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Brito NH, Greaves A, Leon-Santos A, Fifer WP, Noble KG. Associations between Bilingualism and Memory Generalization During Infancy: Does Socioeconomic Status Matter? BILINGUALISM (CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND) 2021; 24:231-240. [PMID: 33776545 PMCID: PMC7995805 DOI: 10.1017/s1366728920000334] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Past studies have reported memory differences between monolingual and bilingual infants (Brito & Barr, 2012; Singh et al., 2015). A common critique within the bilingualism literature is the absence of socioeconomic indicators and/or a lack of socioeconomic diversity among participants. Previous research has demonstrated robust bilingual differences in memory generalization from 6- to 24-months of age. The goal of the current study was to examine if these findings would replicate in a sample of 18-month-old monolingual and bilingual infants from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds (N = 92). Results indicate no differences between language groups on working memory or cued recall, but significant differences for memory generalization, with bilingual infants outperforming monolingual infants regardless of socioeconomic status (SES). These findings replicate and extend results from past studies (Brito & Barr, 2012; Brito, Sebastián-Gallés, & Barr, 2015) and suggest possible differential learning patterns dependent on linguistic experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie H Brito
- Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, 10003
| | - Ashley Greaves
- Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, 10003
| | - Ana Leon-Santos
- Department of Biobehavioral Sciences, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027
| | - William P Fifer
- Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY 10032
- Division of Developmental Neuroscience, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032
| | - Kimberly G Noble
- Department of Biobehavioral Sciences, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027
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Asselborn T, Johal W, Tleubayev B, Zhexenova Z, Dillenbourg P, McBride C, Sandygulova A. The transferability of handwriting skills: from the Cyrillic to the Latin alphabet. NPJ SCIENCE OF LEARNING 2021; 6:6. [PMID: 33623040 PMCID: PMC7902616 DOI: 10.1038/s41539-021-00084-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2020] [Accepted: 01/15/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Do handwriting skills transfer when a child writes in two different scripts, such as the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets? Are our measures of handwriting skills intrinsically bound to one alphabet or will a child who faces handwriting difficulties in one script experience similar difficulties in the other script? To answer these questions, 190 children from grades 1-4 were asked to copy a short text using both the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets on a digital tablet. A recent change of policy in Kazakhstan gave us an opportunity to measure transfer, as the Latin-based Kazakh alphabet has not yet been introduced. Therefore, pupils in grade 1 had a 6-months experience in Cyrillic, and pupils in grades 2, 3, and 4 had 1.5, 2.5, and 3.5 years of experience in Cyrillic, respectively. This unique situation created a quasi-experimental situation that allowed us to measure the influence of the number of years spent practicing Cyrillic on the quality of handwriting in the Latin alphabet. The results showed that some of the differences between the two scripts were constant across all grades. These differences thus reflect the intrinsic differences in the handwriting dynamics between the two alphabets. For instance, several features related to the pen pressure on the tablet are quite different. Other features, however, revealed decreasing differences between the two scripts across grades. While we found that the quality of Cyrillic writing increased from grades 1-4, due to increased practice, we also found that the quality of the Latin writing increased as well, despite the fact that all of the pupils had the same absence of experience in writing in Latin. We can therefore interpret this improvement in Latin script as an indicator of the transfer of fine motor control skills from Cyrillic to Latin. This result is especially surprising given that one could instead hypothesize a negative transfer, i.e., that the finger controls automated for one alphabet would interfere with those required by the other alphabet. One interesting side-effect of these findings is that the algorithms that we developed for the diagnosis of handwriting difficulties among French-speaking children could be relevant for other alphabets, paving the way for the creation of a cross-lingual model for the detection of handwriting difficulties.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Wafa Johal
- CHILI Lab, EPFL, Route Cantonale, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Faculty of Engineering, UNSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Bolat Tleubayev
- Department of Robotics and Mechatronics, School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Nazarbayev University, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
| | - Zhanel Zhexenova
- Department of Robotics and Mechatronics, School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Nazarbayev University, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
| | | | - Catherine McBride
- Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Anara Sandygulova
- Department of Robotics and Mechatronics, School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Nazarbayev University, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
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53
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Valencia GN, Khoo S, Wong T, Ta J, Hou B, Barsalou LW, Hazen K, Lin HH, Wang S, Brefczynski-Lewis JA, Frum CA, Lewis JW. Chinese-English bilinguals show linguistic-perceptual links in the brain associating short spoken phrases with corresponding real-world natural action sounds by semantic category. LANGUAGE, COGNITION AND NEUROSCIENCE 2021; 36:773-790. [PMID: 34568509 PMCID: PMC8462789 DOI: 10.1080/23273798.2021.1883073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2020] [Accepted: 01/26/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Higher cognitive functions such as linguistic comprehension must ultimately relate to perceptual systems in the brain, though how and why this forms remains unclear. Different brain networks that mediate perception when hearing real-world natural sounds has recently been proposed to respect a taxonomic model of acoustic-semantic categories. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with Chinese/English bilingual listeners, the present study explored whether reception of short spoken phrases, in both Chinese (Mandarin) and English, describing corresponding sound-producing events would engage overlapping brain regions at a semantic category level. The results revealed a double-dissociation of cortical regions that were preferential for representing knowledge of human versus environmental action events, whether conveyed through natural sounds or the corresponding spoken phrases depicted by either language. These findings of cortical hubs exhibiting linguistic-perceptual knowledge links at a semantic category level should help to advance neurocomputational models of the neurodevelopment of language systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriela N. Valencia
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University (WVU), Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
| | - Stephanie Khoo
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University (WVU), Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
| | - Ting Wong
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University (WVU), Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
| | - Joseph Ta
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University (WVU), Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
| | - Bob Hou
- Department of Radiology, Center for Advanced Imaging
| | | | - Kirk Hazen
- Department of English, West Virginia University
| | | | - Shuo Wang
- Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
| | - Julie A. Brefczynski-Lewis
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University (WVU), Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
| | - Chris A. Frum
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University (WVU), Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
| | - James W. Lewis
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University (WVU), Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
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Kissler J, Bromberek-Dyzman K. Mood Induction Differently Affects Early Neural Correlates of Evaluative Word Processing in L1 and L2. Front Psychol 2021; 11:588902. [PMID: 33510673 PMCID: PMC7835133 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.588902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2020] [Accepted: 12/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
We investigate how mood inductions impact the neural processing of emotional adjectives in one's first language (L1) and a formally acquired second language (L2). Twenty-three student participants took part in an EEG experiment with two separate sessions. Happy or sad mood inductions were followed by series of individually presented positive, negative, or neutral adjectives in L1 (German) or L2 (English) and evaluative decisions had to be performed. Visual event-related potentials elicited during word processing were analyzed during N1 (125-200 ms), Early Posterior Negativities (EPN, 200-300 ms and 300-400 ms), N400 (350-450 ms), and the Late Positive Potential (LPP, 500-700 ms). Mood induction differentially impacted word processing already on the N1, with stronger left lateralization following happy than sad mood induction in L1, but not in L2. Moreover, regardless of language, early valence modulation was found following happy but not sad mood induction. Over occipital areas, happy mood elicited larger amplitudes of the mood-congruent positive words, whereas over temporal areas mood-incongruent negative words had higher amplitudes. In the EPN-windows, effects of mood and valence largely persisted, albeit with no difference between L1 and L2. N400 amplitude was larger for L2 than for L1. On the LPP, mood-incongruent adjectives elicited larger amplitudes than mood-congruent ones. Results reveal a remarkably early valence-general effect of mood induction on cortical processing, in line with previous reports of N1 as a first marker of contextual integration. Interestingly, this effect differed between L1 and L2. Moreover, mood-congruent effects were found in perceptual processing and mood-incongruent ERP amplification in higher-order evaluative stages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johanna Kissler
- Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
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Backer KC, Bortfeld H. Characterizing Bilingual Effects on Cognition: The Search for Meaningful Individual Differences. Brain Sci 2021; 11:81. [PMID: 33435472 PMCID: PMC7827854 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11010081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2020] [Revised: 12/22/2020] [Accepted: 01/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
