Executive Control in Bilingual Language Processing

By Antoni Rodríguez-Fornells, R. D. D. Balaguer, Thomas F. Münte. Language Learning, 2006

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Little is known in cognitive neuroscience about the brain mechanisms and brain representations involved in bilingual language processing. On the basis of previous studies on switching and bilingualism, it has been proposed that executive functions are engaged in the control and regulation of the languages in use. Here, we review the existing evidence regarding the implication of executive functions in bilingual processing using event-related brain potentials and functional magnetic resonance imaging. Several brain potential experiments have shown an increased negativity at frontocentral areas in bilinguals, probably related to the activation of medial prefrontal regions, for different tasks, languages, and populations. Enhanced cognitive control is required in bilinguals, which also involves the recruitment of the left dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex. The degree of activation of this mechanism is also discussed considering the similarity of languages in use at the lexical, grammatical, and phonological levels. We propose that the prefrontal cortex probably mediates cognitive control in bilingual speakers through the interplay between a top-down selection-suppression mechanism and a local inhibitory mechanism in charge of changing the degree of selection-suppression of the different lexicons.

Subfields: Cognitive Neuroscience, Developmental and Educational Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/16ce748c795b708cc01fcaed1d6a9df2b322b45c

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Citations in the corpus

Cognitive Benefits and Costs of Bilingualism in Elementary School Students: The Case of Mathematical Word Problems. (2011, background): “…improved ability of executive control due to their daily practice of keeping their two language systems apart in everyday situations (Bialystok, 1988; 1999; 2009; Bialystok et al., 2006, 2008; Carlson & Meltzoff, 2008; Cromdal, 1999; Martin-Rhee & Bialystok, 2008; Rodriguez-Fornells et al., 2006).”
Where does the delay in L2 picture naming come from? Psycholinguistic and neurocognitive evidence on second language word production (2011, background): “Increased negativities have been observed when comparing bilinguals and monolinguals in naming tasks without language switches (Rodriguez-Fornells, de Diego Balaguer, & Munte, 2006 ) or for predictable switch trials in bilinguals (Jackson, Swainson, Cunnington, & Jackson, 2001 ; Verhoef et al, 200”