Predicting multilingual effects on executive function and individual connectomes in children: An ABCD study

The COMT gene modulates the relationship between bilingual adaptation in executive function and decision-making: an EEG study

Bilingual adaptive control mechanisms appear to be linked to congenital genetic factors such as dopamine (DA) genes. However, it is unclear as to whether acquired cognitive exercise can vanquish innate influences that allow bilingual executive advantages to be shown in other cognitive areas. In the present study, we examine the relationship between gene-dependent executive control and decision-making by targeting the enzyme catecholamine-O-methyltransferase (COMT) and employing electroencephalography (EEG). Chinese-English bilinguals (N = 101) participated in a language switching task and the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). The findings showed that COMT Val158Met polymorphism played a complex role in decision-making and bilingual executive control processing: Bilinguals with Valine (Val) homozygotes had poorer performance in the IGT, while Methionine (Met) carriers had larger switch costs in the language switching task. Second, the cross-task relationships varied among bilinguals with different COMT genotypes: Bilinguals with Met allele genotypes showed larger switch costs and better performance on the IGT. These findings suggest that bilinguals who carry Met allele are equipped with more efficient adaptive mechanisms of executive functions that are generalized to other cognitive domains.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11571-022-09867-2.

Specific Language Impairment and Executive Functions in School-Age Children: A Systematic Review

This systematic review examines the relationship between specific language impairment (SLI) and executive functions (EFs) in school-age children. The study investigates the impact of SLI on EF in comparison to children who develop normally. A total of 2,658 articles from three databases (PubMed, Scopus, and Virtual Health Library) were assessed for inclusion. Ultimately, 22 articles were selected for analysis, which contained information on both SLI and EF. The findings indicate that children diagnosed with SLI exhibit deficits, low performance, and, in some cases, significant deterioration in the development of EF when compared to typically developing children in 62%-91% of cases as early as three to four years of age; the most commonly found alterations were in working memory (including phonological, auditory, and visual/verbal memory), followed by deficits in attention, processing speed, inhibition, planning, cognitive flexibility, and internalized speech. We also discuss the close relationship and importance between language and EF in SLI children.

Atypical Functional Network Properties and Associated Dimensions of Child Psychopathology During Rest and Task Performance

Background

When brain networks deviate from typical development, this is thought to contribute to varying forms of psychopathology. However, research has been limited by the reliance on discrete diagnostic categories that overlook the potential for psychological comorbidity and the dimensional nature of symptoms.

Methods

This study examined the topology of functional networks in association with 4 bifactor-defined psychopathology dimensions-general psychopathology, internalizing symptoms, conduct problems, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms-via the Child Behavior Checklist in a sample of 3568 children from the ABCD (Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development) Study. Local and global graph theory metrics were calculated at rest and during tasks of reward processing, inhibition, and working memory.

Results

Greater attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms were associated with reduced modularity across rest and tasks as well as reduced local efficiency in motor networks at rest. Results survived sensitivity analyses for medication and socioeconomic status. Greater conduct problem symptoms were associated with reduced modularity on working memory and reward processing tasks; however, these results did not persist after sensitivity analyses. General psychopathology and internalizing symptoms showed no significant network associations.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest reduced efficiency in topology in those with greater attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms across 4 critical cognitive states, with conduct problems also showing network deficits, although less consistently. This may suggest that modularity deficits are a neurobiological marker of externalizing behavior in children. Such specificity has not been demonstrated before using graph theory metrics and has the potential to redefine our understanding of network deficits in children with psychopathology symptoms.

Genetic bases of language control in bilinguals: Evidence from an EEG study

Previous studies have debated whether the ability for bilinguals to mentally control their languages is a consequence of their experiences switching between languages or whether it is a specific, yet highly-adaptive, cognitive ability. The current study investigates how variations in the language-related gene FOXP2 and executive function-related genes COMT, BDNF, and Kibra/WWC1 affect bilingual language control during two phases of speech production, namely the language schema phase (i.e., the selection of one language or another) and lexical response phase (i.e., utterance of the target). Chinese-English bilinguals (N = 119) participated in a picture-naming task involving cued language switches. Statistical analyses showed that both genes significantly influenced language control on neural coding and behavioral performance. Specifically, FOXP2 rs1456031 showed a wide-ranging effect on language control, including RTs, F(2, 113) = 4.00, FDR p = .036, and neural coding across three-time phases (N2a: F(2, 113) = 4.96, FDR p = .014; N2b: F(2, 113) = 4.30, FDR p = .028, LPC: F(2, 113) = 2.82, FDR p = .060), while the COMT rs4818 (ts >2.69, FDR ps < .05), BDNF rs6265 (Fs >5.31, FDR ps < .05), and Kibra/WWC1 rs17070145 (ts > -3.29, FDR ps < .05) polymorphisms influenced two-time phases (N2a and N2b). Time-resolved correlation analyses revealed that the relationship between neural coding and cognitive performance is modulated by genetic variations in all four genes. In all, these findings suggest that bilingual language control is shaped by an individual's experience switching between languages and their inherent genome.

Cross-cohort replicability and generalizability of connectivity-based psychometric prediction patterns

An increasing number of studies have investigated the relationships between inter-individual variability in brain regions' connectivity and behavioral phenotypes, making use of large population neuroimaging datasets. However, the replicability of brain-behavior associations identified by these approaches remains an open question. In this study, we examined the cross-dataset replicability of brain-behavior association patterns for fluid cognition and openness predictions using a previously developed region-wise approach, as well as using a standard whole-brain approach. Overall, we found moderate similarity in patterns for fluid cognition predictions across cohorts, especially in the Human Connectome Project Young Adult, Human Connectome Project Aging, and Enhanced Nathan Kline Institute Rockland Sample cohorts, but low similarity in patterns for openness predictions. In addition, we assessed the generalizability of prediction models in cross-dataset predictions, by training the model in one dataset and testing in another. Making use of the region-wise prediction approach, we showed that first, a moderate extent of generalizability could be achieved with fluid cognition prediction, and that, second, a set of common brain regions related to fluid cognition across cohorts could be identified. Nevertheless, the moderate replicability and generalizability could only be achieved in specific contexts. Thus, we argue that replicability and generalizability in connectivity-based prediction remain limited and deserve greater attention in future studies.

Person-specific connectivity mapping uncovers differences of bilingual language experience on brain bases of attention in children

Bilingualism influences children's cognition, yet bilinguals vary greatly in their dual-language experiences. To uncover sources of variation in bilingual and monolingual brain function, the present study used standard analysis and innovative person-specific connectivity models combined with a data-driven grouping algorithm. Children (ages 7-9; N = 52) completed a visuo-spatial attention task while undergoing functional near-infrared spectroscopy neuroimaging. Both bilingual and monolingual groups performed similarly, and engaged bilateral frontal and parietal regions. However, bilinguals showed greater brain activity than monolinguals in left frontal and parietal regions. Connectivity models revealed two empirically-derived subgroups. One subgroup was composed of monolinguals and bilinguals who were more English dominant, and showed left frontal-parietal connections. The other was composed of bilinguals who were balanced in their dual-language abilities and showed left frontal lobe connections. The findings inform how individual variation in early language experiences influences children's emerging cortical networks for executive function, and reveal efficacy of data-driven approaches.