A debate over the past decade has focused on the so-called bilingual advantage-the idea that bilingual and multilingual individuals have enhanced domain-general executive functions, relative to monolinguals, due to competition-induced monitoring of both processing and representation from the task-irrelevant language(s). In this commentary, we consider a recent study by Pot, Keijzer, and de Bot (2018), which focused on the relationship between individual differences in language usage and performance on an executive function task among multilingual older adults. We discuss their approach and findings in light of a more general movement towards embracing complexity in this domain of research, including individuals' sociocultural context and position in the lifespan. The field increasingly considers interactions between bilingualism/multilingualism and cognition, employing measures of language use well beyond the early dichotomous perspectives on language background. Moreover, new measures of bilingualism and analytical approaches are helping researchers interrogate the complexities of specific processing issues. Indeed, our review of the bilingualism/multilingualism literature confirms the increased appreciation researchers have for the range of factors-beyond whether someone speaks one, two, or more languages-that impact specific cognitive processes. Here, we highlight some of the most salient of these, and incorporate suggestions for a way forward that likewise encompasses neural perspectives on the topic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristina C. Backer
- Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced, CA 95343, USA
| | - Heather Bortfeld
- Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced, CA 95343, USA
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of California, Merced, CA 95343, USA
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56
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Ferreira RA, Vinson D, Dijkstra T, Vigliocco G. Word learning in two languages: Neural overlap and representational differences. Neuropsychologia 2020; 150:107703. [PMID: 33307100 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107703] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2020] [Revised: 11/25/2020] [Accepted: 11/30/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
We investigated the neural basis of newly learned words in Spanish as a mother tongue (L1) and English as a second language (L2). Participants acquired new names for real but unfamiliar concepts in both languages over the course of two days. On day 3, they completed a semantic categorization task during fMRI scanning. The results revealed largely overlapping brain regions for newly learned words in Spanish and English. However, Spanish showed a heightened BOLD response within prefrontal cortex (PFC), due to increased competition of existing lexical representations. In contrast, English displayed higher activity than Spanish within primary auditory cortex, which suggests increased phonological processing due to more irregular phonological-orthographic mappings. Overall, these results suggest that novel words are learned similarly in Spanish L1 and English L2, and that they are represented in largely overlapping brain regions. However, they differ in terms of cognitive control and phonological processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberto A Ferreira
- Facultad de Educación, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
| | - David Vinson
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Ton Dijkstra
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Gabriella Vigliocco
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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57
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Learning a Second Language in Adulthood Changes Subcortical Neural Encoding. Neural Plast 2020; 2020:8836161. [PMID: 33144853 PMCID: PMC7596456 DOI: 10.1155/2020/8836161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2020] [Revised: 09/27/2020] [Accepted: 09/30/2020] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Second language learning has been shown to impact and reshape the central nervous system, anatomically and functionally. Most of the studies on second language learning and neuroplasticity have been focused on cortical areas, whereas the subcortical neural encoding mechanism and its relationship with L2 learning have not been examined extensively. The purpose of this study was to utilize frequency-following response (FFR) to examine if and how learning a tonal language in adulthood changes the subcortical neural encoding in hearing adults. Three groups of subjects were recruited: native speakers of Mandarin Chinese (native speakers (NS)), learners of the language (L2 learners), and those with no experience (native speakers of foreign languages (NSFL)). It is hypothesized that differences would exist in FFRs obtained from the three language experience groups. Results revealed that FFRs obtained from L2 learners were found to be more robust than the NSFL group, yet not on a par with the NS group. Such results may suggest that in human adulthood, subcortical neural encoding ability may be trainable with the acquisition of a new language and that neuroplasticity at the brainstem level can indeed be influenced by L2 learning.
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58
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Figueiredo S. Comparison of Cognitive Performance Between Two Generations of Immigrant School-Aged Children: Child Development Change Over Time. JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE EDUCATION AND PSYCHOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.1891/jcep-d-18-00033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The objective of this research is to comparatively analyze the performance of two generations of children (as first generation of immigrants) attending primary and secondary education in different geographical areas, evaluated in different decades but with equivalent age brackets. Two samples of 169 immigrant school populations in Portugal, with fair immigration criteria, were evaluated for the same verbal reasoning and auditory discrimination tasks in different periods (cohort 1—2001–2009 and cohort 2—2013–2017). The aim is to verify if age remains a differentiating variable of the performance and acuity, as maintained by the critical period hypothesis. That performance referring to two samples evaluated in second language decoding tasks, in different periods. Additionally, to evaluate the emergence of other factors that explain proficiency, cognitive and linguistic discrimination behaviors of two generations of immigrant students in Portugal. The results contribute to a new direction in the analysis and intervention for school groups that are highly diverse in terms of mother tongue and nationalities. The data point to a greater divergence of performance and difficulties not according only to the disparity of ages, but considering the nationality (country of origin and respective educational system). It is also clear, despite just the difference of a decade, how subjects are changing their immigration routes and their cognitive and social development.
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59
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Giroud N, Baum SR, Gilbert AC, Phillips NA, Gracco V. Earlier age of second language learning induces more robust speech encoding in the auditory brainstem in adults, independent of amount of language exposure during early childhood. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2020; 207:104815. [PMID: 32535187 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2020.104815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2019] [Revised: 05/20/2020] [Accepted: 05/27/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Learning a second language (L2) at a young age is a driving factor of functional neuroplasticity in the auditory brainstem. To date, it remains unclear whether these effects remain stable until adulthood and to what degree the amount of exposure to the L2 in early childhood might affect their outcome. We compared three groups of adult English-French bilinguals in their ability to categorize English vowels in relation to their frequency following responses (FFR) evoked by the same vowels. At the time of testing, cognitive abilities as well as fluency in both languages were matched between the (1) simultaneous bilinguals (SIM, N = 18); (2) sequential bilinguals with L1-English (N = 14); and (3) sequential bilinguals with L1-French (N = 11). Our results show that the L1-English group show sharper category boundaries in identification of the vowels compared to the L1-French group. Furthermore, the same pattern was reflected in the FFRs (i.e., larger FFR responses in L1-English > SIM > L1-French), while again only the difference between the L1-English and the L1-French group was statistically significant; nonetheless, there was a trend towards larger FFR in SIM compared to L1-French. Our data extends previous literature showing that exposure to a language during the first years of life induces functional neuroplasticity in the auditory brainstem that remains stable until at least young adulthood. Furthermore, the findings suggest that amount of exposure (i.e., 100% vs. 50%) to that language does not differentially shape the robustness of the perceptual abilities or the auditory brainstem encoding of phonetic categories of the language. Statement of significance: Previous studies have indicated that early age of L2 acquisition induces functional neuroplasticity in the auditory brainstem during processing of the L2. This study compared three groups of adult bilinguals who differed in their age of L2 acquisition as well as the amount of exposure to the L2 during early childhood. We demonstrate for the first time that the neuroplastic effect in the brainstem remains stable until young adulthood and that the amount of L2 exposure does not influence behavioral or brainstem plasticity. Our study provides novel insights into low-level auditory plasticity as a function of varying bilingual experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathalie Giroud
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Research in Human Development (CRDH), Concordia University, Montréal, Canada; Centre for Research on Brain, Language, and Music (CRBLM), McGill University, Montréal, Canada.
| | - Shari R Baum
- Centre for Research on Brain, Language, and Music (CRBLM), McGill University, Montréal, Canada; School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, McGill University, Montréal, Canada
| | - Annie C Gilbert
- Centre for Research on Brain, Language, and Music (CRBLM), McGill University, Montréal, Canada; School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, McGill University, Montréal, Canada.
| | - Natalie A Phillips
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Research in Human Development (CRDH), Concordia University, Montréal, Canada; Centre for Research on Brain, Language, and Music (CRBLM), McGill University, Montréal, Canada; Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, Montréal, Canada.
