Abstract—The aim of the study is to compare behavioral and EEG reactions in Turkic-speaking inhabitants of Siberia (Tuvinians and Yakuts) and Russians during the recognition of syntax errors in native and foreign languages. Sixty-three healthy aboriginals of the Tyva Republic, 29 inhabitants of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, and 55 Russians from Novosibirsk participated in the study. EEG were recorded during execution of error-recognition task in Russian and English language (in all participants) and in native languages (Tuvinian or Yakut Turkic-speaking inhabitants). Reaction time (RT) and quality of task execution were chosen as behavioral measures. Amplitude and cortical distribution of P300 and P600 peaks of ERP were used as a measure of speech-related brain activity. In Tuvinians, there were no differences in the P300 and P600 amplitudes as well as in cortical topology for Russian and Tuvinian languages, but there was a difference for English. In Yakuts, the P300 and P600 amplitudes and topology of ERP for Russian language were the same as Russians had for native language. In Yakuts, brain reactions during Yakut and English language comprehension had no difference, while the Russian language comprehension was differed from both Yakut and English. We found out that the Tuvinians recognized both Russian and Tuvinian as native languages, and English as a foreign language. The Yakuts recognized both English and Yakut as foreign languages, but Russian as a native language. According to the inquirer, both Tuvinians and Yakuts use the national language as a spoken language, whereas they do not use it for writing. It can well be a reason that Yakuts perceive the Yakut writing language as a foreign language while writing Russian as their native. Tatiana N. Astakhova and Tatiana A. Golovko are with the Novosibirsk National Research State University, Novosibirsk, Pirogova Str., 2, 630090, Russia (phone: +79134612743; fax: +7 (383) 335-97-54; e-mail: tastahova95@yandex.ru, golovkotatiana@bk.ru). Alexander E. Saprygin, Alexander N. Savostyanov and Lyubomir I. Aftanas are with the Institute of Physiology and Fundamental Medicine, Novosibirsk, Russia (e-mail: saprigyn@mail.ru, alexander.Savostyanov@ gmail.com, liaftanas@gmail.com). Mikhail S. Vlasov is with the Shukshin Altay State Academy of Education, Biysk, Russia (e-mail: vlasov_mikhailo@mail.ru). Natalia V. Borisova and Alexandra G. Karpova are with the North-Eastern Federal University, Yakutsk, Russia (e-mail: borinat@yandex.ru, karpova74@list.ru). Urana N. Kavai-ool and Elena Mokur-ool are with the Tuvan State University, Kyzyl, Russia (e-mail: dr.urana63@mail.ru, lerco-m@mail.ru). Nikolay A. Kolchanov is with the Institute of Cytology and Genetics of RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia (e-mail: kol@bionet.nsc.ru). Keywords—EEG, brain activity, syntactic analysis, native and foreign language. I. INTRODUCTION VENT-RELATED potentials (ERP) are widely used to study neuronal processes of human brain underlying the recognition of writing speech [1], [2]. Comparison of brain and behavioral reactions during native and foreign languages comprehension is an important theme of neurolinguistic studies [3]. The theme has a fundamental importance for understanding of brain processes related to the organization of human mind. In addition, there are studies in which it was revealed that psychiatric diseases could be shown in different ways during native and foreign languages comprehension [4]. This allows using results of the comparative study for diagnostic of mental disorders. Now many comparative studies of brain activity in native and foreign languages for different European languages speakers were made [5]. In addition, there are many studies dedicated to differences between European languages comprehension and Chinese and Japanese languages comprehension [4], [6], [7]. It was found out that topology of brain activity for European languages did not dependent on the language, but depended on whether the language of the test was native or foreign for a subject. On the other hand, brain activity during reading of written sentences in Chinese also had topological features, not depending on whether the language was native or foreign. However, the theme of comparison of brain activity in Turkic languages speakers in general, and in languages of Siberian inhabitants particularly, almost was not studied. The aim of the study was to explore brain bioelectrical activity during recognition of syntax errors in native and foreign languages in Turkic-speaking inhabitants of Siberia (Tuvinians and Yakuts) and Russian people living in Siberia. We chose two Turkic-speaking groups. The first group consisted of healthy young participants, predominantly students and university staff who were born and lived in the Tyva Republic. Tyva is located in the Southern Siberia near Mongolia border. The second group consisted of similar age, sex and social status people living in Sakha (Yakutia) Republic. Yakutia is located in the North-East of Siberia near Behavioral and EEG Reactions in Native Turkic-Speaking Inhabitants of Siberia and Siberian Russians during Recognition of Syntactic Errors in Sentences in Native and Foreign Languages Tatiana N. Astakhova, Alexander E. Saprygin, Tatiana A. Golovko, Alexander N. Savostyanov, Mikhail S. Vlasov, Natalia V. Borisova, Alexandera G. Karpova, Urana N. Kavai-ool, Elena Mokur-ool, Nikolay A. Kolchano, Lyubomir I. Aftanas E World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of Cognitive and Language Sciences Vol:9, No:12, 2015 4100 International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 9(12) 2015 scholar.waset.org/1307-6892/10002775 International Science Index, Cognitive and Language Sciences Vol:9, No:12, 2015 waset.org/Publication/10002775