant recruitment and motivation. It was truly an inspiring experience,' Olga Dragoy concluded.