| | - Vincent Gracco
- Centre for Research on Brain, Language, and Music (CRBLM), McGill University, Montréal, Canada; School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, McGill University, Montréal, Canada; Haskins Laboratories, Yale University, New Haven, United States
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60
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Xue J, Li B, Yan R, Gruen JR, Feng T, Joanisse MF, Malins JG. The temporal dynamics of first and second language processing: ERPs to spoken words in Mandarin-English bilinguals. Neuropsychologia 2020; 146:107562. [PMID: 32682798 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107562] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2019] [Revised: 07/12/2020] [Accepted: 07/13/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
The dynamics of bilingual spoken word recognition remain poorly characterized, especially for individuals who speak two languages that are highly dissimilar in their phonological and morphological structure. The present study compared first language (L1) and second language (L2) spoken word processing within a group of adult Mandarin-English bilinguals (N = 34; ages 18-25). Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while participants completed the same cross-modal matching task separately in their L1 Mandarin and L2 English. This task consisted of deciding whether spoken words matched pictures of items. Pictures and spoken words either matched (e.g., Mandarin: TANG2-tang2; English: BELL-bell), or differed in word-initial phonemes (e.g., Mandarin: TANG2-lang2; English: BELL-shell), word-final phonemes (e.g., Mandarin: TANG2-tao2; English: BELL-bed), or whole words (e.g., Mandarin: TANG2-xia1: English: BELL-ham). Each mismatch type was associated with a pattern of modulation of the Phonological Mapping Negativity, the N400, and the Late N400 that was distinct from those of the other mismatch types yet similar between the two languages. This was interpreted as evidence of incremental processing with similar temporal dynamics in both languages. These findings support models of spoken word recognition in bilingual individuals that adopt an interactive-activation framework for both L1 and L2 processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jin Xue
- University of Science and Technology Beijing, School of Foreign Studies, 30 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100083, China
| | - Banban Li
- University of Science and Technology Beijing, School of Foreign Studies, 30 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100083, China
| | - Rong Yan
- Institute of Leadership and Education Advanced Development, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, 215123, China
| | - Jeffrey R Gruen
- Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Yale Child Health Research Center, 464 Congress Avenue, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA; Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Genetics, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
| | - Tianli Feng
- Beijing International Studies University, School of English Language, Literature and Culture, 1 Dingfuzhuan Nanli, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100024, China
| | - Marc F Joanisse
- The University of Western Ontario, Department of Psychology & Brain and Mind Institute, Western Interdisciplinary Research Building, London, N6A 3K7, Canada; Haskins Laboratories, 300 George St. Suite 900, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Jeffrey G Malins
- Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Yale Child Health Research Center, 464 Congress Avenue, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA; Haskins Laboratories, 300 George St. Suite 900, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA; Georgia State University, Department of Psychology, P.O. Box 5010, Atlanta, GA, 30302, USA.
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61
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Kalashnikova M, Pejovic J, Carreiras M. The effects of bilingualism on attentional processes in the first year of life. Dev Sci 2020; 24:e13011. [DOI: 10.1111/desc.13011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2019] [Revised: 06/22/2020] [Accepted: 06/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Jovana Pejovic
- BCBL – Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language San Sebastian Spain
- University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU San Sebastian Spain
- Laboratorio de Fonetica & Lisbon Baby Lab Centro de Linguistica Faculdade de Letras Universidade de Lisboa Lisboa Portugal
| | - Manuel Carreiras
- BCBL – Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language San Sebastian Spain
- University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU San Sebastian Spain
- Ikerbasque – Basque Foundation for Science Bilbao Spain
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62
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Ma X, Ma X, Li P, Liu Y. Differences in Working Memory With Emotional Distraction Between Proficient and Non-proficient Bilinguals. Front Psychol 2020; 11:1414. [PMID: 32625156 PMCID: PMC7314943 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2020] [Accepted: 05/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The impact of bilingual education and bilingual experience on working memory has been an important and controversial issue in the field of psycholinguistics. Taking Chinese-English bilinguals as an example, this study aims to investigate the differences in emotional working memory between proficient and non-proficient bilinguals by using delayed matching-to-sample task paradigm and the more complex N-back task in emotional contexts. The results show that proficient bilinguals may have better performance on both of these two working memory tasks than non-proficient bilinguals, and the advantage effects can be more apparent under high memory load conditions. In addition, the negative emotion context could have a positive impact on complex N-back tasks. This study supports the notion that bilingual experience can promote the development of an individual's cognitive ability and enable individuals to possess more advantages in working memory even in the presence of emotional contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xie Ma
- Faculty of Education, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
- Key Laboratory of Educational Information for Nationalities, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
| | - Xiao Ma
- Faculty of Education, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
- Key Laboratory of Educational Information for Nationalities, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
| | - Peng Li
- Faculty of Education, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
- Key Laboratory of Educational Information for Nationalities, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
| | - Yan Liu
- Faculty of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, China
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63
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Erkoreka L, Ozamiz-Etxebarria N, Ruiz O, Ballesteros J. Assessment of Psychiatric Symptomatology in Bilingual Psychotic Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2020; 17:ijerph17114137. [PMID: 32531946 PMCID: PMC7312010 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17114137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2020] [Revised: 06/04/2020] [Accepted: 06/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Language plays an important role in psychiatric conditions. Language disturbances are core symptoms of psychiatric ailments, and language is the main diagnostic tool to assess psychopathological severity. Although the importance of language in psychiatry, the effect of bilingualism, and more specifically of using the mother language or a later acquired language at the time of assessing psychotic symptoms, has been scarcely studied and, thus, remains unclear. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to ascertain whether differences exist in the severity of psychopathology in psychotic patients when assessed either in the mother language or in an acquired language. Of 3121 retrieved references from three databases (PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Embase) and complementary searches, four studies—including 283 psychotic patients—were included in the review. The meta-analytical combined effect suggested that more overall symptomatology is detected when clinical assessment is conducted in the mother language rather than in the acquired language (very low quality evidence, random effects model standardized mean difference (SMD) 0.44, 95% CI = 0.19 to 0.69, p value = 0.0006, I2 = 90%). Considering the growing migration flows and the increasing number of bilingual people in the world population, the effect of the chosen language at the time of conducting psychopathological assessments of psychotic patients is a clinically relevant issue. Based on our findings, we recommend that clinical interviews with bilingual psychotic patients should be conducted, when feasible, in the patient’s mother language.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leire Erkoreka
- Department of Neurosciences, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, 48940 Leioa, Spain; (L.E.); (J.B.)
- Department of Psychiatry, Galdakao-Usansolo Hospital, Osakidetza Basque Health Service, 48960 Galdakao, Spain
- Department of Mental Health, BioCruces-Bizkaia Health Research Institute, 48903 Barakaldo, Spain;
| | - Naiara Ozamiz-Etxebarria
- Department of Neurosciences, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, 48940 Leioa, Spain; (L.E.); (J.B.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Onintze Ruiz
- Department of Mental Health, BioCruces-Bizkaia Health Research Institute, 48903 Barakaldo, Spain;
| | - Javier Ballesteros
- Department of Neurosciences, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, 48940 Leioa, Spain; (L.E.); (J.B.)
- Department of Mental Health, BioCruces-Bizkaia Health Research Institute, 48903 Barakaldo, Spain;
- CIBERSAM, 48940 Leioa, Spain
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64
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Ou J, Li W, Yang Y, Wang N, Xu M. Earlier second language acquisition is associated with greater neural pattern dissimilarity between the first and second languages. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2020; 203:104740. [PMID: 31982650 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2019.104740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2019] [Revised: 11/01/2019] [Accepted: 12/20/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
It is controversial as to how age of acquisition (AoA) and proficiency level of the second language influence the similarities and differences between the first (L1) and the second (L2) language brain networks. In this functional MRI study, we used representational similarity analysis to quantify the degree of neural similarity between L1 and L2 during sentence comprehension tasks in 26 adult Chinese-English bilinguals, who learned English as L2 at different ages and had different proficiency levels. We found that although L1 and L2 processing activated similar brain regions, greater neural pattern dissimilarity between L1 and L2 was associated with earlier AoA in the left inferior and middle frontal gyri after the effect of proficiency level was controlled. On the other hand, the association between proficiency level and the neural pattern dissimilarity between L1 and L2 was not significant when the effect of AoA was partialled out. The results suggest that the activity pattern of L2 is more distinct from that of L1 in bilingual individuals who acquired L2 earlier and that the contribution of AoA to the neural pattern dissimilarity is greater than that of proficiency level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jian Ou
- Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China; School of Biomedical Engineering, Shenzhen University Health Science Center, Shenzhen 518060, China; Center for Language and Brain, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518057, China
| | - Wenlong Li
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Shenzhen University Health Science Center, Shenzhen 518060, China; Center for Language and Brain, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518057, China
| | - Yang Yang
- Center for Brain Science and Learning Difficulties, Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Nizhuan Wang
- Artificial Intelligence and Neuro-informatics Engineering (ARINE) Laboratory, School of Computer Engineering, Jiangsu Ocean University, Lianyungang 222002, China
| | - Min Xu
- Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China; Center for Language and Brain, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518057, China.
