Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41971748›Full record

ArticleNeurobiology of language (Cambridge, Mass.)2026

Impact of Technological Immersion and Sensorimotor Engagement on Performance and Brain Plasticity in Short-Term Second Language Vocabulary Training.

Theodor Rumetshofer, Lara Langensee, Ping Li, Jiayan Zhao, Alexander Klippel, Linda Wennberg, Markus Nilsson, Pia C Sundgren, Marianne Gullberg, Johan Mårtensson

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neurobiology of language (Cambridge, Mass.), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Theodor RumetshoferDepartment of Clinical Sciences Lund, Division of Logopedics, Phoniatrics and Audiology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0778-0703
Lara LangenseeDepartment of Clinical Sciences Lund, Division of Logopedics, Phoniatrics and Audiology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2379-6051
Ping LiDepartment of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, Faculty of Humanities, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3314-943X
Jiayan ZhaoLaboratory of Geo-information Science and Remote Sensing, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8533-6042
Alexander KlippelCultural Geography Research Group (GEO) and WANDER XR Experience Lab, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7171-492X
Linda WennbergDepartment of Medical Imaging and Physiology, Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4688-1507
Markus NilssonDiagnostic Radiology, Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3140-8223
Pia C SundgrenDepartment of Medical Imaging and Physiology, Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9237-1236
Marianne GullbergCentre for Languages and Literature, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3589-9605
Johan MårtenssonDepartment of Clinical Sciences Lund, Division of Logopedics, Phoniatrics and Audiology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1620-7527

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Classroom-based language learning has typically taken place in relatively static body positions, but research suggests that embodied learning through sensorimotor engagement and technical immersion, using virtual realities, can significantly enhance learning outcomes. Recent research has linked differences in the learning context to different cortical structures within the language learning network. In this study, we investigated the effect of technical immersion and sensorimotor engagement on performance in behavior and gray matter volume in the brain after a single 20-min language learning task. We tested two learning environments: a low-embodied desktop-based virtual environment (dVE) using a computer screen and a high-embodied immersive virtual reality (iVR) environment using a head-mounted display, as well as a no training group. We assessed morphological brain changes using magnetic resonance imaging at 7 Tesla before and after training. Participants with less sensorimotor engagement, compared to those with high, performed significantly better and showed higher gray matter volume in the left angular gyrus, a key hub region for vocabulary training within the language network, as well as in the left middle temporal gyrus, a region associated with lexical semantic processing. However, we could not identify a difference between the dVE and iVR groups. Our results suggest that both virtual platforms, although different in the level of immersion and whole-body involvement, rely on similar cortical structures within the language learning network. Furthermore, sensorimotor engagement might have a stronger influence on performance and related brain changes than the learning context itself.

Indexed as

immersionsecond language learningsensorimotor engagementultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)virtual realityvoxel-based morphometry

Identifiers

PMID41971748
PMCPMC13065095

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.