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65
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Bilingualism in Primary Progressive Aphasia: A Retrospective Study on Clinical and Language Characteristics. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord 2020; 33:47-53. [PMID: 30640254 DOI: 10.1097/wad.0000000000000288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive deterioration of language. Being rare, reports of PPA in multilingual individuals are scarce, despite more than half of the world population being multilingual. METHODS We describe clinical characteristics of 33 bilingual patients with PPA, including symptom presentation and language deficits pattern in their first (L1) and second language (L2), through a systematic literature review and new cases retrospectively identified in 5 countries. RESULTS In total, 14 patients presented with nonfluent/agrammatic variant, 6 with semantic variant, and 13 with logopenic variant, with a median symptom onset of 2 years. Word-finding difficulties was the first symptom in 65% of all cases, initially noticed in L2, and not always the dominant language. Our group had 22 different languages as L1, and 9 as L2. At the whole-group level there was a tendency for parallel impairment in both languages, in line with the shared bilingual neural substrate hypothesis, but each PPA variant showed some heterogeneity. DISCUSSION Each PPA variant showed heterogeneity, showing the need for comprehensive language and cognitive assessment across languages, as well as further clarification on the role of language mediators.
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66
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Stepanov A, Kodrič KB, Stateva P. The role of working memory in children's ability for prosodic discrimination. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0229857. [PMID: 32150570 PMCID: PMC7062260 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0229857] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2019] [Accepted: 02/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous research established that young children are sensitive to prosodic cues discriminating between syntactic structures of otherwise similarly sounding sentences in a language unknown to them. In this study, we explore the role of working memory that children might deploy for the purpose of the sentence-level prosodic discrimination. Nine-year old Slovenian monolingual and bilingual children (N = 70) were tested on a same-different prosodic discrimination task in a language unknown to them (French) and on the working memory measures in the form of forward and backward digit span and non-word repetition tasks. The results suggest that both the storage and processing components of the working memory are involved in the prosodic discrimination task.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arthur Stepanov
- Center for Cognitive Science of Language, University of Nova Gorica, Nova Gorica, Slovenia
| | - Karmen Brina Kodrič
- Center for Cognitive Science of Language, University of Nova Gorica, Nova Gorica, Slovenia
| | - Penka Stateva
- Center for Cognitive Science of Language, University of Nova Gorica, Nova Gorica, Slovenia
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67
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Antovich DM, Graf Estes K. One language or two? Navigating cross-language conflict in statistical word segmentation. Dev Sci 2020; 23:e12960. [PMID: 32145042 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12960] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2019] [Revised: 01/22/2020] [Accepted: 02/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Bilingual infants must navigate the similarities and differences between their languages to achieve native proficiency in childhood. Bilinguals learning to find individual words in fluent speech face the possibility of conflicting cues to word boundaries across their languages. Despite this challenge, bilingual infants typically begin to segment and learn words in both languages around the same time as monolinguals. It is possible that early bilingual experience may support infants' abilities to track regularities relevant for word segmentation separately across their languages. In a dual speech stream statistical word segmentation task, we assessed whether 16-month-old infants could track syllable co-occurrence regularities in two artificial languages despite conflicting information across the languages. We found that bilingual, but not monolingual, infants were able to segment the dual speech streams using statistical regularities. Although the two language groups did not differ on secondary measures of cognitive and linguistic development, bilingual infants' real-world experience with bilingual speakers was predictive of their performance in the dual language statistical segmentation task.
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68
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Kumar K, Sreeshma R, Kalaiah MK. A comparison of temporal processing and spectral processing abilities of monolingual, bilingual and multilingual children. Int J Audiol 2020; 59:501-505. [PMID: 32022604 DOI: 10.1080/14992027.2020.1720921] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Objective: This study examined the effects of bilingualism and multilingualism on supra-threshold auditory processing abilities in children.Design: Cross-sectional study.Study sample: Ninety children participated in the study, based on the number of languages they know children were assigned into three groups, i.e. monolingual, bilingual and multilingual. Amplitude modulation detection threshold, gap detection threshold, pitch discrimination threshold and spectral ripple discrimination threshold were measured.Results: Results showed superior supra-threshold auditory processing abilities among multilingual and bilingual children than monolingual children. The results further showed that, the supra-threshold auditory processing of multilingual children was better than bilingual children.Conclusion: This finding suggests that knowledge of multiple languages improves supra-threshold auditory processing abilities. This study adds to the growing body of literature supporting the superior supra-threshold auditory processing abilities among bilingual and multilingual individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaushlendra Kumar
- Department of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
| | - Raghavan Sreeshma
- Department of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
| | - Mohan Kumar Kalaiah
- Department of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
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69
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Functional lateralization of tool-sound and action-word processing in a bilingual brain. HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY REPORT 2020. [DOI: 10.5114/hpr.2020.92718] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
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70
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Bilingualism as a gradient measure modulates functional connectivity of language and control networks. Neuroimage 2020; 205:116306. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2019] [Revised: 10/17/2019] [Accepted: 10/21/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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71
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Mercure E, Evans S, Pirazzoli L, Goldberg L, Bowden-Howl H, Coulson-Thaker K, Beedie I, Lloyd-Fox S, Johnson MH, MacSweeney M. Language Experience Impacts Brain Activation for Spoken and Signed Language in Infancy: Insights From Unimodal and Bimodal Bilinguals. NEUROBIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE (CAMBRIDGE, MASS.) 2020; 1:9-32. [PMID: 32274469 PMCID: PMC7145445 DOI: 10.1162/nol_a_00001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Recent neuroimaging studies suggest that monolingual infants activate a left-lateralized frontotemporal brain network in response to spoken language, which is similar to the network involved in processing spoken and signed language in adulthood. However, it is unclear how brain activation to language is influenced by early experience in infancy. To address this question, we present functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) data from 60 hearing infants (4 to 8 months of age): 19 monolingual infants exposed to English, 20 unimodal bilingual infants exposed to two spoken languages, and 21 bimodal bilingual infants exposed to English and British Sign Language (BSL). Across all infants, spoken language elicited activation in a bilateral brain network including the inferior frontal and posterior temporal areas, whereas sign language elicited activation in the right temporoparietal area. A significant difference in brain lateralization was observed between groups. Activation in the posterior temporal region was not lateralized in monolinguals and bimodal bilinguals, but right lateralized in response to both language modalities in unimodal bilinguals. This suggests that the experience of two spoken languages influences brain activation for sign language when experienced for the first time. Multivariate pattern analyses (MVPAs) could classify distributed patterns of activation within the left hemisphere for spoken and signed language in monolinguals (proportion correct = 0.68; p = 0.039) but not in unimodal or bimodal bilinguals. These results suggest that bilingual experience in infancy influences brain activation for language and that unimodal bilingual experience has greater impact on early brain lateralization than bimodal bilingual experience.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Samuel Evans
- University College London, London, UK
- University of Westminster, London, UK
| | - Laura Pirazzoli
- Birkbeck - University of London, London, UK
- Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, US
| | | | - Harriet Bowden-Howl
- University College London, London, UK
- University of Plymouth, Plymouth, Devon, UK
| | | | | | - Sarah Lloyd-Fox
- Birkbeck - University of London, London, UK
- University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK
| | - Mark H. Johnson
- Birkbeck - University of London, London, UK
- University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK
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72
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Novitskiy N, Shtyrov Y, Myachykov A. Conflict Resolution Ability in Late Bilinguals Improves With Increased Second-Language Proficiency: ANT Evidence. Front Psychol 2019; 10:2825. [PMID: 31920860 PMCID: PMC6934129 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02825] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2019] [Accepted: 11/29/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Experimental data supporting the claim that bilingual speakers have superior cognitive control abilities are often questioned with respect to certain methodological limitations. One such limitation is the use of between-group design, potentially confounding bilingual status with other factors (e.g., socioeconomic status). Here, we used a homogeneous sample of 57 young adult Russian-English late unbalanced bilinguals who were administrated Attention Network Task (ANT) together with an L2 proficiency task. We tested the correlation of L2 vocabulary performance with conflict and alertness measures and overall reaction times in ANT performance. Overall, participants demonstrated better conflict resolution with the increase in their second language competence, with 8% of variance in conflict resolution explained by L2 proficiency. Our results support the notion of regular correspondence between bilingualism and cognitive control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikolay Novitskiy
- Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, China
- Brain and Mind Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, China
| | - Yury Shtyrov
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Laboratory of Behavioural Neurodynamics, Saint Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Andriy Myachykov
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
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73
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Kim S, Jeon SG, Nam Y, Kim HS, Yoo DH, Moon M. Bilingualism for Dementia: Neurological Mechanisms Associated With Functional and Structural Changes in the Brain. Front Neurosci 2019; 13:1224. [PMID: 31798405 PMCID: PMC6868000 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2019.01224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2019] [Accepted: 10/29/2019] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
As the number of older adults increases, the prevalence of dementias, such as Alzheimer’s dementia (AD), vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, and frontotemporal dementias, also increases. Despite research into pharmacological approaches for treating diverse diseases, there is still no cure. Recently, novel non-pharmacological interventions are attracting attention. Non-pharmacological approaches include cognitive stimulation, alterations in diet, physical activity, and social engagement. Cognitive stimulating activities protect against the negative effects of cognitive decline caused by age-related neurogenerative diseases. Bilingualism is one form of cognitive stimulation that requires multiple aspects of brain activity and has been shown to delay the onset of dementia symptoms in patients by approximately 4–5 years as compared with monolingual patients through cognitive reserve. The purpose of this review was to bilingualism protects against cognitive decline associated with AD and other dementias. We discuss potential underlying neurological mechanisms, including: (1) stimulating adult neurogenesis, (2) enhancing synaptogenesis, (3) strengthening functional connectivity that bilingualism may delay clinical AD symptoms, (4) protecting white matter integrity, and (5) preserving gray matter density.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sujin Kim
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Konyang University, Daejeon, South Korea
| | - Seong Gak Jeon
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Konyang University, Daejeon, South Korea
| | - Yunkwon Nam
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Konyang University, Daejeon, South Korea
| | - Hyeon Soo Kim
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Konyang University, Daejeon, South Korea
| | - Doo-Han Yoo
- Department of Occupational Therapy, Konyang University, Daejeon, South Korea
| | - Minho Moon
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Konyang University, Daejeon, South Korea
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74
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A hard to read font reduces the causality bias. JUDGMENT AND DECISION MAKING 2019. [DOI: 10.1017/s1930297500004848] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
AbstractPrevious studies have demonstrated that fluency affects judgment and decision-making. The purpose of the present research was to investigate the effect of perceptual fluency in a causal learning task that usually induces an illusion of causality in non-contingent conditions. We predicted that a reduction of fluency could improve accuracy in the detection of non-contingency and, therefore, could be used to debias illusory perceptions of causality. Participants were randomly assigned to either an easy-to-read or a hard-to-read condition. Our results showed a strong bias (i.e., overestimation) of causality in those participants who performed the non-contingent task in the easy-to-read font, which replicated the standard causality bias effect. This effect was reduced when the same task was presented in a hard-to-read font. Overall, our results provide evidence for a reduction of the causality bias when presenting the problem in a hard-to-read font. This suggests that perceptual fluency affects causal judgments.
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75
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Vaughn KA, Archila-Suerte P, Hernandez AE. Parietal lobe volume distinguishes attentional control in bilinguals and monolinguals: A structural MRI study. Brain Cogn 2019; 134:103-109. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2018.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2018] [Revised: 11/12/2018] [Accepted: 12/01/2018] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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76
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Peñaloza C, Grasemann U, Dekhtyar M, Miikkulainen R, Kiran S. BiLex: A computational approach to the effects of age of acquisition and language exposure on bilingual lexical access. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2019; 195:104643. [PMID: 31247403 PMCID: PMC6692118 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2019.104643] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2018] [Revised: 06/07/2019] [Accepted: 06/09/2019] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Lexical access in bilinguals can be modulated by multiple factors in their individual language learning history. We developed the BiLex computational model to examine the effects of L2 age of acquisition, language use and exposure on lexical retrieval in bilingual speakers. Twenty-eight Spanish-English bilinguals and five monolinguals recruited to test and validate the model were evaluated in their picture naming skills in each language and filled out a language use questionnaire. We examined whether BiLex can (i) simulate their naming performance in each language while taking into account their L2 age of acquisition, use and exposure to each language, and (ii) predict naming performance in other participants not used in model training. Our findings showed that BiLex could accurately simulate naming performance in bilinguals, suggesting that differences in L2 age of acquisition, language use and exposure can account for individual differences in bilingual lexical access.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Peñaloza
- Aphasia Research Laboratory, Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
| | - Uli Grasemann
- Department of Computer Science, The University of Texas at Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | - Maria Dekhtyar
- Aphasia Research Laboratory, Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Risto Miikkulainen
- Department of Computer Science, The University of Texas at Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | - Swathi Kiran
- Aphasia Research Laboratory, Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
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77
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Arredondo MM, Hu XS, Seifert E, Satterfield T, Kovelman I. Bilingual exposure enhances left IFG specialization for language in children. BILINGUALISM (CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND) 2019; 22:783-801. [PMID: 31372091 PMCID: PMC6675469 DOI: 10.1017/s1366728918000512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Language acquisition is characterized by progressive use of inflectional morphology marking verb tense and agreement. Linguistic milestones are also linked to left-brain lateralization for language specialization. We used neuroimaging (fNIRS) to investigate how bilingual exposure influences children's cortical organization for processing morpho-syntax. In Study 1, monolinguals and bilinguals (n=39) completed a grammaticality judgment task that included English sentences with violations in earlier- (verb agreement) and later-acquired (verb tense/agreement) structures. Groups showed similar performance and greater activation in left inferior frontal region (IFG) for later- than earlier-acquired conditions. Bilinguals showed stronger and more restricted left IFG activation. In Study 2, bilinguals completed a comparable Spanish task revealing patterns of left IFG activation similar to English. Taken together, the findings suggest that bilinguals with linguistic competence at parity with monolingual counterparts have a higher degree of cortical specialization for language, likely a result of enriched linguistic experiences.
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78
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Hernandez AE, Li P, Abutalebi J. The Bilingual Brain: Emergent, Dynamic, and Variable. Albert Costa (1970–2018). Trends Cogn Sci 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2019.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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79
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Structural brain changes as a function of second language vocabulary training: Effects of learning context. Brain Cogn 2019; 134:90-102. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2018.09.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2017] [Revised: 06/23/2018] [Accepted: 09/13/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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80
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Sulpizio S, Navarrete E. Outgroup faces hamper word recognition. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2019; 84:2300-2310. [PMID: 31302776 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-019-01226-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2018] [Accepted: 07/06/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
The present study explores socio-cultural priming in native-language processing. Caucasian Italian native speakers completed a written lexical decision task. Written stimuli were preceded by either a prime "white" face (ingroup condition) or a prime "black" face (outgroup condition). Face priming effects were observed in three experiments using different stimuli. Participants were slower in categorizing words, but not non-words, when preceded by an outgroup face than by an ingroup face. Several psycholinguistic variables were manipulated to localize the levels of processing that are affected by socio-cultural prime. The lack of effect with non-word items excludes the possibility that the face priming effect arises at perceptual or attentive levels of processing. In addition, we observed that while the face priming effect does not interact with lexical dimensions, it does interact with a semantic dimension such as imageability. The results indicate that social categories extracted from faces may modulate lexico-semantic processing. Interestingly, such a modulation would occur in the context of a quick and automatic process like visual word recognition in a person's native language.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone Sulpizio
- Facoltà di Psicologia, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan, Italy.,Centro di Neurolinguistica e Psicolinguistica, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
| | - Eduardo Navarrete
- Dipartimento di Psicologia dello Sviluppo e della Socializzazione, Università di Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131, Padua, Italy.
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81
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Barr R, Rusnak SN, Brito NH, Nugent C. Actions speak louder than words: Differences in memory flexibility between monolingual and bilingual 18-month-olds. Dev Sci 2019; 23:e12881. [PMID: 31206995 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2018] [Revised: 05/25/2019] [Accepted: 06/05/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Bilingual infants from 6- to 24-months of age are more likely to generalize, flexibly reproducing actions on novel objects significantly more often than age-matched monolingual infants are. In the current study, we examine whether the addition of novel verbal labels enhances memory generalization in a perceptually complex imitation task. We hypothesized that labels would provide an additional retrieval cue and aid memory generalization for bilingual infants. Specifically, we hypothesized that bilinguals might be more likely than monolinguals to map multiple perceptual features onto a novel label and therefore show enhanced generalization. Eighty-seven 18-month-old monolingual and bilingual infants were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions or a baseline control condition. In the experimental conditions, either no label or a novel label was added during demonstration and again at the beginning of the test session. After a 24-hr delay, infants were tested with the same stimulus set to test cued recall and with a perceptually different but functionally equivalent stimulus set to test memory generalization. Bilinguals performed significantly above baseline on both cued recall and memory generalization in both experimental conditions, whereas monolinguals performed significantly above baseline only on cued recall in both experimental conditions. These findings show a difference between monolinguals and bilinguals in memory generalization and suggest that generalization differences between groups may arise from visual perceptual processing rather than linguistic processing. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://youtu.be/yXB4pM3fF2k.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel Barr
- Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia
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82
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Deaf Children as ‘English Learners’: The Psycholinguistic Turn in Deaf Education. EDUCATION SCIENCES 2019. [DOI: 10.3390/educsci9020133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The purpose of this literature review is to present the arguments in support of conceptualizing deaf children as ‘English Learners’, to explore the educational implications of such conceptualizations, and to suggest directions for future inquiry. Three ways of interpreting the label ‘English Learner’ in relationship to deaf children are explored: (1) as applied to deaf children whose native language is American Sign Language; (2) as applied to deaf children whose parents speak a language other than English; and (3) as applied to deaf children who have limited access to the spoken English used by their parents. Recent research from the fields of linguistics and neuroscience on the effects of language deprivation is presented and conceptualized within a framework that we refer to as the psycholinguistic turn in deaf education. The implications for developing the literacy skills of signing deaf children are explored, particularly around the theoretical construct of a ‘bridge’ between sign language proficiency and print-based literacy. Finally, promising directions for future inquiry are presented.
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83
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Tagarelli KM, Shattuck KF, Turkeltaub PE, Ullman MT. Language learning in the adult brain: A neuroanatomical meta-analysis of lexical and grammatical learning. Neuroimage 2019; 193:178-200. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.02.061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2018] [Revised: 01/24/2019] [Accepted: 02/23/2019] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
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84
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Sun X, Li L, Ding G, Wang R, Li P. Effects of language proficiency on cognitive control: Evidence from resting-state functional connectivity. Neuropsychologia 2019; 129:263-275. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.03.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2018] [Revised: 02/21/2019] [Accepted: 03/28/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
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85
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Bubbico G, Chiacchiaretta P, Parenti M, di Marco M, Panara V, Sepede G, Ferretti A, Perrucci MG. Effects of Second Language Learning on the Plastic Aging Brain: Functional Connectivity, Cognitive Decline, and Reorganization. Front Neurosci 2019; 13:423. [PMID: 31156360 PMCID: PMC6529595 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2019.00423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2018] [Accepted: 04/12/2019] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Learning a new language requires the use of extensive neural networks and can represent a powerful tool to reorganize brain neuroplasticity. In this study, we analyze how a 4 months long second language learning program (16, 2 h sessions) can lead to functional changes in the brain of healthy elderly individuals. A large number of studies point out a decline of brain-skills with age; here it is analyzed how cognition together with functional brain organization can be improved later in life. Twenty-six older adults (59–79 years old) were enrolled in the present study. A complete neuropsychological examination was administered before and after the intervention to measure global cognition levels, short- and long-term memory, attention, language access and executive functions. At the end of the program, in the intervention group, the results showed a significant improvement in global cognition together with an increased functional connectivity in the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG), right superior frontal gyrus (rSFG) and left superior parietal lobule (lSPL). These findings can be added to the current neurobiological breakthroughs of reshaping brain networks with a short language learning practice in healthy elderly subjects. Therefore, learning a foreign-language may represent a potentially helpful cognitive intervention for promoting healthy aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanna Bubbico
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.,Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Piero Chiacchiaretta
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.,Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Matteo Parenti
- Department of Medicine and Science of Aging, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Marcin di Marco
- Department of Medicine and Science of Aging, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Valentina Panara
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.,Section of Diagnostic Imaging and Therapy, Radiology Division, Department of Neuroscience and Imaging, "SS Annunziata" Hospital, "G. D'Annunzio" University, Chieti, Italy
| | - Gianna Sepede
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.,Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neurosciences and Sense Organs, University "A. Moro" Bari, Chieti, Italy.,National Health Trust, Department of Mental Health, Chieti, Italy
| | - Antonio Ferretti
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.,Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Mauro Gianni Perrucci
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.,Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
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86
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Coffey EBJ, Arseneau-Bruneau I, Zhang X, Zatorre RJ. The Music-In-Noise Task (MINT): A Tool for Dissecting Complex Auditory Perception. Front Neurosci 2019; 13:199. [PMID: 30930734 PMCID: PMC6427094 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2019.00199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2018] [Accepted: 02/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to segregate target sounds in noisy backgrounds is relevant both to neuroscience and to clinical applications. Recent research suggests that hearing-in-noise (HIN) problems are solved using combinations of sub-skills that are applied according to task demand and information availability. While evidence is accumulating for a musician advantage in HIN, the exact nature of the reported training effect is not fully understood. Existing HIN tests focus on tasks requiring understanding of speech in the presence of competing sound. Because visual, spatial and predictive cues are not systematically considered in these tasks, few tools exist to investigate the most relevant components of cognitive processes involved in stream segregation. We present the Music-In-Noise Task (MINT) as a flexible tool to expand HIN measures beyond speech perception, and for addressing research questions pertaining to the relative contributions of HIN sub-skills, inter-individual differences in their use, and their neural correlates. The MINT uses a match-mismatch trial design: in four conditions (Baseline, Rhythm, Spatial, and Visual) subjects first hear a short instrumental musical excerpt embedded in an informational masker of "multi-music" noise, followed by either a matching or scrambled repetition of the target musical excerpt presented in silence; the four conditions differ according to the presence or absence of additional cues. In a fifth condition (Prediction), subjects hear the excerpt in silence as a target first, which helps to anticipate incoming information when the target is embedded in masking sound. Data from samples of young adults show that the MINT has good reliability and internal consistency, and demonstrate selective benefits of musicianship in the Prediction, Rhythm, and Visual subtasks. We also report a performance benefit of multilingualism that is separable from that of musicianship. Average MINT scores were correlated with scores on a sentence-in-noise perception task, but only accounted for a relatively small percentage of the variance, indicating that the MINT is sensitive to additional factors and can provide a complement and extension of speech-based tests for studying stream segregation. A customizable version of the MINT is made available for use and extension by the scientific community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily B. J. Coffey
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Montreal, QC, Canada
- Centre for Research on Brain, Language and Music (CRBLM), Montreal, QC, Canada
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology (CIRMMT), Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Isabelle Arseneau-Bruneau
- Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Montreal, QC, Canada
- Centre for Research on Brain, Language and Music (CRBLM), Montreal, QC, Canada
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology (CIRMMT), Montreal, QC, Canada
- Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Xiaochen Zhang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Robert J. Zatorre
- Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Montreal, QC, Canada
- Centre for Research on Brain, Language and Music (CRBLM), Montreal, QC, Canada
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology (CIRMMT), Montreal, QC, Canada
- Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
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87
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Bidelman GM, Heath ST. Neural Correlates of Enhanced Audiovisual Processing in the Bilingual Brain. Neuroscience 2019; 401:11-20. [PMID: 30639306 PMCID: PMC6379141 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2019.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2018] [Revised: 12/22/2018] [Accepted: 01/04/2019] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Bilingualism is associated with enhancements in perceptual and cognitive processing necessary for juggling multiple languages. Recent psychophysical studies demonstrate bilinguals also show enhanced multisensory processing and more restricted temporal binding windows for integrating audiovisual information. Here, we probed the neural mechanisms of bilinguals' audiovisual benefits. We recorded neuroelectric responses in mono- and bi-lingual listeners to the double-flash paradigm in which auditory beeps concurrent with a single visual flash induces the perceptual illusion of multiple flashes. Relative to monolinguals, bilinguals showed less susceptibility to the illusion (fewer false perceptual reports) coupled with stronger and faster event-related potentials to audiovisual information. Source analyses of EEG data revealed monolinguals' increased propensity for erroneously perceiving audiovisual stimuli was attributed to increased activity in primary visual (V1) and auditory cortex (PAC), increases in multisensory association areas (BA 37), but reduced frontal activity (BA 10). Regional activations were associated with an opposite pattern of behaviors: whereas stronger V1 and PAC activity predicted slower behavioral responses, stronger frontal BA10 responses elicited faster judgments. Our results suggest bilinguals' higher precision in audiovisual perception reflects more veridical sensory coding of physical cues coupled with superior top-down gating of sensory information to suppress the generation of false percepts. Findings underscore that the plasticity afforded by speaking multiple languages shapes extra-linguistic brain regions and can enhance audiovisual brain processing in a domain-general manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gavin M Bidelman
- School of Communication Sciences & Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA; Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA; University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Memphis, TN, USA.
| | - Shelley T Heath
- School of Communication Sciences & Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA
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88
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Bonfieni M, Branigan HP, Pickering MJ, Sorace A. Language experience modulates bilingual language control: The effect of proficiency, age of acquisition, and exposure on language switching. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2019; 193:160-170. [PMID: 30640064 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2018.11.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2018] [Revised: 11/04/2018] [Accepted: 11/09/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to selectively access two languages characterises the bilingual everyday experience. Previous studies showed the role of second language (L2) proficiency, as a proxy for dominance, on language control. However, the role of other aspects of the bilingual experience - such as age of acquisition and daily exposure - are relatively unexplored. In this study, we used a cued language switching task to examine language switching and mixing in two groups of highly proficient bilinguals with different linguistic backgrounds, to understand how the ability to control languages is shaped by linguistic experience. Our analysis shows that the ability to switch between languages is not only modulated by L2 proficiency, but also by daily L2 exposure. Daily L2 exposure also affects language mixing. Finally, L2 age of acquisition predicts naming latencies in the L2. Together, these findings show that language dominance is characterised by multiple aspects of the bilingual experience, which modulate language control.
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89
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Culture cues facilitate object naming in both native and second language: evidence from Bodo–Assamese bilinguals. JOURNAL OF CULTURAL COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s41809-018-0017-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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90
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Brito NH, Noble KG. The independent and interacting effects of socioeconomic status and dual-language use on brain structure and cognition. Dev Sci 2018; 21:e12688. [PMID: 29877603 PMCID: PMC6202148 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2017] [Accepted: 04/20/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Family socioeconomic status (SES) is strongly associated with children's cognitive development, and past studies have reported socioeconomic disparities in both neurocognitive skills and brain structure across childhood. In other studies, bilingualism has been associated with cognitive advantages and differences in brain structure across the lifespan. The aim of the current study is to concurrently examine the joint and independent associations between family SES and dual-language use with brain structure and cognitive skills during childhood. A subset of data from the Pediatric Imaging, Neurocognition and Genetics (PING) study was analyzed; propensity score matching established an equal sample (N = 562) of monolinguals and dual-language users with similar socio-demographic characteristics (Mage = 13.5, Range = 3-20 years). When collapsing across all ages, SES was linked to both brain structure and cognitive skills. When examining differences by age group, brain structure was significantly associated with both income and dual-language use during adolescence, but not earlier in childhood. Additionally, in adolescence, a significant interaction between dual-language use and SES was found, with no difference in cortical surface area (SA) between language groups of higher-SES backgrounds but significantly increased SA for dual-language users from lower-SES families compared to SES-matched monolinguals. These results suggest both independent and interacting associations between SES and dual-language use with brain development. To our knowledge, this is the first study to concurrently examine dual-language use and socioeconomic differences in brain structure during childhood and adolescence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie H Brito
- Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, New York, USA
| | - Kimberly G Noble
- Department of Biobehavioral Sciences, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, USA
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91
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Mercure E, Quiroz I, Goldberg L, Bowden-Howl H, Coulson K, Gliga T, Filippi R, Bright P, Johnson MH, MacSweeney M. Impact of Language Experience on Attention to Faces in Infancy: Evidence From Unimodal and Bimodal Bilingual Infants. Front Psychol 2018; 9:1943. [PMID: 30459671 PMCID: PMC6232685 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2018] [Accepted: 09/20/2018] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Faces capture and maintain infants' attention more than other visual stimuli. The present study addresses the impact of early language experience on attention to faces in infancy. It was hypothesized that infants learning two spoken languages (unimodal bilinguals) and hearing infants of Deaf mothers learning British Sign Language and spoken English (bimodal bilinguals) would show enhanced attention to faces compared to monolinguals. The comparison between unimodal and bimodal bilinguals allowed differentiation of the effects of learning two languages, from the effects of increased visual communication in hearing infants of Deaf mothers. Data are presented for two independent samples of infants: Sample 1 included 49 infants between 7 and 10 months (26 monolinguals and 23 unimodal bilinguals), and Sample 2 included 87 infants between 4 and 8 months (32 monolinguals, 25 unimodal bilinguals, and 30 bimodal bilingual infants with a Deaf mother). Eye-tracking was used to analyze infants' visual scanning of complex arrays including a face and four other stimulus categories. Infants from 4 to 10 months (all groups combined) directed their attention to faces faster than to non-face stimuli (i.e., attention capture), directed more fixations to, and looked longer at faces than non-face stimuli (i.e., attention maintenance). Unimodal bilinguals demonstrated increased attention capture and attention maintenance by faces compared to monolinguals. Contrary to predictions, bimodal bilinguals did not differ from monolinguals in attention capture and maintenance by face stimuli. These results are discussed in relation to the language experience of each group and the close association between face processing and language development in social communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evelyne Mercure
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Isabel Quiroz
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Laura Goldberg
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Harriet Bowden-Howl
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, United Kingdom
| | - Kimberley Coulson
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- Department of Psychology and Sports Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom
| | - Teodora Gliga
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Roberto Filippi
- Institute of Education, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Peter Bright
- Department of Psychology, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Mark H. Johnson
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, London, United Kingdom
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Mairéad MacSweeney
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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92
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Erikson JA, Alt M, Gray S, Green S, Hogan TP, Cowan N. Phonological Vulnerability for School-Aged Spanish-English-Speaking Bilingual Children. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BILINGUAL EDUCATION AND BILINGUALISM 2018; 24:736-756. [PMID: 33986624 PMCID: PMC8112070 DOI: 10.1080/13670050.2018.1510892] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2017] [Accepted: 08/03/2018] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
This study examined accuracy on syllable-final (coda) consonants in newly-learned English-like nonwords to determine whether school-aged bilingual children may be more vulnerable to making errors on English-only codas than their monolingual, English-speaking peers, even at a stage in development when phonological accuracy in productions of familiar words is high. Bilingual Spanish-English-speaking second- graders (age 7-9) with typical development (n=40) were matched individually with monolingual peers on age, sex, and speech skills. Participants learned to name sea monsters as part of five computerized word learning tasks. Dependent t-tests revealed bilingual children were less accurate than monolingual children in producing codas unique to English; however, the groups demonstrated equivalent levels of accuracy on codas that occur in both Spanish and English. Results suggest that, even at high levels of English proficiency, bilingual Spanish-English-speaking children may demonstrate lower accuracy than their monolingual English-speaking peers on targets that pattern differently in their two languages. Differences between a bilingual's two languages can be used to reveal targets that may be more vulnerable to error, which could be a result of cross-linguistic effects or more limited practice with English phonology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessie A Erikson
- University of Arizona, 1131 E. 2 St., PO Box 210071, Tucson, AZ, US 85721, ;
| | - Mary Alt
- University of Arizona, 1131 E. 2 St., PO Box 210071, Tucson, AZ, US 85721, ;
| | - Shelley Gray
- Arizona State University, PO Box 870102, Tempe, AZ, US 85287, ,
| | - Samuel Green
- Arizona State University, PO Box 870102, Tempe, AZ, US 85287, ,
| | - Tiffany P Hogan
- MGH Institute of Health Professions, Charlestown Navy Yard, 36 1 Avenue, Boston, MA, US 02129,
| | - Nelson Cowan
- University of Missouri - Columbia, 210 McAlester Hall, Columbia, MO, US 65211,
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93
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Witteman J, Chen Y, Pablos-Robles L, Parafita Couto MC, Wong PCM, Schiller NO. Editorial: (Pushing) the Limits of Neuroplasticity Induced by Adult Language Acquisition. Front Psychol 2018; 9:1806. [PMID: 30319503 PMCID: PMC6167589 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01806] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2018] [Accepted: 09/05/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Jurriaan Witteman
- Department of Linguistics, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
- Leiden University Centre for Linguistics, Leiden, Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
- *Correspondence: Jurriaan Witteman
| | - Yiya Chen
- Department of Linguistics, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
- Leiden University Centre for Linguistics, Leiden, Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Leticia Pablos-Robles
- Department of Linguistics, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
- Leiden University Centre for Linguistics, Leiden, Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Maria Carmen Parafita Couto
- Department of Linguistics, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
- Leiden University Centre for Linguistics, Leiden, Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Patrick C. M. Wong
- Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, Brain and Mind Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Niels O. Schiller
- Department of Linguistics, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
- Leiden University Centre for Linguistics, Leiden, Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
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94
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Calabria M, Costa A, Green DW, Abutalebi J. Neural basis of bilingual language control. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2018; 1426:221-235. [PMID: 29917244 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.13879] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2018] [Revised: 05/15/2018] [Accepted: 05/22/2018] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Acquiring and speaking a second language increases demand on the processes of language control for bilingual as compared to monolingual speakers. Language control for bilingual speakers involves the ability to keep the two languages separated to avoid interference and to select one language or the other in a given conversational context. This ability is what we refer with the term "bilingual language control" (BLC). It is now well established that the architecture of this complex system of language control encompasses brain networks involving cortical and subcortical structures, each responsible for different cognitive processes such as goal maintenance, conflict monitoring, interference suppression, and selective response inhibition. Furthermore, advances have been made in determining the overlap between the BLC and the nonlinguistic executive control networks, under the hypothesis that the BLC processes are just an instantiation of a more domain-general control system. Here, we review the current knowledge about the neural basis of these control systems. Results from brain imaging studies of healthy adults and on the performance of bilingual individuals with brain damage are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Calabria
- Center for Brain and Cognition, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Albert Costa
- Center for Brain and Cognition, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain
- Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain
| | - David W Green
- Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | - Jubin Abutalebi
- Centre for Neurolinguistics and Psycholinguistics, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
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95
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Pino Escobar G, Kalashnikova M, Escudero P. Vocabulary matters! The relationship between verbal fluency and measures of inhibitory control in monolingual and bilingual children. J Exp Child Psychol 2018; 170:177-189. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2018.01.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2017] [Revised: 01/16/2018] [Accepted: 01/16/2018] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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96
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Antovich DM, Graf Estes K. Learning across languages: bilingual experience supports dual language statistical word segmentation. Dev Sci 2018; 21:10.1111/desc.12548. [PMID: 28156032 PMCID: PMC6594691 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2016] [Accepted: 11/30/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Bilingual acquisition presents learning challenges beyond those found in monolingual environments, including the need to segment speech in two languages. Infants may use statistical cues, such as syllable-level transitional probabilities, to segment words from fluent speech. In the present study we assessed monolingual and bilingual 14-month-olds' abilities to segment two artificial languages using transitional probability cues. In Experiment 1, monolingual infants successfully segmented the speech streams when the languages were presented individually. However, monolinguals did not segment the same language stimuli when they were presented together in interleaved segments, mimicking the language switches inherent to bilingual speech. To assess the effect of real-world bilingual experience on dual language speech segmentation, Experiment 2 tested infants with regular exposure to two languages using the same interleaved language stimuli as Experiment 1. The bilingual infants in Experiment 2 successfully segmented the languages, indicating that early exposure to two languages supports infants' abilities to segment dual language speech using transitional probability cues. These findings support the notion that early bilingual exposure prepares infants to navigate challenging aspects of dual language environments as they begin to acquire two languages.
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97
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Antovich DM, Graf Estes K. Learning across languages: bilingual experience supports dual language statistical word segmentation. Dev Sci 2018; 21:10.1111/desc.12548. [PMID: 28156032 PMCID: PMC6594691 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12548 10.1111/desc.12548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2016] [Accepted: 11/30/2016] [Indexed: 03/25/2024]
Abstract
Bilingual acquisition presents learning challenges beyond those found in monolingual environments, including the need to segment speech in two languages. Infants may use statistical cues, such as syllable-level transitional probabilities, to segment words from fluent speech. In the present study we assessed monolingual and bilingual 14-month-olds' abilities to segment two artificial languages using transitional probability cues. In Experiment 1, monolingual infants successfully segmented the speech streams when the languages were presented individually. However, monolinguals did not segment the same language stimuli when they were presented together in interleaved segments, mimicking the language switches inherent to bilingual speech. To assess the effect of real-world bilingual experience on dual language speech segmentation, Experiment 2 tested infants with regular exposure to two languages using the same interleaved language stimuli as Experiment 1. The bilingual infants in Experiment 2 successfully segmented the languages, indicating that early exposure to two languages supports infants' abilities to segment dual language speech using transitional probability cues. These findings support the notion that early bilingual exposure prepares infants to navigate challenging aspects of dual language environments as they begin to acquire two languages.
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98
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Abstract
The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of a foreign language
on the causality bias (i.e., the illusion that two events are causally related
when they are not). We predict that using a foreign language could reduce the
illusions of causality. A total of 36 native English speakers participated in
Experiment 1, 80 native Spanish speakers in Experiment 2. They performed a
standard contingency learning task, which can be used to detect causal
illusions. Participants who performed the task in their native tongue replicated
the illusion of causality effect, whereas those performing the task in their
foreign language were more accurate in detecting that the two events were
causally unrelated. Our results suggest that presenting the information in a
foreign language could be used as a strategy to debias individuals against
causal illusions, thereby facilitating more accurate judgements and decisions in
non-contingent situations. They also contribute to the debate on the nature and
underlying mechanisms of the foreign language effect, given that the illusion of
causality is rooted in basic associative processes.
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99
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Mamiya PC, Richards TL, Kuhl PK. Right Forceps Minor and Anterior Thalamic Radiation Predict Executive Function Skills in Young Bilingual Adults. Front Psychol 2018; 9:118. [PMID: 29479331 PMCID: PMC5811666 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2017] [Accepted: 01/24/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Executive function (EF) skills enhance learning across domains, and are particularly linked to the acquisition of a second language. Previous studies have shown that bilingual individuals show enhanced EF skills in cognitive tasks where they attended a targeted dimension of a stimulus while inhibiting other competing cues. Brain imaging revealed that bilingual young adults’ performances in the Stroop color-naming task were related to the volume of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and inferior frontal lobe. Subjects who had greater white-matter in the frontal cortex showed enhanced performances in the same task, suggesting that brain fiber pathways connecting ACC to the frontal region may be related to the Stroop color-naming task. No studies to date have examined the tissue properties of brain fiber pathways connecting these brain regions and their association with subjects’ EF performances. Importantly, there are no data establishing whether bilingual subjects exhibit different reaction times when words are presented in their first versus second language. To study these questions, we used behavioral and unbiased whole-brain analyses, recruiting 21 Chinese students. Using the Stroop color-naming task, we measured subjects’ reaction times (RTs) in which color names were displayed using fonts that matched the named color (congruent task) or mismatched the color (incongruent task). Students performed the task twice, first in English, the subjects’ second language, then in Chinese, the subjects’ primary language. Results from whole-brain analysis showed that students’ RTs in both the English and Chinese tasks were significantly correlated with the mode of anisotropy (MO) in a brain cluster containing the forceps minor and anterior thalamic radiation in the right hemisphere. We also found that fractional anisotropy (FA) significantly predicted students’ RTs, with higher FA predicting shorter RT. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that right forceps minor and anterior thalamic radiation predict EF skills, suggesting that this brain feature may be important for young bilingual adults using their first and second languages to direct their attention when conflicting cues are present.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ping C Mamiya
- Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Todd L Richards
- Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Patricia K Kuhl
- Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
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Raschle NM, Becker BLC, Smith S, Fehlbaum LV, Wang Y, Gaab N. Investigating the Influences of Language Delay and/or Familial Risk for Dyslexia on Brain Structure in 5-Year-Olds. Cereb Cortex 2018; 27:764-776. [PMID: 26585334 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhv267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Early language delay has often been associated with atypical language/literacy development. Neuroimaging studies further indicate functional disruptions during language and print processing in school-age children with a retrospective report of early language delay. Behavioral data of 114 5-year-olds with a retrospective report of early language delay in infancy (N = 34) and those without (N = 80) and with a familial risk for dyslexia and those without are presented. Behaviorally, children with a retrospective report of early language delay exhibited reduced performance in language/reading-related measures. A voxel-based morphometry analysis in a subset (N = 46) demonstrated an association between reduced gray matter volume and early language delay in left-hemispheric middle temporal, occipital, and frontal regions. Alterations in middle temporal cortex in children with a retrospective report of early language delay were observed regardless of familial risk for dyslexia. Additionally, while children with isolated familial risk for dyslexia showed gray matter reductions in temporoparietal and occipitotemporal regions, these effects were most profound in children with both risk factors. An interaction effect of early language delay and familial risk was revealed in temporoparietal, occipital, and frontal cortex. Our findings support a cumulative effect of early behavioral and genetic risk factors on brain development and may ultimately inform diagnosis/treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nora Maria Raschle
- Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Harvard Medical School Boston, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychiatric University Clinics Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Bryce Larkin Chessell Becker
- Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sara Smith
- Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Lynn Valérie Fehlbaum
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychiatric University Clinics Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Yingying Wang
- Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Nadine Gaab
- Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Harvard Medical School Boston, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
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